Bertrand Archive

RAVEL: Miroirs; Gaspard de la Nuit; Pavane pour une infant defunte – Ragna Schirmer, p. – Belvedere

by Audiophile Audition | Dec 4, 2016 | Classical CD Reviews

RAVEL: Miroirs; Gaspard de la Nuit; Pavane pour une infant defunte – Ragna Schirmer, p. – Belvedere 08002, 60:10 (11/4/16)  [Distr. by Naxos] ****: An excellent Ravel interpretation, though a strange cover.  Ragna Schirmer has won the highly regarded International Bach Competition in Leipzig twice and been the recipient of Germany’s top classical music award, the ECHO Klassik. Her tutors include Bernard Ringeisen in Paris, himself a student of Marguerite Long, friend and student of Maurice Ravel. She performs in prestigious concert halls of Europe, China and New Zealand, as well as at renowned music festivals such as the Heidelberger Frühling (artist in residence 2010), the Beethovenfest Bonn, the MDR-Musiksommer, the Haydn Festival Eisenstadt, and the Salzburg Festival. Ragna Schirmer is also active as a teacher. Having been appointed professor at the College of Music and Performing Arts in Mannheim at the age of 28, she has taught talented young pianists at the Musical Department of the “Latina August Hermann Francke“ in the city of Halle an der Saale since 2009.  The Ravel recording derives from sessions 8-10 January 2014 in Germany. The somewhat disturbing cover art for this CD – of pianist Schirmer’s fondling a puppet of Ravel – […]