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Recent News

Ax, Ma & Perlman Perform as a Piano Trio for the First Time

Emanuel Ax to Recieve The 2009 Institute for the Arts and Humanities Medal

From The Columbus Dispatch: "Big-league pianist steps up to plate to help orchestra

"Ax What You Can Do For Your Country" - Alex Ross on his blog The Rest is Noise

"Conductor, pianist inspire grandness" - Concert Review in The Columbus Dispatch

New Blog Post - "A Few More Thoughts on Applause"

From The Boston Globe: "Manny Ax is My New Hero"

Alan Gilbert, The New York Philharmonic's new music director, speaks about Emanuel Ax during press conference.

Read The New York Times Review of Emanuel Ax's Concert at Avery Fisher Hall

Join Emanuel Ax's Blog Network

See Emanuel Ax Live in 2008/2009

LA Times Review

Seattle Post Intelligencer Review

Star-Ledger Feature

Schenectady's Daily Gazette Feature

Emanuel Ax's New Official Blog


Ax, Ma & Perlman Perform as a Piano Trio for the First Time  


Emanuel Ax will be joined by cellist Yo-Yo Ma and violinist Itzhak Perlman for a twice in a lifetime experience when they perform for the first time as a piano trio. The superstar trio will debut at Penn State's Eisenhower Auditorium on March 30 and will before the following evening at New York's Carnegie Hall. The program celebrates the bicentennial of Felix Mendelssohn's birth. They will perform an all-Mendelssohn program with Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 49 and Piano Trio No. 2 in C minor, Op. 66. Penn State PreViews magazine has a series of interviews and articles with the musicians. Click here to be redirected to the magazine's online edition.

For more information and to inquire about tickets to the Penn State concert, click here and here for Carnegie Hall.


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Emanuel Ax to Recieve The 2009 Institute for the Arts and Humanities Medal  


University Park, Pa. -- The 2009 Institute for the Arts and Humanities Medals for Distinguished Contributions to the Arts and Humanities will be awarded to world-renowned pianist Emanuel Ax, violinist Itzhak Perlman and cellist Yo-Yo Ma on March 30.

The medals will be presented by Penn State president Graham Spanier, immediately following the musicians' sold-out concert starting at 7:30 p.m. on March 30 in Eisenhower Auditorium at the University Park campus. The three outstanding musicians make their world premiere performance as a trio as part of the Center for the Performing Arts 2008-2009 season.

The IAH Medal for Distinguished Contributions to the Arts and Humanities was established in 2006. The purpose of the medal is to honor individuals whose work has helped define the best of our times and to stimulate a dialogue that reaches beyond traditional disciplinary limits.

The medal recognizes the accomplishments of those individuals whose work in the arts and in the humanities has furthered public awareness of the importance of scholarship, literature and the arts and has reached a wide public audience while maintaining the highest standards of scholarship, creativity and originality.

Previous IAH medal recipients include Salman Rushdie ( novelist, essayist: 2006 ), Daniel Libeskind ( architect: 2007 ) and Mario Vargas Llosa ( novelist, essayist, political activist: 2008 ). Click here for more information on the IAH medal.

Exclusive interviews with each of the three musicians can be heard as podcasts on Previews, the Center for the Performing Arts multimedia magazine.

From Media Newswire


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From The Columbus Dispatch: "Big-league pianist steps up to plate to help orchestra
 
The Columbus Dispatch

By Gary Budzak

Manny Ramirez, a baseball outfielder, will make $25 million this season -- or more than $150,000 a game.

Emanuel Ax, as much a superstar in classical music and also a Manny, volunteered to perform twice this weekend with the Columbus Symphony and not be paid a dime.

The pianist "agreed to waive his fee for this concert weekend in light of all our recent difficulties," said Tony Beadle, executive director of the orchestra.

"We didn't ask him."

The fee would have been "substantial," Beadle said.

Columbus remains a favorite touring stop for the world-class musician.

"I first came to Columbus, I think it was about 30 years ago," Ax, 59, said recently from his New York home. "I've known people for that long, and now I'm beginning to meet the children of those people.

"The reason that I'm happy about going down to Columbus, about coming to play, is that it's always been a wonderful orchestra.

"It's always been full of really nice people, and I think it's just an incredible tragedy if this orchestra were not to exist. . . . It would be just horrible."

Such praise is returned.

"He's one of the best-known and one of the most wonderful artists in our midst at this time," Beadle said. "He's in great demand around the country.

"I think he's technically perfect, and, musically, he's a great artist. He takes every piece, makes it his own and gives us new insight into the music he plays."

