Jimin Oh-Havenith - Schumann: wild mild - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Jimin Oh-Havenith's third album album for audite - following her recordings of great classical and romantic piano sonatas (Schubert, Liszt / Beethoven) - is dedicated to a completely different aspect in the immense world of piano music different formats, such as a theme for variations, single sonata movements, the etude, the character piece and the free piece. These works span 250 years, from the early eighteenth century until 1976, comprising the baroque, classical, romantic, modern and post-modern styles. Pieces familiar to every piano student, such as Bach's C major Prelude from the Well-Tempered Clavier, the Turkish March from Mozart's Piano Sonata in A major, K. 331, and Beethoven's Für Elise, are contrasted with virtuoso works such as Liszt's Etude La campanella, Ravel's Jeux d'eau and - with a nod towards the New World - Louis Moreau Gottschalk's Le bananier. There is, of course, a programmatic structure connecting these 21 pieces to one another, hinted at by the title of the album, known / now well-known and world-famous pieces on the one hand, and more obscure, though no less original, works on the other, creating a dialogue. Illuminating and informing each other, they gain aesthetic presence in Jimin Oh-Havenith's sensitive interpretations.

With this recording, audite is launching an initial three-CD series with Jimin Oh-Havenith. In it, the pianist presents her personal view of Robert Schumann, whose contribution to Romantic piano music is unparalleled, especially through the series of masterpieces written between 1830 and 1839. The First Sonata in F-sharp Minor op. 11 and the Fantasy op. 17 are part of Schumann's exploration of the classical sonata form, especially that of Beethoven and Schubert. Due to their poetic and autobiographical-programmatic charge in combination with a novel, strongly contrapuntal pianistic virtuosity, they are still among the most demanding piano works of the Romantic period, but also unreservedly loved by performers and listeners. Jimin Oh-Havenith's playing, as powerful as it is tonally nuanced, does special justice to the unique richness of this music.

Wurtemburg Philharmonic Reutli - Abendphantasie for Orch / Metamorphosen [COMPACT DISCS] date 10/10/2006