Press kit

Curriculum vitae

Markus Schirmer – bio english full 102020
Markus Schirmer – bio english short 102020

Press quotes

Markus Schirmer – Press quotes – download PDF

…Markus Schirmer is so prolific, humorous and inventive that any piano is liable to marry him on the spot if he’s not careful.
Basler Zeitung, Switzerland)

…It became clear why for years audience and critics alike have rejoiced wherever this pianist could be heard . The basic attitude of his play is very simple: „The score contains enough information. An interpreter should not try to be brighter than the composer.
(Der Standard, Austria)

…Markus Schirmer’s piano playing has reached a dangerous stage: His sovereign and natural manner of interpretation can be addictive.
(Kleine Zeitung, Austria)

…Only the greatest pianists played Haydn: Vladimir Horowitz, Glenn Gould, Alfred Brendel – and now Markus Schirmer joins this illustrious circle.
(Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Germany)

…His tremendous sensitivity allows the listener to dive completely into the atmosphere of the music. Schirmer produces a suction one can hardly resist.
(klassik.com, Germany)

…And so Schirmer strikes the keys and emits tones, chords and scales without ever diffusing them. Whatever he plays becomes a pianistic event.
(Nuernberger Zeitung, Germany)

…This artist has colossal musicality at his disposal. We face a fascinatingly creative pianist at work who knows how to display all the facets of his artistry and whose performance is more than merely a symbiosis between technique and musicality.
(Kronen Zeitung, Austria)

…More beautiful and heartfelt is impossible.
(Schwäbische Zeitung, Germany)

…Schirmer is a first-class artist who takes care to caress rather than depress the keys with every touch.
(mdr Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk, Germany)

…Markus Schirmer enchanted everyone present with his performance. He played with an incredible richly shining multitude of colors, completely in accordance with the music.
(Morgenblad, Iceland)

…Surprising, how inconspicuously some especially remarkable events can pass. Schirmer performs Mozart with verve but not without feeling, moved but not breathlessly, spiritualised but without self-adoration.
(Salzburger Nachrichten, Austria)

…Musicians who are curious enough to leave the trodden path of their usual repertoire are not the rule on concert stages. The devilishly talented pianist Markus Schirmer, however, is considered to be an exception in this respect.
(Tribune de Genève, Switzerland)

…The joy of having the opportunity to discover a well-known piece such as Tchaikowsky’s Piano Concerto Nr.1 all over again was something special.
(Hokkaido News, Japan)

…His sheer enjoyment was apparent to both audience and orchestra alike. A delight !
(The Observer, London, UK)

…Fascinated by embossed phrasing, attention to the smallest detail, virtuosic accuracy and big inner concentration. This is a very subtle musician, indifferent to the outer shine, paying all his attention to the music.
(7 meno dienos, Lithuania)

…He took the listeners by surprise by his unbelievable subtlety, his performance impressed by the most minute nuances and a completely relaxed feeling of time. Time seemed to have come to a standstill, moments of holding one´s breath followed.
(Gazeta Wyborcza, Poland)

…The Austrian pianist´s playing is not only profound: it is also pure passion. Passages of sheer poetry are heard alongside the most dramatic outbursts, the whole performance being held together by discipline in self-expression and being realized with enormous will-power and intelligence.
(Il Gazzetino, Italy)

…The engagement, commitment and sheer enjoyment in this performance made Mozart feel like a première.
(The Boston Musical Intelligencer, USA)

Press photos

The pictures below are available for download on condition that the copyright „©Christian Jungwirth“ is acknowledged. For more pictures of Markus Schirmer please contact

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