Biography
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Born
16 September 1963 (age 61)
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Born In
Innsbruck, Tirol, Austria
You feel you are eavesdropping on a major talent caught up in the act of creation.(Gramophone Magazine)
Thomas Larcher’s compositions take an immediate hold on the listener. Notable for their confidence and momentum, directness of expression and quality of invention, his works have been described as occupying ‘a refreshing middle ground in the contemporary music scene, somewhere between the complexity of the Boulez-Stockhausen avant-garde and the newer wave of simplicity.’ He is also a pianist of exceptional insight, possessing a phenomenal technique.
Born in Innsbruck in 1963, Larcher grew up in the Austrian Tyrol. After studying piano and composition in Vienna, he embarked on a career combining composition, performing, teaching and directing festivals. However, composing took over, as he received an increasing number of commissions from significant musicians and institutions, including Till Fellner, Heinrich Schiff, the Tönhalle Düsseldorf, and the Mozart Week in Salzburg. He has also been featured as Composer in Residence in Davos (Switzerland), Heimbach (Germany) and Risør (Norway). In 1994 he founded the "Festival Klangspuren Schwaz" in Austria and since 2006 he is Artistic Director of the Svarowski Festival "Musik im Riesen" Wattens.
Recent and forthcoming compositions include his Cello Concerto Hier, Heute (Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, Jonathan Nott), which includes the pre-recorded voice of a photographer involved in the Iraq War; a Piano Concerto Böse Zellen(= Free Radicals), of which he gave the premiere at the Ruhr Festival in July 2006; and a String Quartet for the Artemis Quartet. Larcher has an ongoing association with the record label ECM; Naunz, released in 2002 was followed by Ixxu, released to criticial acclaim last Autumn - Larcher has a way of convincing you, like Morton Feldman, that every note is in its rights place and should be nowhere else.
As a pianist, Larcher is a particularly illuminating performer of the music of our time. He also has a special ability to cast new light on the established repertoire, both through his searching interpretation and through programming that reveals links, contrasts and comparisons in music. His recital discs are often thought-provoking (for example, a CD entwining the works of Schubert and Schönberg) and have earned him many industry awards, including the Preis den Deutschen Schallplattenkritik and the Choc de la Musique.
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