Dance is movement but furthermore it is also a means of expression of a society and its people. With his debut-CD, Austrian cellist Thomas Auner discovers the world of Dance and together with Irina Auner, piano, presents pieces from various countries and cultures. Starting with Le grand Tango by Astor Piazzolla and Slavonic and Hungarian Dances by Antonin Dvorak and Johannes Brahms, three movements from the Suites for Cello solo by Johann Sebastian Bach can also be found. Spanish influences appear with Maurice Ravel (Pièce en forme de Habanera), Gaspar Cassadó (Danse de Diable vert), Enrique Granados' Danza Espagnola - Andaluza and Danse espagnole by Manuel de Falla. Valse sentimentale by Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky shows a more melancholic mood, whereas Invitation to the Dance by Carl Maria von Weber in Auners own arrangement for cello and piano strikes with sublimity, not least due to his breathtaking virtuosity.
Thomas-Michael Auner comes from a Russian-Austrian family of musicians. His parents are both members of the Vienna Mozart Trio. He was a child prodigy and started taking piano lessons with his mother and cello lessons with his father at a very young age. At the age of five, he performed at the International Competition for Violoncello Liezen / Styria where he won the juryâs special award as the youngest competitor in the competitionâs history. At the age of 15, Auner subsequently won the first price at the very same International Competition for Violoncello Liezen where 130 cellists from Europe, Asia and the United States participated that year. Studying with his father until June 2006, he further on started his studies with Stefan Kropfitsch at the Vienna University. Since April 2010, he studied with Gustav Rivinius at the University of Music Saarbrücken, Germany and now furthermore became a student in the class of Natalia Gutman in Vienna. Thomas Auner already has a considerable experience in performing in concerts and orchestras such as, for example, with the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra at the Celloakademie Rutesheim. In summer 2014, he performed with the Sinfonietta Baden and furthermore, he has also been an award recipient and finalist in several competitions. In 2014, he was invited to the Rome Chamber Music Festival and performed in chamber music concerts for âexil.arteâ at Weill Recital/Carnegie Hall, New York as well as at the Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City.