Ax, who was born in Poland, started playing at age 6. He lived in Canada before moving to New York, where he became a U.S. citizen in 1970.

Married to a pianist, he has two children.

Ax has won seven Grammy Awards and an honorary doctorate in music, both from Yale University.

He isn't concerned about prizes, though.

"I think, for someone like me, it's more of a process rather than any individual things," he said. "I hope I'm improving, and that's the big thing for musicians, you know -- just to keep working and try your best to get better until you're too old to do it."

Ax, known for his duets with cellist Yo-Yo Ma and quartets with Ma and violinists Isaac Stern and Jaime Laredo, typically champions new works.

"It's very exciting for me to learn a new language sometimes and certainly to do things that haven't been heard before. That's very challenging because, unlike hearing other pieces on record and then learning them, this is really from scratch."

For the weekend shows, however, Ax will play a piece more than a century old, from 1881: Piano Concerto No. 2 by Johannes Brahms, with guest conductor Jahja Ling leading the Columbus Symphony.

"I think it's one of the most beloved piano concertos in the repertoire, and it's a tour de force for the pianist," Beadle said. "Like a lot of Brahms' music, it encompasses a wide emotional and musical range -- hence its popularity."

Ax chose the work.

"I know I've been playing it for a long, long time," he said. "It's one of my favorite pieces ever."

Audiences, he said, "should let the music wash over them and just be completely taken on a huge ride of beauty and excitement."

"I don't know if they have to listen for specific themes or anything like that, but I think it's a very majestic, very touching and very big piece. So I think all of those things will help us take our minds off . . . (the economy)."

And, as he notes in his online blog, Ax doesn't mind if the audience applauds between the four movements.

"Just one favor," he writes: "Even if you don't like a concert of mine, please, please applaud at the end anyway."

Like an athlete, Ax has to prepare for his performances, he said.

"I plan my day around the concert: I'll practice in the morning (as he does daily). I'll have lunch. I'll try and take a nap, get a little rest, come back around 6 (p.m.) and warm up and be ready to play for the evening."

Despite the tough economic times, he remains optimistic about classical music.

"I always like to see the glass as half-full. I think people actually really enjoy what we do, and I think there's actually a lot of interest in it."There are ups and downs, but . . . we're lucky enough to play composers like Brahms who have lasted for so many years. . . . There are always people and performers who want to do that music and hear that music, and I think that's the best sort of proof, I hope, that things will keep going."


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"Ax What You Can Do For Your Country" - Alex Ross on The Rest is Noise.com  

Ax what you can do for your country

Drew McManus notes that Emanuel Ax generously waived his fee for his appearance this weekend at the financially troubled Columbus Symphony. "We didn't ask him," Columbus's executive director told the Columbus Dispatch. In the article, Ax continues his skeptical inquiry into the alleged "rule" forbidding applause between movements of a concerto or symphony. On his blog, he wonders why concert audiences behave this way when opera audiences applaud after arias. It's a good question, with no logical answer. The argument that opera is less "serious" than symphonic music won't hold up. Is Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin less serious than his First Piano Concerto? Is Don Giovanni less serious than, well, anything? For more, see my endless 2005 post on the history of concert-hall applause.

Other pianoblogs: Hough, Biss, and, of course, Denk.

www.therestisnoise.com


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Concert Review in The Columbus Dispatch - Conductor, pianist inspire grandness  
By Barbara Zuck

The Columbus Symphony continues to play in the major leagues this weekend with two guest artists who rightly earned international acclaim long ago.

Guest conductor Jahja Ling's professional career got its start in Ohio with an acclaimed debut leading the Cleveland Orchestra, with which he subsequently had a long and fruitful relationship.

And in the highly competitive realm of keyboard artists, there simply is no more important name than that of Emanuel Ax. Though Ax has performed in Columbus many times, one never tires of experiencing his genuine manner and sincere artistry. His performance was given added meaning last night because he has donated that appearance and tonight's to the orchestra, a magnanimous gesture.

Ling's leadership of Dvorak's Symphony No. 8 certainly brought out the finest from the players. Notable moments in the first movement, for example, included the gleeful high gestures from the flute and piccolo and impressive statements from the trombones and timpani.

Perhaps the one point with which to quibble in what was overall an outstanding reading was the overly deliberate tempo of the last movement, which dampened the music's natural sense of exuberance.

