Genre: Piano Solo, Contemporary, Musical
Release Date: March 27, 2026
Label: Sfumato Records
Instrument: Steinway & Sons D-274
Recorded at: Studio de Meudon (France)
Sound Recording: Léo Chupin
Catalog Ref: 2510SFU
Music Publisher: Normandy Publishing

"This album is dedicated to the musicals of my friend Christian Schittenhelm. Between 2000 and 2010, these shows toured the major Zénith arenas and prestigious venues like the Casino de Paris, Théâtre de Paris, Théâtre Déjazet or the Princess Grace Theatre in Monaco. La petite sirène was even performed at Disneyland! It was the composer of all these shows who gave me carte blanche to imagine the solo piano arrangements of his most beautiful melodies.

Having been encouraged early on by Georges Cziffra in the art of arrangement and transcription, and later by Bernard de Crépy at the CNSM in Paris, I approached these arrangements in two stages:

• Transcribing by ear (without sheet music): Listening closely to the melodies to truly capture their soul and identify the essential voices.
• Creative reinterpretation: Adding counterpoint, new voices, and pianistic flourishes in a style that bridges Romanticism and Impressionism."

“J’ai déchiré mon voile” and “Je suis la vie la Terre” are excerpts from the musical tale Big Bang Bulles, Sauvons la terre. The story features the Earth, the Moon, and the Sun in a sparkling, humorous exchange. Christian Schittenhelm raises awareness among young audiences about the history of life on Earth and the natural preservation of our fragile planet. The show was performed about thirty times in France between 2006 and 2009 in the composer's original staging.

“Mon Rêve” and “L’Artiste” are excerpts from the musical Le Petit Chose, based on the work by Alphonse Daudet. The show was performed around fifty times in French regional theaters between 2005 and 2009 in the composer's original staging.

“Aujourd’hui” is one of the main themes ofWalldance, an electro-drama project with a libretto by Armin Petras, based on the works of Yves Hughes. The show tells the story of a romance between a young Berliner and a ballerina from the East Berlin Opera, set against the backdrop of the Berlin Wall. The project is scheduled to premiere in Germany in 2029, marking the 40th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

“La Belle Ferronnière” and “Mona Lisa” are excerpts from the musical Da Vinci, The Wings of Light, which ran for 52 performances at the Casino de Paris in 2000 as part of the city's official millennium festivities.

“Les Alizés” and “Qui es-tu” are excerpts from the musical La petite sirène (based on Hans Christian Andersen's tale), which premiered at the Théâtre de Paris in 2008. Directed by Sébastien Savin with set design by composer Christian Schittenhelm, the show was highly successful, with over 300 performances across French regional theaters, EuroDisney, Switzerland, and Belgium. It toured until 2010, playing in nine major Zénith arenas in France.

“On se dira des mots doux” and “Mon prince a disparu” are excerpts from the musical La petite fille aux allumettes, featuring dialogue by Muriel Dana. The show premiered at the Théâtre Déjazet in Paris in 2004. It ran for over 400 performances in the composer's original staging until 2010, playing in prestigious French theaters, including the Princess Grace Theatre in Monaco.

“La vie est un espoir” is an excerpt from the musical La petite indienne, the story of a young Native American girl saved by the legendary masked man. This work has not yet premiered on stage.

Romain Hervé was born in Rennes, France in 1977, and studied with Pierre Froment (a disciple of Alfred Cortot) at the Conservatoire de Rennes and with Bruno Rigutto (a Samson François student) at the Conservatoire National Supérieur in Paris. At the latter institution he took first prizes in piano and chamber music, was awarded advanced studies diplomas with highest honours in the same disciplines, and subsequently undertook the top level of studies, the cycle de perfectionnement. He has also worked with Lazar Berman, Georges Cziffra, Dimitri Bashkirov, Leon Fleisher, Jan-Marisse Huizing and Lev Naumov.

Hervé appears both as a soloist and with a variety of orchestras. In Paris he has performed at the salle Gaveau (with the European Romantic Orchestra), in Olivier Messaien Hall at Radio France (with the Orchestra de la Garde Républicaine), at the Cité de la Musique, the auditoriums of the Palais Royal and the Musée Grévin, and at the Salle Cortot. Other French venues include the Rennes Opera, the Grand Théàtre Massenet de l’Esplanade in Saint-Etienne, and the Cannes Midem (with Laurent Korcia). Some of his numerous festival appearances include Les Serres d’Auteuil, Les Rencontres Musicales en Artois, Piano en Saintonge, the Cziffra Festival, Le Printemps Musical de Saint-Jean-de-Luz, La Semaine Musicale in Pittefaux, the Dinard music festival, Liszt en Provence, Piano Passion, Roquefort-les-Pins, Hem, the Ars Terra Festival in Villers-sur-Authie, the Pro Musica Festival in Pamiers, and Piano en Arvor in Saint-Jouan-de-l’Isle.

