Ludwig van Beethoven:
Piano Sonatas vol. 1

Piano sonatas in c minor op. 13 “Pathetique“,
in A major op. 2,2 and in C major op. 2,3

Tacet 2003, T 128

awarded with

---

Reviews:

This recording is altogether extremely well worth listening to. The Austrian pianist plays in a manner that reflects historical performance style and is an artist whose future CDs we look forward to with great excitement.
Die Rhein-Pfalz Zeitung (Germany)

The key to success: simplicity and good honest common sense. Schirmer does not play the piano – he plays music. This Beethoven is wonderfully played, with a convincing aesthetic that respects the composer.
Classics today (France)

After his rapturously received recordings of works by Haydn, Mozart and Schubert, Markus Schirmer is now pushing forward with lively curiosity and spontaneous intellectuality into a special world to which he also shows a definite emotional affinity – the Beethoven sonatas, that holy of holies of the piano repertoire. Schirmer can already be placed in the great Austrian tradition of Serkin, Schnabel and Brendel.
Thema Plus (Austria)

The CD that has just appeared shows the pianist from Graz at the peak of his artistry. Schirmer performs the lyrical Adagio of the Sonata in C with such wonderful calm, with such searing sincerity, and with such tender sensitivity that he really does transport the listener “into a better world”.
Kleine Zeitung (Austria)

Early Beethoven, bursting with new ideas and revolutionary energy. The joy Markus Schirmer takes in shaping the music he plays makes him an ideal performer for these works.
Kronen Zeitung (Austria)

Playing on a Fazioli grand, Schirmer gives a passionate and pointed interpretation of these sonatas that emphasizes their experimental character. Not, however, through aggressive directness, but from the iniside out, with power, energy, and poetry. A CD to make one sit up and take notice.
Salzburger Nachrichten (Austria)

Rarely has one heard such a fascinating Pathétique.
Tonart (Austria)

In his head Schirmer has the spontaneity and intellectuality of the early Beethoven, and in his fingers the composer’s brio, humour and tenderness. His timbres are fascinating and he plays with passion, sounding the depths. He is a seeker plumbing Beethoven’s unfathomable self-forgetfulness.
Tiroler Tageszeitung (Austria)

With this CD the young Markus Schirmer from Graz is treading a path all of his own. In the first and last movements he lets his hair down with idiosyncrasies that verge on madness; and in the slow movements he gives us heavily introverted poetry displaying great extremes of feeling.
Oberösterreichische Nachrichten (Austria)

A recording that is stimulating and exciting in its purity and pianistic naturalness. A striking sign that the Austrian tradition of piano-playing is flourishing, at a high intellectual and technical level.
Klassik heute (Austria)

Schirmer plays these sonatas with a depth of feeling and a sheer honesty that make the recording well worth listening to. His Beethoven gets to grips with substance and is at the same time fun – a CD that is perfectly capable of standing comparison with other recordings.
Piano News (Germany)

This CD presents a Beethoven who is unusually tempestuous and witty, passionate and poetic – and does so with real understanding. Markus Schirmer confirms that the last word on Beethoven has not yet been spoken and that he wants to make his contribution. This he should do. We will be happy to listen.
Pizzicato (Luxemburg)

Markus Schirmer’s playing is compellingly balanced, wonderfully well thought through and beautifully executed.
Fono Forum (Germany)