Lisa Smirnova
"Lisa Smirnova was ebullient and communicative, clearly seeing beyond the technicality and even the artistry of the piece, tapping directly into the soul of the composer. Heavy with drama, her commanding style nearly overwhelmed the other musicians. Ironically, the orchestra was at its best when it was the most subtle, an almost inaudible underpinning to Smirnova’s improvisation." The Columbus Dispatch
Videos
"… a great Mozart pianist as one has to look hard for in the younger generation“ RNZ
“The Russian-born pianist Lisa Smirnova essayed Rachmaninoff’s rhapsody on a theme of Paganini giving proof of high-level artistic playing. She has a beautiful tone, round, resonant and never percussive. Her performance proves, once again, that the less the performer moves around, the more control you will have”. Joseph Gold, Piedmont Post Newspaper
"As if Emil Gilels and Sviatoslav Richter were resurrected, so appears the powerful piano performance of the Russian-Austrian pianist Lisa Smirnova... . unceasing arcs of suspense and a fully elastic balance between sound and energetics characterise the distinguished performance of this Moscow-born, exceptional pianist..." Herbert Schranz, Kleine Zeitung, Graz
"… a performance almost unique in its own more epic way, allowing it to stand with the many other fine accounts by Buchbinder, Barenboim, Brendel, Schnabel and scores of others. Again…..this one is a standout. " Classical.net, Robert Cummings
"Lisa Smirnova is a shining light in pianist heaven: cleanest technique, variable touch, powerful as well as sensitive presentation, for all her brilliance nowhere a virtuoso tinkling, in contrast clear structure and articulate emphasis, even in the most rapid passages. And her modest being, full of endearing humanity, enthrals all the more." Karin Berg-Kotterba, Schwarzwälder Bote
Photos
Click photo to download
Concerti
J. S. Bach Piano Concertos
D Minor, BWV 1052
F Minor, BWV 1056
E-Major, BWV 1054
A Major, BWV 1055
G-Minor, BWV 1058
D-major BWV 1054
Haydn Piano Concertos
D Major, Hob. XVIII:11
G Major, Hob. XVIII:4
F Major, Hob. XVIII:3
Concerto for Violin, Piano and Orchestra in F Major, Hob. XVIII:6
Mozart Piano Concertos
E flat Major, K. 271
Rondo in D Major, K. 382
F Major, K. 413
A Major, K. 414
C-major, K. 415
E flat Major, K. 449
G Major, K. 453
D Minor, K. 466
C Major, K. 467
A Major, K. 488
C Minor, K. 491
C-Major, K. 503
B flat Major, K. 595
Beethoven Piano Concertos
C Major, op.15
B flat Major, op.19
C Minor, op. 37
G Major, op. 58
E flat Major, op. 73
Concerto for Violin, Cello, Piano and Orchestra, op. 56
Phantasy for Piano, Choir and Orchestra, op. 80
Schubert / Liszt
Wanderer – Phantasy (Arr. for Piano and Orchestra)
Mendelssohn Piano Concertos
G Minor, op. 25
D Minor, op. 40
Capriccio brillante in B Minor, 0p. 22
Concerto for Violin, Piano and Orcherstra in D minor
Schumann
Piano Concerto in A Minor, op. 54
Introduction and Concert-Allegro in D Minor, op. 134
Brahms Piano Concertos
d – moll, op.15
B - Dur, op. 83
Grieg
Piano Concerto in A Minor, op. 16
Ravel
Piano Concerto in G Major
Tchaikovsky
Piano Concerto No. 1, op. 23
Rachmaninoff
Rapsody on a Theme by Paganini, op. 43
W. Lutoslawski
Paganini -Variations (Version for Piano and Orchestra, 1970)
Bartok
Piano Concerto No. 3 Sz 119
F. Poulenc
Concerto for 2 Pianos and Orchestra in D Minor
Gershwin
Rhapsody in blue
Shostakovich
Piano Concerto No. 2. op. 102
G. Ustvolskaya
Concerto for Piano and Strings (1946)
W. Rihm
Sotto Voce I (1999)
R. Shchedrin
Concerto lontano for Piano and Strings (2003)
V. Pelecis
Concerto Bianco, op. 44
M. Gorecki
Concerto for Piano and Strings, op. 40
F. Gulda
Concerto for Myself
Piazzolla
The Four Seasons
(arrangement for Piano and String Orchestra)
V. Silvestrov
“Postludium” for Piano and Orchesrta
“Five moments of Memory” for Piano and Strings
Bio
Lisa Smirnova
Piano
Pianist Lisa Smirnova is one of the most remarkable artistic personalities performing today.
Deeply rooted in the music of the baroque and classical period, she is recognised as a renowned Mozart specialist, and as an outstanding interpreter of J.S. Bach, Händel and Scarlatti.
Lisa Smirnova made her debut at Carnegie Hall at the age of 20, followed by performances at Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Wigmore Hall in London, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Konzerthaus in Vienna and the Salzburg Festival in the summer of 1996. Since then, she has regularly appeared in the US, Europe and Asia and has performed with renowned conductors such as Manfred Honeck, Ivor Bolton, Carlos Kalmar, Andrey Boreyko and Andres Mustonen.
A passionate champion of contemporary music, she regularly collaborates with renowned composers such as Wolfgang Rihm, Rodion Schedrin, Giya Kancheli and Valentin Silvestrov.
From a growing desire to be able to design a comprehensive, historically informed sound of the Baroque and Classical repertoire on a modern grand piano, and within a formation of other musicians, Lisa Smirnova founded the New Classic Ensemble Vienna in 2007, with whom she now realizes many of her artistic projects.
The recordings of Lisa Smirnova are critically acclaimed. Highlights are her rendition of the Eight Great Suites by Georg Friedrich Händel (2012, ECM New Series), and her Live Recording of Prokofiev’s Sonata No. 8 and Beethoven op. 111 at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam (2017, Paladino Music). As a result of her collaboration with violinist Benjamin Schmid, the world-premiere recording of Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for violin with the piano accompaniment of Robert Schumann (1995/2011 MDG), as well as the recording of works by Shostakovich, Prokofiev and Weill (2015, Ondine) have also garnered exceptional reviews.
Born in Moscow, Lisa Smirnova left the former Soviet Union in 1991 for an opportunity to study with the renowned piano pedagogue Karl-Heinz Kämmerling at the Salzburg Mozarteum, and later with Maria Curcio and Robert Levin in London.
A new, essential component of Lisa Smirnova’s artistic activities is concert design: she creates new performance formats for classical music with the goal of setting them in contemporary contexts with other artistic disciplines, thus creating access for a new and courageous audience with an interest in culture. The premiere of the work by Lisa Smirnova and Alexander Borowski, “Visual Interpretation without Performer”, based on Fantasy in C Minor, KV 396/385f by W. A. Mozart took place on 22 October 2020 at the Kunstpalast Düsseldorf.
Lisa Smirnova lives in Vienna and Düsseldorf, where she is Professor at the Robert Schumann Hochschule.