Brahms' concerto writing is always highly symphonic and never more so than in the Piano Concerto No. 2 -- with four movements, a truly big piece in every way. With Ax at the keyboard and Ling at the helm, last night's performance was a grand meeting of like minds, beginning with ideal, unhurried tempo choices for each movement. It was not a case of bringing the composer down to size, which would be the wrong goal in any case, but of stepping up to meet the mighty Brahms at his own grand level.

Ling's leadership produced rich playing from the orchestra beginning with a well-articulated opening solo from the horn. Ax found the perfect texture and intensity in playing that, while certainly conveying a sense of grandeur, consistently enunciated the pianist's particular point of view -- masterful, powerful, yet never strident.

Of the many special ways in which the pianist approached this great music, none was more appreciated last night than his beautiful, lyrical playing of the slow themes. They are among the composer's finest achievements and were given their special due by Ax's honest, sincere playing.

The Columbus Dispatch


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New Blog Post: A Few More Thoughts on Applause: Why Can We Interrupt at the Met?  

Read Emanuel Ax's new blog post, "A Few More Thoughts on Applause" by visiting www.emanuelax.wordpress.com.  

Join the Emanuel Ax Blog Network by clicking here.


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From The Boston Globe: "I'm leading a one-man crusade as a listener to start applauding,"  

From The Boston Globe,

Make a joyful noise

Classical audiences should loosen up and applaud at will

By Sam Allis

Manny Ax is my new hero.

The eminent pianist has challenged a sacred rule that an audience must follow, on pain of death, while listening to an orchestra play classical music. The one that says never applaud between movements. Never, ever, ever. As in, don't even think about it.

Most neophytes instinctively clap at the end of a movement they like before they learn better. And why not? The music was glorious and they want to reward the orchestra and/or performer. It is a visceral, immediate response that Ax finds as natural as it is commendable. But then the clappers never clap that way again. Why?

Because they're treated like Ebola carriers when they do. No one else in the hall applauds. It's like clapping in the middle of an ocean. You are a tiny, low-rent atoll in a sea of alleged sophisticates. You cringe and think of the ad for Southwest Airlines that asks someone who has just made an egregious no-no, "Wanna get away?"

Humiliation, quite simply, is the rite of passage to gain admission into the Grand Order of Aesthetes.

(My favorite story comes from a friend in D.C. who in his youth had been a page-turner for a concert pianist. He started clapping at the end of a movement. No one else did. Said pianist stared at him. The audience stared at him. He had nowhere to hide. He was on stage, frozen in the spotlight like a butterfly on a pin. Imagine.)

Emanuel Ax wants none of this. "I'm leading a one-man crusade as a listener to start applauding," he says.

Ax simply finds the silence diktat silly. "We should welcome applause whenever it comes," he writes in his blog. "And yet, we seem to have set up some very arcane rules as to when it is actually OK to applaud.

"I am always taken aback when I hear the first movement of a concerto which is supposed to be full of excitement, passion and virtuoso display [like the Brahms or Beethoven concertos], and then hear a rustling of clothing, punctuated by a few coughs; the sheer force of the music calls for a wild audience reaction. . . . If we feel like expressing approval, we should be allowed to, ANYTIME!"

Atta boy, Manny.

He adds, "Mozart often wrote to his family that certain variations or sections of pieces were so successful that they had to be encored immediately, even without waiting for the entire piece to end."

Mark Volpe, general manager of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, agrees there is a snobbism attached to the vow of silence, and stands firmly with Ax on the applause issue. Volpe also recognizes that an orchestra's goal, particularly in these brutal economic times, must be to expand the classical audience, not terrify newcomers out of the hall.

So how did this rule come into being? And who is the culprit behind it? "I've talked to many distinguished musicologists and none of them can figure out who's responsible," says Ax, who has studied the subject extensively.

But he has a suspect - Richard Wagner, the brilliant, screamingly anti-Semitic, 19th-century German composer and conductor. The imperious Wagner came up with yet another one of those unpronounceable, unspellable German humdingers - "gesamptkunstwerk" - which means something along the lines of "the total work of art."

According to gesamptkunstwerk, audiences can only appreciate the totality of his work by remaining as mute as dormice until the whole shebang is over.

"This is an old, old argument," says the conductor André Previn about the applause wars. "There's nothing wrong with it unless it becomes habitual. It's like standing ovations. You get them if the music is not absolutely lousy."

"It could bother me if it impinges on the mood of a piece," Previn adds. "If you clapped after the long Bruckner adagio, you'd be in big trouble. But would clapping between movements in general bother me as a conductor? No."

