戰亂中成長堅持對鋼琴熱愛的鋼琴玩家-邁可森 Maksim Mrvica-The Piano Player

Maksim 是2003年最受矚目的跨界鋼琴演奏新星！他俊酷的外型，200公分的身高，雙臂展開整架鋼琴就已籠罩在他的彈指間，純熟洗鍊的演奏技巧，加上大膽將現代感元素放入古典音樂所撞擊出來的火花，出神入化的彈指神功，一曲【大黃蜂的非行】羨煞了多少學鋼琴的年輕學子們，征服了無數死忠的古典樂迷，贏得了所有少男少女的心。讓【邁可森的狂熱】迅速於全球樂壇中引爆，成了全球樂迷的目光焦點。

邁可森於1975年生於克羅埃西亞的雅德里亞海岸、一個叫做 Šibenik 的小鎮，九歲開始學習鋼琴，隨即展現他在鋼琴演奏上過人的天賦。即使在戰亂的動盪環境中，依然堅持著對鋼琴的熾熱，受困於地牢八天，天花板已被砲彈轟炸而片片剝落，每天七小時的鋼琴練習卻不曾間斷，甚至還在戰地中舉辦音樂會！

1993年邁可森贏得札格拉布音樂比賽鋼琴大賞，於札格拉布音樂學院完成五年的鋼琴課程之後，再前往布達佩斯的李斯特音樂學院進修，並分別於1999年贏得魯賓斯坦鋼琴大賽首獎 (Nicolai Rubinstein International Competition)， 2000年邁可森定居巴黎，師事 Igor Lazko。 2001年參加巴黎龐拓斯鋼琴大賽再贏得首獎 (Pontoise Piano Competition)，這讓邁可森被保守的古典樂壇視為最有潛力的明日之星！很快邁可森的外在魅力與獨特的表演氛圍吸引了克羅埃西亞名音樂作曲家湯奇‧哈爾吉克 (Tonci Huljic) （他曾幫棒辣妹寫過好幾首曲子）的注意，並特別將他推薦給一手成功打造陳美的名音樂製作人梅爾‧布希 (Mel Bush)（同時也是陳美的經紀人）讓 Mel 驚為天人，立刻與邁可森簽下合約，並交由 EMI Classics 全球發行他的超重量級專輯「The Piano Player 鋼琴玩家」，音樂專輯更成了2003年全球最賣座的古典跨界類專輯，在人氣與實力的雙重加持下，擁有龐克前衛的外表、古典沉穩的內在、現代感音樂氣質的邁可森，曾於2004年4月17-18日首次在台灣舉辦個人獨奏會，邁可森宜現代宜古典的音樂風，帶台灣的樂迷們走入一場史上最狂野的的鋼琴演奏會。

邁可森希望吸引不同年齡層的樂迷欣賞他的音樂：「我希望能創造出令人興奮的的情境。」於是在他的現場演奏中，觀眾會看到雷射光束、乾冰、電視牆... 等等非常摩登的視覺效果，讓年輕人瘋狂不已！但是當邁可森演奏古典的鋼琴曲目時，展現出來的又是截然不同的沉穩內斂風格，向死忠的古典樂迷證明他洗鍊的鋼琴演奏技巧，同樣叫人低迴沉醉。在這張眾所期待的「The Piano Player 鋼琴玩家」專輯當中也是如此，邁可森將古典樂迷熟悉的【大黃蜂飛行】、【葛莉格鋼琴變奏曲】、【帕格尼尼主題狂想曲】等經典名曲，在邁可森的巧手彈奏之下，融入新意十足的現代節奏，讓人大呼過癮！

邁可森在克羅埃西亞非常受到年輕人的歡迎。他在故鄉發行的克羅埃西亞現代鋼琴小品專輯成為 2001-2002年最暢銷的古典跨類專輯。而 Tonci Huljic 幫他譜寫的「克勞汀幻想曲」(廣東版梁漢文唱的「信、望、愛」)、「新樂園」、「古巴！古巴！」... 等新曲，更是讓邁可森充分展現他神奇魔幻的詮演才華，讓整張專輯充滿的無限的驚喜。靜如處子、動如脫兔，宜古典宜現代的邁可森，在他紮實古典音樂底子下，散發出與一般傳統截然不同的沉穩內斂風格，讓人驚豔，註定成為今年全球古典跨界樂壇最閃亮的一顆新星！

Maksim Mrvica knew he wanted to play the piano when, aged just eight, he caught a glimpse of the instrument at his best friend Alexander’s house. That was in 1984 and although 22 years later he is one of the most famous pianists in the world, the journey hasn’t always been easy.

Born 1975 in Sibenik, a small, but beautiful medieval town on Croatia’s Adriatic Coast, the odds seemed stacked against Maksim achieveing his dream.

He was 15 when war broke out in Croatia and life became almost unbearable for the Mrvica family. Bombs fell almost constantly on Sibenik: Maksim remembers “There were more than 1000 grenades a day. At one point there were seven whole days when we stayed in the basement and didn’t see the sun. “But you got used to it: you had to go on living.” For Maksim, living meant playing the piano. He would meet his teacher Marija Sekso in the basement of Sibenik’s music school and forget the war, losing himself in the music for hours at a time .

Eventually a light appeared at the end of the tunnel. Maksim entered his first competition in 1993, practising feverishly to reach the high standards he knew were expected of him. War still raged in Sibenik, but there was peace in Zagreb where the competition was held. The 18 year old Maksim had already charmed the judge and audience just by turning up, but one he played the applause was purely for the music. The judge stopped the competition after Maksim’s performance, immediately announcing him as the winner. “They said I ought to win just for coming from Sibenik.” He laughs.

In 2001 Maksim met Tonci Huljic, a musician and composer who not only wrote some original pieces for the young pianist (and continues to do so), but introduced him to music impresario Mel Bush. Bush had been looking for a classical pianist for some time, having masterminded the success of all-girl string quartet Bond he was convinced that there was huge potential for a pianist to break into the classical/pop crossover market, but hadn’t been able to find the right person. On meeting Maksim he was immediately impressed by his charisma and signed him on the spot after hearing him play just one piece.

Maksim’s first crossover album for EMI Classical, The Piano Player, was a huge success in 2003. It went Gold in Malaysia, China and Indonesia and Platinum in Taiwan, Singapore and his home country Croatai and Double Platinum in Hong Kong. It contained what has become, to many, his signature piece: a particularly energetic version of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Flight Of The Bumblebee. He is particularly proud that there is now an annual competition named after him in which amateur pianists play the piece.

Variations I&II in 2004 won him yet more fans and a platinum disc for sales in Taiwan. On a tour of South East Asia fans received him like a rock star as he played his unique crossover music accompanied by strobe lights and video screens and dates in Japan where he played in a more purely classical style accompanied by the Moscow Symphony Orchestra were greeted just as rapturously.

Earlier in 2006 Maksim pushed the boundaries of crossover with his third album, A New World, toured again in Japan and Asia and was delighted to play a outdoor ‘homecoming’ show in Zagreb.The trajectory of his fame rose even steeper with the release of Elektric and a tour of Asia, where he performed both crossover concerts with his band and classical concerts with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra. He then returns to Asia for a solo piano concert tour at the end of April 2007.Maksim is married to childhood sweetheart Ana and the couple have a daughter named LeeLoo (after Milla Jojovovich’s character in The Fifth Element). They divide their time between Sibenik and London.