Once Upon a Time Esther Birringer

• Igor Stravinsky (1882 - 1971): Three Movements from Petrushka, K. 12:
• 1Stravinsky: Three Movements from Petrushka, K. 12: I. Russian Dance02:43
• 2Stravinsky: Three Movements from Petrushka K. 12: II. Petrushka's Room05:14
• 3Stravinsky: Three Movements from Petrushka K. 12: III. The Shrovetide Fair09:29
• Sergei Prokofiev (1891 - 1953): Romeo & Juliet, 10 Pieces for Piano, Op. 75:
• 4Prokofiev: Romeo & Juliet, 10 Pieces for Piano, Op. 75: I. Folk Dance04:13
• 5Prokofiev: Romeo & Juliet, 10 Pieces for Piano, Op. 75: II. Scene01:29
• 6Prokofiev: Romeo & Juliet, 10 Pieces for Piano, Op. 75: III. Menuet03:02
• 7Prokofiev: Romeo & Juliet, 10 Pieces for Piano, Op. 75: IV. The Young Juliet04:00
• 8Prokofiev: Romeo & Juliet, 10 Pieces for Piano, Op. 75: V. Masks02:24
• 9Prokofiev: Romeo & Juliet, 10 Pieces for Piano, Op. 75: VI. The Montagues and Capulets03:59
• 10Prokofiev: Romeo & Juliet, 10 Pieces for Piano, Op. 75: VII. Friar Laurence02:59
• 11Prokofiev: Romeo & Juliet, 10 Pieces for Piano, Op. 75: VIII. Mercutio02:23
• 12Prokofiev: Romeo & Juliet, 10 Pieces for Piano, Op. 75: IX. Lily Dance of the Maidens02:18
• 13Prokofiev: Romeo & Juliet, 10 Pieces for Piano, Op. 75: X. Romeo bids Juliet Farewell08:38
• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 - 1893): The Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a:
• 14Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a: I. March (Arr. for piano)01:59
• 15Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a: II. Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy (Arr. for piano)02:05
• 16Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a: III. Tarantella (Arr. for piano)01:21
• 17Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a: IV. Intermezzo (Arr. for piano)04:11
• 18Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a: V. Trepak (Russian Dance) (Arr. for piano)01:17
• 19Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a: VI.The Tea (Chinese Dance) (Arr. for piano)01:17
• 20Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a: VII. Andante maestoso (Arr. for piano)05:49
• Total Runtime01:10:50

Info for Once Upon a Time

Esther Birringer has chosen three great Russian ballets for her recital album. All three have great stories – drama, love and tragedy in the case of Petrushka and Romeo & Juliet, and fantasy in The Nutcracker, which is based on a tale by ETA Hoffman. Tchaikovsky’s suite from ballet was arranged for piano by Mikhail Pletnev. Prokofiev, a superb pianist, arranged numbers from his ballet Romeo & Juliet for piano, and Stravinsky took three sections from his ballet Petrushka and created the Three Pieces – it is a superb showcase for any pianist and makes great demands upon the performer.

"On her first solo album, she brilliantly virtuosically narrates three Russian fairy tales." (Radio Klassik)

"Without being overly bold, she sometimes lets her fingers whisper on the keyboard, but then again, she attacks the right places with the necessary vehemence." (O-Ton)

"Esther Birringer has made a brilliant debut - chapeau!" (Radio Bremen)

"The young pianist Esther Birringer performed her solo part with an intimately beautiful sound and with a smooth fluidity, never just mechanical but lively and descriptive all the time - a strong talent" (Kölnische Rundschau)

Esther Birringer, piano

Esther Birringer
began playing her first pieces on the piano at the age of three. Her extraordinary talent was recognized very early and she made her debut as a soloist with orchestra at the age of six. In the years that followed, she accepted her first invitations to perform in Germany, Italy and Switzerland. After graduating from high school in 2003, she began her studies at the University of Music, Drama and Media in Hanover and the University of Arts in Berlin. Esther Birringer's mentors include Karl-Heinz Kämmerling, Pascal Devoyon, Cécile Ousset and Arie Vardi. In 2013, she graduated with honors in concert performance from the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media.