Previn points out that in opera, applause after a strong aria is standard. And in jazz, as my friend Charlie notes, listeners routinely applaud during the music after a player ends a great riff.

"This is about the trappings of music, not the music," says Ax of the Edict of Silence. "I think that if there were no 'rules' about when to applaud, we in the audience would have the right response almost always."

He says people are beginning to applaud more between movements. He attends many concerts and, as a listener, applauds at will with his head held high.

So listen up: the ball is in our court. Listeners must summon the gumption to applaud without wilting. But they also need cover from the stage to do so. There is a symbiotic relationship between performer and listener, says Ax, and each side needs to help the other.

Ax is always supportive when clappers make noise: "I immediately turn to the audience and bow. We need to show we are responding to what the audiences are doing. I'm hoping it happens more and more." My man.

For the record, Manny Ax is not pushing a carnival agenda. Veteran listeners at BSO concerts will always enjoy their silence between movements as a matter of custom and as a moment to digest what they've just heard.

But they need to accommodate those who applaud from their hearts after a movement. As Republicans like to claim, it's a big tent. And it is time to loosen the strictures on how we listen to live classical music. Ax's crusade is a splendid one. On with the revolution: Liberté, egalité, fraternité.


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Emanuel Ax mentioned in the Howard Kissel, of The New York Daily News' Blog - The Cultural Tourist  

Alan Gilbert, the new music director of The New York Philharmonic, held a press conference to discuss the future of the orchestra and its programming.

Howard Kissel, from The New York Daily News reports in his blog: "An example of the kind of programming Gilbert envisions is a concert that will feature Charles Ives' "Unanswered Question" and the Beethoven Fourth Piano Concerto. Emanuel Ax, Gilbert said, has agreed to perform the Beethoven right after the Ives. He accepted Gilbert's assessment that "the Ives ends nowhere and the Beethoven begins nowhere," and that perhaps the two pieces will shed light on each other".

To read the full entry, please visit www.nydailynews.com


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Read The New York Times Review of Emanuel Ax's Concert with the New York Philharmonic  

By Allan Kozinn

"The Szymanowski was the treat here. Its exotic harmonies and appealingly angular lines grab the attention and reward it with surprising turns and rich emotional undercurrents. Emanuel Ax played the piano line with luminous intensity and was particularly striking in passages that demanded a hair-trigger interplay between the piano and the orchestra, or when the piano writing was at its most rhythmically forceful.

The Strauss, though heard more often, is a slighter work. But it offers pianistic thrills as well as a few moments of dreamy introspection, and Mr. Ax played it with the vitality and thoughtfulness listeners expect of him".

To read the full review of the New York Philharmonic's concert, visit www.nytimes.com


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Join Emanuel Ax's Blog Network  

Emanuel Ax's critically acclaimed blog has a new home at Wordpress.com.  Become a fan at Networked Blogs


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See Emanuel Ax Live in 2008/2009

Emanuel Ax's 2008 & 2009 North American tour schedule is available by visiting the Tour page of emanuelax.com.  

In November, Mr. Ax will be on tour with long-time collaborator, pianist Yefim Bronfman.  They will be performing selection from Brahms, Bolcom, Mozart and Rachmaninoff.  In December, Mr. Ax will perform at GPAC in Memphis with pianist Yoko Nozaki and the IRIS Orchestra and in Miami with Michael Tilson Thomas leading the New World Symphony.  Following performances of Richard Strauss' Burleske for Piano and Orchestra with Lorin Maazel and the New York Philharmonic at Avery Fisher Hall and Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 1 with Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Walt Disney Hall, Mr. Ax will begin a solo recital tour throughout the US and Canada.  Audiences in California, Quebec, New Jersey and New York will be treated to a program featuring Schubert's Four Impromptus, Op. 142 and Sonata in A Major and Liszt's Vallee d'Obermann, Sonetto del Petrarca, No. 123 and Mephisto Waltz, No. 1.

In February and March, Mr. Ax will perform Brahms' Concerto for Piano No. 1 in D minor, Op. 15 with the Nashville Symphony and Leonard Slatkin in Laura Turner Concert Hall, Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 25 in C Major, K. 503 with Mariss Jansons and Germany's Bayerische Rundfunk in New York's Carnegie Hall and Brahms' Symphony No. 3 with Kent Nagano and the Orchestre Symponique de Montreal at the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier.

For two nights only, Mr. Ax will join friends Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman for an all-star performance of Mendelssohn's Piano Trio in D minor, Op. 49 and Piano Trio No. 2 in C minor, Op. 66.  This rare and certain to be extraordinary program will be performed only twice - on March 30th at Penn State's Eisenhower Auditorium and on March 31 at Carnegie Hall.

