Prizewinner CD

Robert Schumann described Johannes Brahms' Piano Sonata No. 3 in F minor as a "veiled symphony". And rightly so: with his Opus 5, Brahms had explored the formal boundaries beyond the sonata genre. The result is an impulsive and at the same time lyrical work. The 25-year-old pianist Jonas Aumiller has now recorded it for the new CD of the HfM Detmold. He won the university's Brahms Piano Competition in 2021 and, in addition to the prize money and follow-up engagements, was given the opportunity to produce a CD. This CD contains not only the sonata, but also another special feature: two symphonic poems by Franz Liszt, which the prize-winner transcribed especially for this occasion.

Liszt's symphonic poems opened up to Jonas Aumiller at an early age. "Since then, there have always been phases in which I have occupied myself intensively with them. I regretted that I could only hear them and not play them," he says. That's why he made a virtue of necessity in Corona times and made transcriptions of these orchestral works himself to make them playable for himself. In doing so, he has a personal educational mission, namely to bring this, in his opinion, neglected side of Liszt closer to an interested audience. The combination with the Brahms piano sonata, which is one of Jonas Aumiller's favourite compositions, resulted in a meaningful dramaturgical framework for him. "All three works are orchestral in character and coincidentally were first performed in 1854," says the pianist, who studied at the famous Juilliard School of Music in New York, among other places, and won competitions in Japan and Italy. In 2013, he was invited by the then German President Joachim Gauck to perform at Bellevue Palace in Berlin. He has given recitals in the renowned German concert series "Winners and Masters" in Munich, at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, at the Böblingen Pianists' Festival, at the UNESCO World Heritage Site Schloss Corvey in Höxter, at the International Academy of Music in Italy, the Mozart Foundation Italy and at the Summit Music Festival in New York.

The CD was recorded and produced by students of the Erich Thienhaus Institute under the direction of Prof. Werner Dabringhaus. It is available now at a price of 10 euros from the university and from Haus der Musik in Detmold.