Julius Asal

»Julius Asal's piano playing instantly captivated me. It's a mystery to me how he achieved such a uniquely sonorous sound. The instrument seemed to be confiding a secret to him.« MENAHEM PRESSLER German pianist Julius Asal grew up as the eldest son in a family of musicians in the Taunus region near Frankfurt am Main. He first encountered the piano even before he began to speak. As a toddler, he freely improvised and autodidactically reproduced what he heard on the instrument. Years later, he received his first lessons and subsequently studied at the Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin and the Kronberg Academy. Today, the laureate of numerous competitions is a regular guest at international festivals and renowned concert halls, which has led him to venues such as Wigmore Hall London, the Vienna Musikverein, the Laeiszhalle Hamburg, and Suntory Hall Tokyo. Asal has been particularly influenced in recent years by his collaborations with mentors Eldar Nebolsin and Sir András Schiff. He also received artistic inspiration from musicians such as Alfred Brendel, Gidon Kremer, and Menahem Pressler. In spring 2022, Julius Asal's debut album was released on the Spanish label IBS Classical, featuring works by Sergei Prokofiev and his own arrangements from the ballet Romeo and Juliet, which garnered international acclaim. In 2023, Asal signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon. His DG debut, Scriabin – Scarlatti, will be released on May 3, 2024. The album intertwines Scriabin's Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 6, his early Preludes, and one of his Etudes from Op. 8 with six Scarlatti sonatas, including the melancholic Piano Sonata in F minor, K 466, and the yearning Piano Sonata in B-flat major, K 544. His improvisational skills and a nearly native approach to the piano have remained with him to this day and are sometimes evident in his concerts; for example, in October 2023 at Deutsche Grammophon's Yellow Lounge, where the pianist stepped in within a few hours with an innovative concept that combined classical works with improvisations. The French newspaper Le Monde described his interpretations and program curation as "captivating strangeness" and titled it "The secret and subtle alliances of Julius Asal." 4/2024