Mr. Ax's North American season ends with the world premiere of Stephen Hartke's Piano Concerto with the Kansas City Symphony and Michael Stern in April and with Yoko Nozaki, Toronto Symphony Orchestra and conductor Peter Oundjian's performing Bartok's Double Concerto and Burleske in June.

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Read the Los Angeles Times Rave Review from the Emanuel Ax & Yefim Bronfman Concert at Walt Disney Hall

From the Los Angeles Times
By Mark Swed

Manny and Fima are a couple of very well-liked guys who live in the same building on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. They come from the same part of the world and from countries that begin with the letter U: Manny was born in Ukraine, Fima in what is now Uzbekistan. Manny's the mensch with a flair for practical jokes. Fima's known to be a character. Like a lot of Eastern European Jewish emigrants to New York, they like to eat, but they have been watching their weight and lately have lost some.

They both have a casual, slightly schlumphy look. Fima, who is on the bearish side, turned 50 this year, and his hair is often mussed. A little more professorial in manner, Manny is nine years older. They have been friends since Fima arrived in the States, nearly 30 years ago. Sometimes they ride the subway together to work in the Lincoln Center area. Now and then they even take trips together. They are on one such trip at the moment, and Wednesday they flew into Los Angeles and dropped by Walt Disney Concert Hall in the evening to play around a little. Make that to play -- a lot. They are Emanuel Ax and Yefim Bronfman, two of the world's finest pianists...

The good nature of the pianists, along with some friendly competitiveness, was not hard to miss at their Disney duo recital. But then, by now they are our friends as well. Ax has been a regular at the Music Center since 1975; Bronfman's career got a major boost from Zubin Mehta and the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the '80s. Ax was recently a Philharmonic "On Location" resident artist. Bronfman is currently one: He opened the orchestra's season with an unforgettable performance of Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto and is just back from touring in Asia with the Philharmonic and Esa-Pekka Salonen.

Bronfman is known as the more brilliant player, whereas Ax is seen as more poetic. But these distinctions operate on a continuum. Bronfman, who can play fistfuls of notes at high speed like nobody's business, has his delicate side. Although he doesn't normally make a big deal of it, Ax has a monster technique.

In virtuoso showpieces Wednesday, Ax, undoubtedly in response to Bronfman, put on a percussive performance. Bronfman dazzled as he always does, but he also revealed that he could play with expressive eloquence. Neither pianist was about to be outdone by the other, but what made the partnership so remarkable was that Ax and Bronfman each did this in such a way as to support and enhance what the other guy was doing.

The program was mostly standard, with Ax and Bronfman alternating pianos (and first and second piano parts). The recital began with Brahms' "Variations on a Theme by Haydn," each variation enhanced by Bronfman's sparkle and Ax's beautiful sense of texturing chords.

The novelty was William Bolcom's "Recuerdos," three irresistible Latin American dances by an American composer who never met a style he couldn't absorb. Fun is permitted. Although the pianists appeared to be working extra hard (the music was new to them), they also proved to be Eastern Europeans who know the allure of South American dance and a little something about how to be cutups.

Mozart's Sonata in D, K. 448, is not meant to be delicate all the time but when it was, especially in the heavenly slow movement, burly hands became digits dancing on clouds. Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances, a piece Ax and Bronfman have played together often and recorded (as they have the Brahms), was magnificent. Bronfman is far more closely associated with Rachmaninoff than Ax, but they shared a sense of soul as well as flair.

The two men have not slimmed down quite enough to comfortably squeeze together for four-hand piano music. Still, they managed for the encore, a Dvorák Slavonic Dance. There was clowning; Bronfman, seated on the outside, made Jack Benny-like glances of exasperation to the audience. The performance, with all its slowing down and speeding up, was brilliant and a joy.

The audience wanted more. But my guess is that Patina and a gathering of friends were now on their.

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More Cheers for Emanuel Ax & Yefim Bronfman on Tour

From the Seattle Post Intelligencer

By R.M. Campbell

Fortunately, Seattle has been able to keep tabs on pianists Emanuel Ax and Yefim Bronfman from their youth in the 1970s to their current status in high middle age. That has not been a boring journey, as their joint recital Tuesday night at Benaroya Hall gave ample testimony.

