Maksim Mrvica Photo: Courtesy of Universal Music

Our interview with Maksim Mrvica was at dawn in Shanghai. Even wearing high heels, I only reached to the 2.07 -meter-tall Croatian pianist's chest.

"Asia is the biggest market and China is the largest market as a country for me now," the 40-year-old pianist told the Global Times, adding that he held 10 classic tours and 15 crossover concerts in China in 2015. Performing in Shanghai and Shenzhen twice, he went to 23 cities in China last year, including some provincial capitals and cities such as Wenzhou and Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, and Hohhot, capital of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Wearing a dark grey shirt and black tie, Mrvica did not look like the wild and rebellious young man seen on posters several years before. The only thing that hinted that he was more than a classical pianist was the tattoo on his wrist.

A handsome and wild pianist whose music is high speed and accompanied by modern percussion instruments is probably most Chinese's impression of this musician. From his very first crossover album The Piano Player in 2003, Chinese netizens have shared his "Flight of The Bumble Bee," "Exodus" and "Croatian Rhapsody" online. These three pieces are still his most well-known pieces and are "must-plays" at all his concerts in China.

"I have already played 'Exodus' for over a thousand of times at my concerts. Most of my fans came to my concerts and wait for these songs, otherwise they would not let me go," he joked.

"But the amazing thing is that even if I play it 1,001 times, I still can find my passion about it. I can never get over of it," he said. 

In addition to repeating most of his famous pieces again and again, his concerts are decorated with splendid lighting and feature beautiful instrumental accompaniment. His concerts are incredibly popular in the Chinese mainland, with tickets selling quickly as fans look forward to watching their handsome idol play. Mrvica even has his own fanclub in China, who organize groups to wait for him to arrive at the airport like other fan clubs do for famous pop stars.

Last September, the pianist rerecorded eight of his most popular songs in new arrangements as part of his new album Croatian Rhapsody, which also features two new songs. Still featuring electronic and pop elements, these "2016 versions" of his respective works still contain some surprises.

"More modern elements have been added," concluded Mrvica.

However, if it came down to producing more records or giving more concerts, it seems the star prefers the latter.

"I don't really like studios, I would rather play in front of an audience," he told the Global Times.

Mrvica's last album Mezzo e Mezzo included Modest Mussorgsky's suite Pictures at an Exhibition, which was described by some music critics as a signal that he might turn to more classical music. However, Mrvica told the Global Times that he is not sure he wants to set from his current path.

"I'm not so sure about it. Mostly I play crossovers, and mostly my fans know me because of my crossover music."

The crossover pianist did reveal that he enjoys playing the classics when practicing.

"When I'm angry I play Prokofiev or Rachmaninoff, and when I'm sad I like to play Chopin. It depends on my mood," he said.

Bringing classical music to the public was Mrvica's original dream. Playing classical music in Paris in 2001, he was discovered by Tonci Huljic, who later composed many pieces for him and introduced him to Mel Bush. Mrvica considers this a key point in his life, because they helped discover his talent for crossover music, which led him out of his pure classical world.

While his dream has changed somewhat, the pianist has certainly inspired more people to listen to piano music as many who find classical music too heavy and difficult to understand feel his short and passionate music is "extremely cool."