Celebrate Valentine’s Day with pianist Maksim at KLCC

The Croatian crossover pianist returns to KL for a one-night-only concert on Feb 14

by ANIS HAZIM

WHAT could be a more romantic setting than sitting next to your significant other, listening to classical crossover piano on Valentine’s Day?

World-renowned Croatian crossover pianist Maksim Mrvica is set to return to Kuala Lumpur to perform his solo concert this Feb 14 at the Plenary Hall, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC).

Experience the unforgettable evening to catch Maksim’s one-night-only concert where he will be playing the greatest hits of all time by Coldplay, John Legend and Queen, movies themes from “Godfather”, “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “Game of Thrones”, as well as classical masterpieces by Liszt and Chopin.

On top of that, the virtuoso pianist will also be playing his biggest pieces from his previous 10 albums including “Flight of the Bumblebee”, “Exodus” and many more.

The ground-breaking Maksim is also recognised as the world’s highest-selling crossover pianist

Maksim, winner of MTV Music Awards and top prizes at prestigious international music competitions, last performed in Malaysia in 2004 at Stadium Bukit Jalil and astonished the huge crowd with an hour-plus of electro-pop-infused classical music.

He held a 20-city tour in Japan, which was considered the biggest tour ever by an international artist. The tour’s success led to invitations from the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra to perform as a soloist, the Chopin Society in Warsaw to celebrate the bicentennial of Chopin’s birth, as well as an exclusive invitation to the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London.

The 47-year-old pianist’s crossover concept has inspired more people to listen to piano music as many find classical music too complex to understand.

His music style has broken down the boundaries between music genres, from classical and movie anthems to pop and electronic in cooperation with EMI, Sony and Universal.

“I was very into classical music, and I think that we need to find a way to introduce classical music to the younger audience because otherwise, one day there would be no one to continue the tradition of classical music,” Maksim once said during an interview.

At the age of eight, he discovered the piano at a friend’s house and fell in love with the piano and classical music, despite having no background in classical music.

During the Yugoslav Wars period, Maksim, who was 15 at that time, developed a stronger connection to music and the piano. He continued to have piano lessons in a basement despite the horrors of the wars.

“None of my parents or friends, in any way connected to classical music and that was quite surprising for them why I wanted to play classical piano.

“As soon as I started to play and enrol in music school, I knew that was something I wanted to do in my life,” he said.

Maksim’s classical crossover masterpiece was largely inspired by the music itself, as well as other artists and pianists. He once played the “Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov in just 56 seconds and became known as one of the fastest pianists in the world.

“When it comes to classical music, I was always very drawn to Russian composers. Most of my classical repertoire is Russian, so I would always go for Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff or something like that.

“As for the other kinds of music, I always say electronic music is the biggest love in my life, and I used to go to these techno parties and just listen to techno music for a long time,” he said.

Maksim received his education at The Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest and Alexander Scriabin Conservatoire in Paris, after he won first prize at a National Competition in Croatia and first prize at the

Rubinstein Piano Competition in France. His work has been included on the official album of Olympic Games and has garnered an MTV award for best debut crossover album of the year, as well as over 150 million hits on YouTube.

Over the years, he has performed at prestigious venues and events such as Roundhouse in London, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Sydney Opera House, Mercedes-Benz Arena Shanghai and CCTV New Year’s Gala for more than one billion viewers.

The ground-breaking Maksim is also recognised as the world’s highest-selling crossover pianist, with over four million copies of his albums sold throughout 57 countries. His albums have received a Double Platinum in Hong Kong and Gold status in Singapore and many other countries.

So, plan a romantic night out to music from Maksim by visiting myticket.asia or WhatsApp +60175320128. Tickets start from RM168. For more info, visit Harmonie International on Facebook.