Romain Hervé makes frequent appearances across Europe and in the Far East, playing in Germany (for the Hanover Radio), The Netherlands (in Nijmegen, Bergen, and at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw), Singapore (as a soloist and in Ravel’s Concerto for the Left Hand, with the Singapore National Youth Orchestra (conducted by Robert Casteels) at the Esplanade Concert Hall), Switzerland (at the Palais de l’Athénée in Geneva), Great Britain (with the Nottingham Youth Orchestra), and in Italy, Belgium and Spain. 
 
He has participated in several television and radio broadcasts, including France Inter’s popular “Carrefour de Lodeon” and programmes on France Culture, Radio France Armorique, NDR Kultur and France 3. He performed the Mendelssohn concerto for the French radio and was Lionel Esparza’s guest on France Musique’s “Si loin, si proche”; he was also Alain Dualt’s guest on RTL’s weekly Classic-Classique programme. 
 
In March 2003 Hervé received the New Artist-RTL award from Classica magazine. Besides offering him a page-long interview, the publication also released 50,000 copies of his album of works by Scarlatti, Beethoven, Chopin, Brahms, Liszt and Debussy. 
 
Romain Hervé, a Cziffra Foundation and Banque Populaire Foundation award-winner, made great strides forward in 2005 with the release of his Liszt recording on the Calliope label. The album was awarded R10 by Classica/Répertoire and was Pianist’s Record of the Year in 2005.
 
As Philippe van den Bosch wrote in Classica/Répertoire, this album “unveiled a marvellous pianist” and made it clear that Romain Hervé is “one of the most talented pianists of his generation” (Le Nouveau Musicien, May 2005). 
 
The recording earned praise from RTL’s Alain Duault, who featured it as Record of the Week on his Classic-Classique programme. Harmonia Mundi chose selections from the album for its “Talents de Pianists” anthology, which included performances by Pascal Amoyel, Alexandre Tharaud, Frank Braley, Paul Lewis and Cédric Tiberghein, among others. 
 
Like pianist and composer Noel Lee, all who hear Romain Hervé agree that he “combines staggering technical mastery with something rarer and more important: a profound musical sense, which he uses to guide his technique”. 
 
Jan-Marisse Huizing, professor at the Amsterdam Conservatory and artistic director of the Holland Music Sessions, commented after hearing Romain Hervé’s recital at the Concertgebouw, that “(he) has a personal playing style and a special sort of charisma that captures the audience’s attention. His technical mastery is that of a mature artist.”
 
An unusual and uncompromising artist who flees rather than seeking out the limelight, Romain Hervé is also an expert windsurfer. As Bruno Rigutto put it, he is “an all-round musician with vast musical knowledge and a rare sense of analysis. His sensitivity and creative ideas are entirely out of the ordinary, and prove that he is an exceptional artist.”

Christian Schittenhelm began studying the piano at the age of 6. At 21, he received the SACEM Academic Prize from the French Society of Authors (1984).

In 1989, he recorded a pop album for EMI with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1996, he composed Rhapsody Khronos and Khaos, his two symphonic poems highly praised by Maestro Marcel Landowski, then Chancellor of the Institut de France.

In 1998, at the request of journalist Yves Mourousi, he composed L’Hymne Paris 2000 for the city of Paris, performed by the Orchestre Colonne.

He composed Da Vinci, an opera, with the support of Mr. Pierre Rosenberg, President of the Grand Louvre, and curator Mr. Guy Nicot. He adapted it into a musical, "Da Vinci, The Wings of Light." Premiering in 1999 in Tokyo for Fuji TV ahead of its Parisian production, the musical was performed 52 times in the summer of 2000 at the Casino de Paris. (A Sony-Music recording with the Prague Symphony Orchestra under his direction).

From 2000 to 2010, his musicals ran for over 800 performances in France, Switzerland, Belgium, Hungary, and Germany, as well as in Parisian theaters (Théâtre de Paris, Casino de Paris, Théâtre Déjazet), the Princess Grace Theatre in Monaco, EuroDisney, and subsequently on tour across 9 Zénith arenas in France.

He has also composed several symphonic poems, including DAWN, BANG, and ALSATICA, along with four concertos for piano and orchestra: BLEU, WILD, AIR, and the triple piano concerto LUX.

In 2020-2021, he recorded a solo piano album with Swedish concert pianist Peter Jablonski, "Back home with the Moon."

In 2022, he discovered concert pianist Svetlana Andreeva, born in southern Ukraine. She recorded his second solo piano album, "Synesthesia," at Teldex Studios in Berlin.

In January 2023, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra invited Svetlana Andreeva and German conductor Sergey Neller to record the composer's Piano Concerto No. 4, AIR, and the symphonic poem "DAWN."

In 2026, he is preparing the production of "Walldance – The Spark of Freedom," a commemorative musical show based on the libretto by French author Yves Hughes (1960-2020).

christianschittenhelm.fr