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The German pianist, Alexandra Oehler, received her first piano lessons at the age of 5 from the pianist Günter Fuhrmann at the „Anna Magdalena Bach“ School of Music in Zeitz in Saxony-Anhalt. From 1981 to 1987 she attended the Special School of Music in Halle an der Saale. In 1987 she began studying with Professor Herbert Sahling at the Felix Mendelsohn Bartholdy College of Music (now the College of Music and Drama) in Leipzig. Since 1990 she has been studying with Professor Ulrich Urban. In 1993 she began working on her performer‘s certificate with Professor Ulrich Urban, graduating in 1995. Since 1995 she has, as a post-graduate student, been studying in Professor Ulrich Urban‘s master-classes at the Felix Mendelsohn Bartholdy College of Music and Drama in Leipzig. She has been awarded prizes and diplomas in both national and international competitions, being, among other things, an award-winner at the Franz Liszt Competition in Weimar.
The artistic strides in various stylistic directions taken by Alexandra Oehler over the last few years have been quite remarkable. Her Bach interpretations in particular are characterized by a perfection which she by no means sees as an end in itself, but rather as an important prerequisite to expressing the full meaning of this music. With youthful
vigour, Oehler not only succeeds in bringing the individual character of each movement of these suites to life; directly following one of these spirited phases, she is equally capable of presenting a metaphysical and introspective view in contrast.
Alexandra Oehler‘s predominantly teraced dynamics, coupled with her imaginative articulation, produce stupefying effects. Superimposed musical lines emerge in such clarity that previously unheard contrapuntal passages seem perceptible. Such enthusiastic meticuloudness tends to be infectious, and could well make this new Bach recording into a very special experience.
As a pianist, Alexandra Oehler has won acclaim in realms beyond the usual piano repertoire, turning her attention to such unjustifiably neglected works as Clara Schumann‘s Piano Concerto in A minor, pieces by Fanny Mendelsohn and by the American composer and pianist, Edward Alexander MacDowell.
Since 2001 Alexandra Oehler has taught a piano class as an instructor at the Leipzig College of Music. She also works as a teacher with the Thomanerchor Leipzig. In addition to her concertizing, she presents master-classes and lectures on special music topics. From 2004 to 2008 she was the director of music education at the “forum thomanum” in Leipzig. |
