Editorial Reviews

Alongside one of the booklet photographs of a brooding Maksim, the young Croatian pianist heard here on his sophomore CD, appears the phrase "from techno 2 tchaikovsky." That pretty much sums up Maksim's style -- except that there's actually no Tchaikovsky on this disc, and it doesn't account for the Tuvan throat singers who are sampled on "Exodus" (the theme from Ernest Gold's film score). Maksim (whose debut, Gestures, hit big in Croatia) is the well-dressed male answer to the crossover string quartet Bond -- in other words, his music sounds like Hooked on Classics updated from '70s disco to 21st-century Europop -- but he's working the pop/classical boundary with an unusually successful blend of flair, humor, and musical smarts. Roughly half of his album is devoted to new compositions by the pianist's countryman, Tonci Huljic, a master of yearning eastern European–style melodies. Another Croatian original, Franco Parac's "Dance of the Baroness," is the only track to feature piano without strings, synths, and beats, and its demonic vitality suggests that Maksim could be just as interesting as a straightforward classical pianist. The rest of the program turns to Maksim's postmodern take on classics like Grieg's Piano Concerto and Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight of the Bumblebee, with a ten-minute jaunt through Rachmaninoff's romantic Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini as a centerpiece. One of the reasons these re-arrangements work so infectiously is that Maksim and his producers have chosen classical tunes that are already dance floor–ready; they're practically begging for a techno beat. The other key to the project's success is simply that it is saturated with such an irresistible spirit of fun that even classical purists may be surprised to find themselves dancing around the room to Handel and Chopin. Scott Paulin, Barnes & Noble

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