The two pianists, who came to America as immigrants - Ax was born in Poland and Bronfman in Russia - have had distinguished careers that span the globe. It would be hard to find many noted conductors or orchestras with whom they have not performed or concerts halls in which they have not played. They kept their musicianship fresh by alternating solo careers with chamber music and unexpected collaborations, old music with new music.

Among those remarkable collaborations are their occasional duo-piano concert tours. Tuesday's concert was their third joint appearance in Seattle, part of a 13-city American tour that dominates their November calendar.

The hall was filled with their brilliant pianism, ardent musicality and undiminished virtuosity. Textures were unusually rich and vibrant and details clear.

One of the most striking attributes of their playing together is a powerful sense of ensemble. It would seem the two men breathe together, so close are they in tune with each other, not only in terms of stye and sound, but also rhythmic impulse. Their dynamic range was huge, their phrasing suave, their shifts of tempo subtle and bold.

The evening opened with brahms' Variations on a THeme by Haydn and concluded with Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances. Sandwiched in between were William Bolcom's engaging "Recuerdos" ("Reminiscences") and Mozart's Sonata in D for Two Pianos K. 448.

The program had expressive range by virtue of its charm, majesty and wide-ranging bravura. Ax and Bronfman did not short-change the composers or the audience.

Brahms' set of variations is better known in its symphonic form, but its version for two pianos has an air of intimacy that is welcome. Ax and Bronfman, who alternated first and second piano, had a sure sense for the Brahms' tuneful variations, each given their own individuality without sacrificing the coherence of the whole.

"Recuerdos" was composed by Bolcom in 1991. The local boy (born in Seattle, educated at the University of Washington) who made good has long been intrigued by various combinations of high and low ar. In this homage to Latin America, Bolcom evokes 19th-century dances. The result is immediate, fun and tuneful. Ax and Bronfman sensed its easygoing allure and played with it.

The Mozart sonata that followed is a different kettle of fish, yet alo appealing, gallant and fresh, as well as refined. There is little to disturb a gleeful mood. But the work is more than mere "entertainment", to borrow a word from one of Mozart's most distinguished biographers, it also is sublime. Ax and Bronfman captured this duality with verve and attitude. They made Mozart big and important, but with a wink too.

Rachmaninoff often appears on their duo programs and so on this occasion it was the two-piano arrangement of Symphonic Dances. The performance was an exhillirating conclusion to an exhillirating concert.

The audience was enthusiastic and rewarded with a single encore - a Slavonic dance of Dvorak in which the two pianists moved from two pianos to one.

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From The Star-Ledger: Good Neighbors Ax and Bronfman Tour as a Piano Duo

By Ruth Bonapace

Some neighbors get together to watch a football game, others organize play dates for their kids. FOr a certain pair of musicians in a certain Upper West Side apartment house, however, sharing the same elevator has led to hitting the road for a series of gigs. In this case, the musicians being Emanuel Ax and Yefim Bronfman, the road trip is taking them to places like Carnegie Hall and the McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton, where the piano virtuosos are playing a duo-recital next week. The Princeton perforance on Wednesday and the New York Recital two days later will be their 10th and 11th stops on a whirlwind national tour that incldues 13 concerts over 19 days.

It may sound exhausting, but Ax says traveling with his buddy, whose nickname is "FIma" is invigorating.

"We're having a great time," Ax says in an interview from Seattle, where he was preparing for concert number five. "Sure, it may be a little unusual, but we're old friends and neighbors, and the best way to keep our friendship alive is by making music together".

It also gives the pair a chance to do the Rachmaninoff "Symphonic Dances for Two Pianos" agian in front of a live audience. "We recorded it six years ago, and we haven't played it since - until now". They will also be doing Brahms' "Variations on a Theme by Haydn for Two Pianos, "the Mozart "Sonata for Two Pianos" and "Recuerdos", as series of Latin American dances by the composer William Bolcom.

Ax was born in Poland 49 years ago, grew up in Canada and attended the Juilliard School, whee he now teaches. He is married to pianist Yoko Nozaki, and they have two children. Bronfman, a native of Uzbekistan, is a year older and studied with Leon Fleisher. Both men soared to international fame when they were 17 years old with Ax winning the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition in 1974 and Bronfman debuting with Zubin Mehta and the Montreal Symphony a year later. Their friendship blossomed years later, in 1995, when they found themselves living in the same apartment building. Bronfman was there first, and eventually his new neighbors Manny and Yoko, started popping up for a visit. It didn't take long for them to seque over to the grand piano. And they haven't stopped since. The current tour, which concludes Nov. 23, is the fourth time in 10 years that Ax and Bronfman are traveling together.

