Esther Birringer: Debussy Esther Birringer

• Claude Debussy (1862 - 1918): Images, Book 1, CD 105, L. 110:
• 1Debussy: Images, Book 1, CD 105, L. 110: I. Reflets dans l'eau05:48
• 2Debussy: Images, Book 1, CD 105, L. 110: II. Hommage à Rameau07:07
• 3Debussy: Images, Book 1, CD 105, L. 110: III. Mouvement03:26
• Images, Book 2, CD 120, L. 111:
• 4Debussy: Images, Book 2, CD 120, L. 111: I. Cloches à travers le feulles04:29
• 5Debussy: Images, Book 2, CD 120, L. 111: II. Et la lune sur le temple qui fut05:47
• 6Debussy: Images, Book 2, CD 120, L. 111: III. Poissons d'or03:52
• Ballade, CD 78, L. 70:
• 7Debussy: Ballade, CD 78, L. 7006:29
• Masques, CD 110, L. 105:
• 8Debussy: Masques, CD 110, L. 10504:54
• Deux arabesques, CD 74, L. 66:
• 9Debussy: Deux arabesques, CD 74, L. 66: No. 1, Andantino con moto04:18
• Suite bergamasque, CD 82, L. 75:
• 10Debussy: Suite bergamasque, CD 82, L. 75: III. Clair de lune05:34
• Nocturne, CD 89, L. 82:
• 11Debussy: Nocturne, CD 89, L. 8206:28
• L'isle Joyeuse, CD 109, L. 106:
• 12Debussy: L'isle Joyeuse, CD 109, L. 10606:24
• Total Runtime01:04:36

Info for Esther Birringer: Debussy

After her debut album Once Upon A Time, which was released in May 2021, Esther Birringer has now followed it up with a second album. This time it's about the French composer Claude Debussy, who revolutionized music in his time and created new dimensions, especially in terms of sound and its effect. To create a very individual portrait of this unique sound poet, the pianist juxtaposes the two well-known Images cycles, which are the focus of her new album, with works that are rarely heard in the concert hall, such as the Ballade, the Nocturne and the brilliant Masques. But also one of the most famous pieces by Debussy, Clair de lune, the very early composed first Arabesque and the exotic L'Isle joyeuse may not be missing on this album. With this program, the artist allows her listeners to experience in an extraordinary way how music can suggest silence, light and shadow, and how the French impressionist wove foreign sounds from other cultures into his compositional style.

Esther Birringer "convinces with a lot of sound imagination" (Radio Bremen) and "shows herself to be an intelligent designer" (Pizzicato). The pianist performs regularly in important music centers at home and abroad and is a welcome guest with leading orchestras and festivals. In addition to her solo activities, she has established herself as a sought-after chamber musician. Highlights of recent years have included performances in renowned concert halls such as the Cologne Philharmonie, the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Kulturkreis Gasteig, the Munich Residenz, the Laeiszhalle Hamburg, Elmau Castle, the French Cathedral Berlin and the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence.

Esther Birringer's exceptional talent was recognized very early and she made her debut as a soloist with orchestra at the age of six. Her 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 as well as at the 9th International Piano Competition of the ChopinGesellschaft Hannover and 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 Saarbrücken City Association.

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 Esther Birringer: Debussy