Maksim Mrvica
History
Mrvica was born in Šibenik, a town on the Adriatic coast in Croatia. He started taking up piano lessons at the age of nine from Marija Sekso and gave his first public performance in the same year. Just three years later he gave his first concert performance of Haydn’s Piano Concerto in C major. When war broke out in 1990, both Mrvica and his professor were determined that this would not disrupt his music studies. In spite of the war and surrounding turbulence, Mrvica entered in, and won, his first major competition in Zagreb in 1993.
Mrvica went on to study at the Music Academy in Zagreb where he spent five years under Professor Vladimir Krpan, who himself was a pupil of Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli. He then spent a year at the Franz Liszt Conservatoire in Budapest and during this year he won first prize at the Nicolai Rubinstein International Piano Competition. In 2000, he moved to Paris to study with Igor Lazko and gained first prize in the Pontoise Piano Competition in 2001.
When he returned to Croatia he found himself to be the focus of intense media interest and he made frequent television appearances as well as giving a great number of interviews. He soon found himself recording his first CD, Gestures, an album of contemporary Croatian piano pieces. Gestures became one of the fastest-selling classical recordings to be released in Croatia, and Mrvica was even invited to officiate the Porin award ceremony, an honour not usually granted to a classical artist.
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International appeal
Soon after this launch Mrvica was spotted by the musician, author and manager Tonči Huljić, who composed several tracks for the crossover string quartet, Bond, and it was Tonči who put Mrvica in touch with British impresario Mel Bush. Mel had, by chance, been looking for an exciting new pianist for some time and he immediately recognised Maksim's potential to appeal to a wide range of audiences. EMI Classics was just as excited by the young pianist and soon a new album was underway. This album was The Piano Player, which gave a new spin to Handel and Chopin tunes. Since its release in 2003 it has been a great success, particularly in Asia, where it has achieved Gold status in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and China, Platinum in Taiwan and Croatia and Double Platinum in Hong Kong. It was also in the number 1 slot in the HMV international pop chart in Hong Kong for twelve consecutive weeks.
Mrvica has performed in a couple of international beauty pageants and MTV awards. His image and charisma has also attracted the interest of global brands such as American Express, who sponsored him in Singapore, and automobile giants Chevrolet and BMW, for whom he performed at their respective Colombian and Malaysian car launches.
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Discography
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Albums
* 1999 – Gestures (Lisinski Studios)
* 2003 – The Piano Player (EMI)
1. (04:25) "Flight of the Bumble-Bee" (Rimsky-Korsakov / Jeff Wayne)
2. (04:04) "Grieg's Piano Concerto in A Minor" (Grieg)
3. (03:09) "Exodus" (Ernest Gold)
4. (04:29) "Claudine" (Tonci Huljic)
5. (03:38) "Wonderland" (Huljic)
6. (03:37) "Handel's Sarabande" (Handel)
7. (10:08) "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" (Rachmaninov / Wayne)
8. (04:31) "Hana's Eyes" (Huljic)
9. (03:52) "Chopin's Revolutionary Etude in C Minor" (Chopin)
10. (03:08) "Cubana" (Huljic)
11. (03:32) "Croatian Rhapsody" (Huljic)
12. (02:51) "Dance of the Baroness" (Frano Parac)
13. (03:28) "Cubana Cubana" (Bonus Track) (Huljic)
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* 2004 – Variations Part I&II (EMI)
1. Tonci Huljic: "Kolibre"
2. Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No.1
3. Sakamoto: "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence"
4. Liszt: Totentanz
5. David Essex: "Olympic Dream"
6. Tonci Huljic: "Amazonic"
7. Tonci Huljic: "LeeLoos Tune"
8. Ippolitov-Ivanov: "Procession of The Sardar"
9. Freddie Mercury: "Bohemian Rhapsody"
10. Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition
11. Scriabin: Étude in D sharp minor & Patetico
12. Chopin: Nocturne in E flat major
13. Bach: Aria From Goldberg Variations
14. Paganini/Maksim: "Pagrag"
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* 2005 – A New World (EMI)
1. New World Concerto
2. Nostradamus
3. Dido's Lament
4. Tosca
5. Desert Skies
6. Intermezzo
7. Somewhere in Time/The Old Woman
8. Ride of the Valkyries
9. Still Waters
10. Blue Balloon
11. Mojito
12. The Flower Duet
13. Deborah's Theme
Bonus material
14. Kolibre (backing track)
15. Claudine (backing track)
16. Nostradamus (backing track)
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