Poems Louis Schwizgebel

• Maurice Ravel (1875-1937): Gaspard de la nuit
• 1Ondine06:44
• 2Le Gibet05:44
• 3Scarbo09:09
• Franz Liszt (1811-1886): La vallée d'Obermann
• 4La vallée d'Obermann12:51
• Heinz Holliger (1939-): Elis, Drei Nachtstücke für Klavier
• 5Elis, wenn die Amsel im schwarzen Wald ruft, Dieses ist dein Untergang01:26
• 6Blaue Tauben, Trinken nachts den eisigen Schweiss, Der von Elis' kristallener01:46
• 7Ein goldener Kahn, Schaukelt, Elis, dein Herz am einsamen Himmel02:12
• Franz Schubert (1797-1828), arr. Franz Liszt (1811–1886)
• 8Ständchen05:23
• 9Auf dem Wasser zu singen03:53
• 10Du bist die Ruh05:00
• 11Erlkönig04:26
• Total Runtime58:34

Info for Poems

Chinese-Swiss artist Louis Schwizgebel became known to the wider public in 2012 after winning second prize at the International Piano Competition in Leeds, having already won the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York. Music lovers will appreciate the finesse of this pianist-poet and it is to poetry that Louis Schwizgebel has decided to dedicate his first album.

“In sum, this is a very good recital. I could live with any of the performances. It is good to see another version of the Holliger pieces. As for the Gaspard de la Nuit, it is one of the finest available. I look forward to hearing more of Louis Schwizgebel. Music inspired by poetry, poetically played” (MusicWeb International)

“Ravel distils a poetry of pure virtuosity, made magical here…Liszt’s transcriptions of Schubert Lieder complete the sequence seductively.” (The Sunday Times)

Louis Schwizgebel, piano

Louis Schwizgebel
Born in Geneva in 1987, Swiss-Chinese pianist Louis Schwizgebel won the Geneva International Music Competition at the age of seventeen and, two years later, the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York. In 2012 he won 2nd prize at the Leeds International Piano Competition and in 2013 he was announced as a BBC New Generation Artist.

Schwizgebel has performed with orchestras such as the London Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, Wiener Symphoniker, Orchestre National de Lyon, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Verbier Festival Orchestra, Nagoya and Shanghai Philharmonic orchestras, and the Orchestra of St. Luke's (NYC) with conductors such as Charles Dutoit, Fabio Luisi, Marek Janowski, Louis Langrée, Fabien Gabel, Sir Mark Elder, Edward Gardner, Thierry Fischer and Vasily Petrenko.

In the coming seasons, highlights include performances at the Vienna Konzerthaus and Prague’s Smetana Hall, debuts with the City of Birmingham, Utah and Detroit Symphony orchestras, and returns to Macao Symphony, BBC Symphony, BBC Philharmonic and London Philharmonic amongst others.

Schwizgebel has played at major festivals such as Verbier, Progetto Martha Argerich, City of London and Bergen International Festivals and in 2014 made a hugely successful debut at the BBC Proms. He performs regularly in chamber music and recital across the globe, and in the coming seasons will play at London’s Wigmore Hall, Munich’s Herkulessaal, Fribourg International Piano Series, Shanghai Concert Hall and at the Berlin Philharmonie.

Schwizgebel records exclusively for Aparté and his first solo disc, Poems, featuring works by Ravel, Liszt, Holliger and Schubert was released in 2013 to exceptional critical claim. Germany’s Fono Forum gave the disc four stars and hailed Schwizgebel “a genuine virtuoso, a spirited young genius with real depth”.

Schwizgebel studied with Brigitte Meyer in Lausanne and Pascal Devoyon in Berlin, and then later at the Juilliard School with Emanuel Ax and Robert McDonald, and at London’s Royal Academy of Music with Pascal Nemirovski. Schwizgebel is grateful for the support he has received from the Migros Culture Percentage, Hans Wilsdorf Foundation and Mozart Gesellschaft Dortmund.

Booklet for Poems