For Daniel Auner, conducting is the logical continuation and expansion of his work as a violinist. Even the movement of the bow arm can be converted into the beat of the conductor, which Auner used for many years as a "standing violinist" in the best tradition of his hometown of Vienna. In addition, with the support of Conrad Artmüller, among others, he has been learning to conduct since 2013, thereby opening up the full range of expression of a large symphony orchestra.
Originating in the dance bands around the Strauss dynasty, the orchestra conducting established itself on the international stage with a “standing violinist”, with the concert master leading the ensemble from the first desk. For Daniel Auner, this form of music-making marked the beginning of his career as a conductor in the direction of the Vienna Residence Orchestra and later the Hofburg Orchestra, with which he made his debut as a conductor in the Vienna Konzerthaus in 2017. Every summer he also conducts and directs the Camerata Hunyadi, the chamber orchestra of the Vienna Woods Summer Concerts, with soloists such as the pianists Paul Gulda and Maximilian Flieder or his brother, the cellist Thomas Auner, in several concerts in July. In addition, Daniel Auner conducted and directed the Yambol Chamber Orchestra in Bulgaria, the Divertimento Orchestra, the Sinfonia por el Perú and others. Since 2018 he has been one of the conductors of the Strauss' Festival Orchestra Vienna, with performances in Russia, Italy, Lithuania, Japan, Estonia and others
As a conductor and standing violinist, Daniel Auner also appears with various symphony orchestras around the world.
As with his violin playing, clear musical rhetoric is also the primary goal of interpretation in orchestral conducting, which leads to clear and often surprising tonal results. Auner sees it as a conductor's task not to impose this musical language on the orchestra members in an authoritarian manner, but to take them along through good mediation work in a dialogue between equal participants. He appreciates the high standard of training of today's musicians, who bring in a highly virtuosic and flexible instrumental playing, as a great value.
Daniel Auner has been chief conductor and artistic director of the Mödlinger Symphonisches Orchester (MSO) since 2019 and creates imaginatively "through-composed" concert programs with them, which often reveal unexpected connections between different works. Soloists such as Simon Reitmaier, Alexandra Tirsu, Marie Isabel Kropfitsch, Joseph Avila, Nikola Djoric - numerous young artists from the Vienna area have taken part and are taking part in the concerts.
In addition to the pure concert activity, a music education project by the MSO in cooperation with the Gymnasium Keimgasse in Mödling is received with great interest and enthusiasm. For Daniel Auner and his colleagues, the dissemination of the universal messages of music is a great asset and a central concern and a leitmotif of their musical work.
As a violinist, Daniel Auner is an internationally sought-after and multi-award-winning soloist and chamber musician who performs with international orchestras and conductors worldwide. In a permanent partnership he plays as leader of the "Auner Quartet", which he founded himself in 2015, as well as in the "Vienna Mozart Trio", a regular collaboration connects him with outstanding chamber musicians such as Emmanuel Tjeknavorian, Julia Hagen, Patrick Demenga, Jan Vogler, Dennis Russell Davis and others. His now 13 published CD recordings have appeared on the labels ARS Production, Gramola Vienna, Capriccio, Coviello and Preiser Records; his CD "Dialogue with Mozart" (Gramola) was highly praised by the international press and celebrated as "CD of the Month" by the renowned Strad Magazine.
Text: Kaja Engel, 2022