"We'll continue as long as Fima an dI keep liking each other," says Ax, "which will be a long time, I hope".

Star-Ledger

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From Schenectady's Daily Gazette: Emanuel Ax and Yefim Bronfman Make Powerful Piano Twosome

Read Yefim Bronfman's interview on his current tour with Emanuel Ax

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Emanuel Ax's New Blog is Now Live on Wordpress.com

Emanuel Ax's critically acclaimed blog has a new home at Wordpress.com. Visit it at www.emanuelax.wordpress.com. Become a fan of the blog on Facebook's Blog Networks by clicking here

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Untitled Document

 

 

EMANUEL AX, pianist

Born in Lvov, Poland, Emanuel Ax moved to Winnipeg, Canada, with his family when he was a young boy. His studies at the Juilliard School were supported by the sponsorship of the Epstein Scholarship Program of the Boys Clubs of America, and he subsequently won the Young Concert Artists Award. Additionally, he attended Columbia University, where he majored in French. Mr. Ax captured public attention in 1974 when he won the first Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition in Tel Aviv. In 1975 he won the Michaels Award of Young Concert Artists followed four years later by the coveted Avery Fisher Prize.

In the 2008-09 season, Mr. Ax returns to several orchestras with which he has had relationships for many years including the Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Toronto Symphony, and Kansas City Symphony where he will perform the world premiere of Stephen Hartke's Piano Concerto. Special projects include a duo recital tour with Yefim Bronfman including performances at Chicago's Orchestra Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, and Carnegie Hall; a performance with Itzhak Perlman and Yo-Yo Ma at Carnegie Hall; and a solo recital tour in both North America and Europe. Other European engagements include a tour of the Far East with the Dresden Staatskapelle and Fabio Luisi, with whom he will record the Strauss Burleske for Sony BMG; and performances with the Tonhalle Orchestra, Bayerischer Rundfunk Orchestra in Munich and Carnegie Hall, the London Philharmonia, and Orchestre National de France.

Highlights of the 2007-08 season include performances with the Minnesota Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, and the Chicago, Houston, Toronto, Pittsburgh, Detroit, and National symphonies. In Europe, he appeared with the Bayerischer Rundfunk Orchestra, the London Philharmonia, the London Philharmonic, and the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin. A solo recital tour in Europe and North America included performances at London's Wigmore Hall, Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, and Carnegie Hall.

For the opening Gala of the New York Philharmonic in September 2006, Mr. Ax appeared with Mr. Bronfman in Mozart's Concerto for Two Pianos conducted by Lorin Maazel with live national TV coverage. As an "On Location" artist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the 2006-07 season, he contributed to a series of chamber and orchestral programs centered around Mozart and Strauss works. With his wife, pianist Yoko Nozaki, a project with the Mark Morris Dance Group originally conceived for New York's Mostly Mozart Festival in the summer of 2006 was repeated in Vienna and London. Tours included a series of Mozart Concerti with Orpheus on the west coast, Florida with the Atlanta Symphony conducted by Robert Spano, a ten-city recital tour, duos with bassist Edgar Meyer, and concerts in Japan with his long-standing colleague and partner Yo-Yo Ma.

In the 2005–06 season, Mr. Ax served as Pianist-in-Residence with the Berlin Philharmonic, performing with the orchestra and Sir Simon Rattle in Berlin and New York. Other  recent performance highlights have included separate recital tours with two longstanding colleagues, cellist Yo-Yo Ma and pianist Yefim Bronfman; a tour of the United States with the Dresden Staatskapelle and Myung-Whun Chung (with performances in Carnegie Hall and Boston's Symphony Hall); and a season-long "Perspectives" series focused on the music of Debussy.

Mr. Ax has been an exclusive Sony Classical recording artist since 1987. Recent releases include Strauss's Enoch Arden narrated by Patrick Stewart; discs of two-piano music by Brahms and Rachmaninoff with Yefim Bronfman; and period-instrument performances of Chopin's complete works for piano and orchestra. Mr. Ax has received Grammy awards for the second and third volumes of his cycle of Haydn's piano sonatas. He has also made a series of Grammy-winning recordings with cellist Yo-Yo Ma of the Beethoven and Brahms sonatas for cello and piano. His other recordings include the concertos of Liszt and Schoenberg, three solo Brahms albums, an album of tangos by Astor Piazzolla, and the premiere recording of John Adams's Century Rolls with the Cleveland Orchestra for Nonesuch. In the 2004-05 season Mr. Ax also contributed to a BBC documentary commemorating the Holocaust that aired on the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, and which was awarded a 2005 International Emmy.

