The Kreisleriana, for which Schumann was inspired by the whimsical character of E.T.A. Hoffmann’s Kapellmeister Kreisler and which also depicts himself and his Clara, opens this program by pianist Jimin Oh-Havenith at audite. She contrasts Schumann’s Opus 16 between virtuosic playfulness and the utmost tenderness in its two-pronged approach. However, the interpreter does not make...Read More

“Jimin Oh-Havenith has […] these qualities: a lovely warm sound perfect for the numerous moments of quiet reflection in this music—the enchanting opening melody in the second movement’s Aria in the Sonata or the lovely figurative broken-chord progression in the Fantasie’s “Langsam getragen” […]. Jimin Oh-Havenith is an excellent pianist with a quiet, almost understated...Read More

Audite is launching a three-CD series of works by Robert Schumann played by the Korean pianist Jimin Oh-Havenith. Born in Seoul, she studied at the Seoul National University and with Aloys Kontarsky at the Musikhochschule Köln. She performed as a soloist and recorded for radio and CD, also as a piano duo with her late...Read More

With this recording, Audite starts a series of three CDs with Jimin Oh-Havenith. Schumann’s 1st Piano Sonata op. 11 was written in the years 1832-1836 and is dedicated to his later wife Clara. Jimin Oh-Havenith plays it with a mixture of spontaneity and structural superiority that from the first notes of the first movement one...Read More

In the small differences between Mussorgsky’s original piano score and Rimsky-Korsakov’s revision, Jimin Oh-Havenith sticks quite faithfully to the manuscript. […] The South Korean-born pianist, now resident in Germany, has made a careful study of the score. In fact care and caution are the watchwords here. Oh-Havenith makes a deeper impression with the four Scriabin...Read More

South Korean pianist Jimin Oh-Havenith’s fourth CD for audite is devoted to Russian music. She presents Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition in a very dramatic and visualizing interpretation. This results in atmospheric images like the melancholic drawn Old Castle, the awkward staggering of the chicks or the heartrending pleading of poor Schmuyle. The four...Read More

“That exactitude is clear in Oh-Havenith´s incisive technique as well as her lovely sound.” Korean-German pianist Jimin Oh-Havenith travels through 200 years of musical history in a new recording that reflects her wish to reconnect with the musicallity of a child. Colin Clarke reports (=> read more).Read More

“That pianists regularly play the classics of the repertoire and skillfully incorporate them into their concert and album programs is a given fact. But to make the most popular pieces for solo piano under the title “K(now)n Piano” the focus of a double album right away, as Jimin Oh-Havenith does, requires both courage and a...Read More

21 popular piano pieces are performed by Jimin Oh-Havenith on her latest album on Audite, including Mozart’s Turkish March, Beethoven’s Für Elise, Schubert’s Impromptu op. 90/4, Chopin’s Nocturne op. 27/1, Gottschalk’s Le Bananier op. 5, Liebestraum No. 3 and La campanella by Liszt, Debussy’s Claire de lune and Pärt’s Für Alina. A feel-good program played...Read More

Jimin Oh-Havenith plays out every detail and radiates a calmness that is convincing. She plays the E major Sonata Op. 109 sovereign and finely balanced in sound. A beautifully crafted recording, far removed from the mainstream music business.Read More