"Schimpf presents a clear Mozart: articulated down to the last detail, fluent and singing."
De nieuwe Muze, 04-6-2020IT SHOULD SOUND ENTIRELY NATURAL
„Mozart’s music poses special challenges to performers, and they have often been pointed out. As
it would seem, certain fundamental tensions or contradictions inherent in music making are taken
to extremes: many works by Mozart require that the instrumental process and conditions
responsible for producing the sound should retreat into the background in favor of the musical
result as we hear it.
No expenditure of energy should be noted or heard. Fine, precise timing
adjustments should never sound organized or deliberate. This music should ideally be presented as
something that emerges entirely naturally, of its own accord. All the mental and technical effort in
the background should be eliminated from the forefront of perception. Otherwise, the typically
‘floating’ Mozartian natural effect, that magical inner balance, cannot emerge.. ……..
On this
recording we make use of the version specifically authorized by Mozart: eschewing additional
wind parts. Although the wind parts composed by Mozart for these concertos can indeed provide
some color, they do not have anything essential or indispensable to add in terms of musical
substance. (Alexander Schimpf, Booklet)
After a series of impressive wins at competitions in Bonn (German Music Competition), Vienna (1st Prize at the International Beethoven Competition) and Cleveland (1st Prize at the Cleveland International Piano Competition),
Alexander Schimpf has been pursuing a successful career as a concert pianist, performing regularly on several continents. Invitations to play solo piano recitals and to collaborate with renowned orchestras have led to appearances in well-known classical music venues such as the Konzerthaus Vienna, the Konzerthaus Berlin, Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York City, the Marinsky Concert Hall in Saint Petersburg, the Great Hall of the “Alte Oper” in Frankfurt, the Beethovenhalle in Bonn, the Meistersingerhalle in Nuremberg, the Cologne Philharmonie, and the Munich Philharmonic Hall.
Apart from frequent appearances in the US, Alexander Schimpf has also concertized in most European countries, in China, Taiwan, Vietnam, and several South American venues.
Born in Göttingen, Alexander Schimpf studied with outstanding professors including Wolfgang Manz
and Bernd Glemser. The pianists Cécile Ousset and Janina Fialkowska also played an important role
in his artistic development.
Two focuses in Schimpf’s repertoire are Vienna Classicism and French music. Furthermore, he is
committed to making contemporary music known to wider audiences and has given a number of
world premieres of solo and chamber music works dedicated to him.
In 2016 Alexander Schimpf was appointed piano professor at the Hanover University of Music,
Drama and Media.
Since 2009 he has released three solo CDs on the GENUIN and OehmsClassics labels; this is his first
CD production as a soloist performing with an orchestra.
The Bavarian Chamber Philharmonic was founded by a group of young musicians in Augsburg in 1990. The
orchestra stands out due to the exceptional involvement and artistic energy displayed by each one of its
members, leading it to achieve outstanding performance quality without a conductor. Since 2004, in order
to put its unique concepts and programmes into practice, the Bavarian Chamber Philharmonic has been
organizing the concert series un·er·hört, which has become one of the highlights of Augsburg’s cultural life.
The orchestra has gone on tour throughout Europe, to the US, Brazil, and, most recently, South Korea,
performing in a number of international festivals. Recent appearances took place in the Frauenkirche
in Dresden, in the Philharmonie in Cologne, and in the Vienna Staatsoper.
The ensemble works closely and frequently with renowned early music specialist Reinhard Goebel.
Collaborations with high-ranking classical artists such as Christopher Hogwood, Albrecht Mayer, Leonidas
Kavakos, Nils Mönkemeyer, Maximilian Hornung, and Mstislav Rostropovich, as well as with jazz musicians
such as Dave Brubeck, Chick Corea, and, most recently, with saxophonist Marius Neset, all testify to
the orchestra members’ first-class musicianship. Soprano Simone Kermes will present her new programme
Inferno e Paradiso on several occasions with the Bavarian Chamber Philharmonic in September 2020.
The Bavarian Chamber Philharmonic has received several awards, including the European Music Advancement
Prize, the Diapason d’Or from the French classical music magazine Diapason, and the renowned
German ECHO Klassik Prize. The orchestra has made over 20 recordings for outstanding European labels.
The ensemble’s openness to contemporary music is evident in a great number of world premieres
and commissions from composers of our time: Moritz Eggert, Malin Bång, Henning Sieverts, Richard
Dünser, and Annette Focks have written works for the Bavarian Chamber Philharmonic.
Particularly since 2018, the ensemble has shown increasing engagement in bringing music to children and youngsters. Under the “young bkp” banner, the ensemble has started to organize family concerts as well as a series of interdisciplinary workshops for schoolteachers and schoolchildren.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, whose actual name is Joannes Chrysotomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a composer, pianist, violinist and conductor from the classical period, born in Salzburg. Mozart was a child prodigy. Already competent on keyboard and violin, he composed from the age of five and performed before European royalty. Along with Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven, Mozart is considered to be one of the most influential composers of all of music's history. Within the classical tradition, he was able to develop new musical concepts which left an everlasting impression on all the composers that came after him. Together with Joseph Haydn and Ludwig van Beethoven he is part of the First Viennese School. At 17, Mozart was engaged as a musician at the Salzburg court, but grew restless and traveled in search of a better position. From 1763 he traveled with his family through all of Europe for three years and from 1769 he traveled to Italy and France with his father Leopold after which he took residence in Paris. On July 3rd, 1778, his mother passed away and after a short stay in Munich with the Weber family, his father urged him to return to Salzburg, where he was once again hired by the Bishop. While visiting Vienna in 1781, he was dismissed from his Salzburg position. He chose to stay in the capital, where he achieved fame but little financial security. During his final years in Vienna, he composed many of his best-known symphonies, concertos, and operas, and portions of the Requiem, which was largely unfinished at the time of his death.
Schimpf presents a clear Mozart: articulated down to the last detail, fluent and singing.
De nieuwe Muze, 04-6-2020
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