During her studies she was first prize winner at the 6th International Piano Competition Johann Sebastian Bach in Würzburg and at the 9th International Piano Competition of the Chopin Society Hanover, she also succeeded at the International Grieg Piano Competition in Oslo, the ZF Music Prize and the German Music Competition. For her outstanding international achievements, she was awarded the Culture Prize for Young Artists by the City Association of Saarbrücken.

Highlights of recent years have included performances in leading concert halls such as the Cologne Philharmonie, the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Kulturkreis Gasteig, the Munich Residenz, the Laeiszhalle Hamburg, the Elmau Castle, the French Cathedral Berlin, the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence and the Nicolaisaal Potsdam.

She has been a guest at important festivals such as the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the MDR Musiksommer, the Usedomer Musikfestival, the Weilburger Schlosskonzerte, the Davos Festival, the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the Festival Lugano Musica, Palermo Classica, the Festival Internacional De Piano Bucaramanga Colombia, the Musikfestspiele Saar, the Musikfesttage an der Oder, the Bachfest Leipzig, the Schwetzinger Schlosskonzerte, the Würzburger Bachtage and the Festival AlpenKlassik Bad Reichenhall.

Under the baton of Michael Sanderling, Łukasz Borowicz, Marcus Bosch, Paweł Kotla, Lancelot Fuhry, Jirí Malát and Helmut Branny, Esther Birringer has performed with the Munich Symphony Orchestra, the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Dresden Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, the Dresdner Kapellsolisten, the Brandenburg State Orchestra Frankfurt-Oder, the Polska Filharmonia Bałtycka, the Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra, the Kurpfälzisches Kammerorchester, the Deutsche Streicherphilharmonie and the Neues Kammerorchester Potsdam.

In cooperation with the ballet company of the Bremerhaven City Theater, Esther Birringer performed Bach's monumental Goldberg Variations in a perfect symbiosis of music and dance as part of a project spanning an entire season. She is also a welcome guest on the cruise ships MS Europa and MS Europa 2.

A passionate chamber musician, she has appeared on stage with partners such as Julian Arp, Robert Langbein, Lutz Koppetsch, Peter-Philipp Staemmler, Vladimir Babeshko, Asya Fateyeva and the Szymanowski Quartet. The career as a duo with her sister, violinist Lea Birringer, took off abruptly after the siblings won back-to-back international chamber music competitions in 2011, Premio Vittorio Gui in Florence and Concorso Internazionale di Musica da Camera Città di Pinerolo, with a special prize for the best Brahms interpretation. 'One praises by now their intimate playing together and their tonal beauty. That the whole is carried by the highest precision goes without saying' (SWR2).

Their common debut CD with rarely played sonatas by Szymanowski, Hindemith and Respighi received great attention in the trade press. 'The name Birringer is one to remember' stated Westdeutscher Rundfunk. The siblings followed up in 2018 with the album 'Lifelines', released by Rubicon Classics. It includes the first Grieg Sonata, two Liszt Elegies and the monumental Franck Sonata and received excellent reviews. 'Artistically, the two beautiful sisters from Saarland are a blast' (Concerti). The latest album, 'Di tanti palpiti', also on Rubicon Classics, was nominated for the ICMA Awards and the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik. The last two albums both received the Supersonic Award from Pizzicato Magazine and were featured in Lufthansa's in-flight program.

In addition to her artistic activities, Esther Birringer has a great pedagogical interest, which she pursues with passion and enthusiasm. She has given master classes in Europe, Asia and Latin America and taught at the University for Music Carl Maria von Weber Dresden.

Booklet for Once Upon a Time