In recent years, Mr. Ax has turned his attention toward the music of 20th-century composers, premiering works by John Adams, Christopher Rouse, Krzysztof Penderecki, Bright Sheng, and Melinda Wagner. Mr. Ax is also devoted to chamber music, and he has worked regularly with such artists as Young Uck Kim, Cho-Liang Lin, Mr. Ma, Edgar Meyer, Peter Serkin, Jaime Laredo, and the late Isaac Stern.

Mr. Ax resides in New York City with his wife, pianist Yoko Nozaki. They have two children together, Joseph and Sarah. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and holds honorary doctorates of music from Yale and Columbia Universities.



Untitled Document

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827)
Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897)
Frédéric Chopin (1810 - 1849)
Antonín Dvorák (1841 - 1904)
Gabriel Fauré (1845 - 1924)
Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809)
Peter Lieberson (b. 1946)
Franz Liszt (1811 - 1886)
Astor Piazzolla (1921 - 1992)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791)
Sergei Prokofiev (1891 - 1953)
Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873 - 1943)
Richard Strauss (1864 - 1949)
Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828)
Dimitri Shostakovich (1906 - 1975)

Beethoven Complete Cello Sonatas
With Yo-Yo Ma, cello

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Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827)

Disc 1.

Sonata in No. 1 inF Major for Cello and Piano, Op 1
1. I. Adagio sostenuto-Allegro-Adagio-Presto
2. II. Rondo: Allegro vivace

Sonata No. 2 in G minor for Cello and Piano
3. I. Adagio sostenuto e espressivo-Allegro molto piu tosto presto
4. II. Rondo: Allegro

Sonata No. 4 for Cello and Piano inC Major, Op. 102
5. I. Andante; Allegro vivace
6. II. Adagio; Allegro vivace

Disc 2
Sonata No. 3 in A Major for Cello and Piano, Op. 69
1. I. Allegro ma non tanto
2. II. Scherzo: Allegro molto
3. III. Adagio cantabile; Allegro vivace

Sonata No. 5 in D Major for Cello and Piano, Op. 102, No. 2
4. I. Allegro con brio
5. II. Adagio con molto sentimento d'affetto
6. Allegro fugato

7. Seven Variation in E-flat Major on the Theme Bei Männern, Welche Liebe Fühlen, from Mozart's Die Zauberflüte, WoO 46
8. Twelve Variations in F Major on the Theme Ein Mädchen Oder Weibchen, from Mozart's Die Zauberflüte, Op. 66
 
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 "Emperor"*; Choral Fantasia^
*Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; André Previn, conductor
^New York Philharmonic; New York Choral Artists; Joseph Flummerfelt, chorus director; Zubin Mehta, conductor

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Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827)

Piano Concerto No. 5, Op. 73 "Emperor" in E-Flat Major
1. Allegro
2. Adagio un poco mosso
3. Rondo: Allegro

4. Polonaise in C, Op. 89

Choral Fantasia in C minor, Op. 80^
5. Adagio
6. Allegro
7. Meno allegro
8. Adagio ma non troppo
9. Marcia, assai vivace
10. Allegretto ma non troppo
11. Presto

 

Beethoven: Piano Concertos 1 - 5 The Complete Collection
**Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; André Previn, conductor

^New York Philharmonic; New York Choral Artists; Joseph Flummerfelt, chorus director; Zubin Mehta, conductor

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Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827)

Disc 1
Piano Concerto No 1, Op. 15 in C Major*
1. Allegro con brio
2. Largo
3. Rondo: Allegro scherzando

Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 19 in B Flat Major
4. Allegro con brio
5. Adagio
6. Rondo: Molto allegro

Disc 2
Piano Concerto No. 3, Op. 37 in C minor*
1. Allegro con brio
2. Largo
3. Rondo: Allegro

Piano Concerto No. 4 , Op. 58 in G Major*
4. Allegro moderato
5. Andante con moto
6. Rondo: Vivace

Disc 3
Piano Concerto No. 5, Op. 73 "Emperor" in E-Flat Major
1. Allegro
2. Adagio un poco mosso
3. Rondo: Allegro

Choral Fantasia in C minor, Op. 80^
5. Adagio
6. Allegro
7. Meno allegro
8. Adagio ma non troppo
9. Marcia, assai vivace
10. Allegretto ma non troppo
11. Presto

 
Beethoven: Piano Concertos 4 & 5
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; André Previn, conductor

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Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827)

Piano Concerto No. 3, Op. 37 in C minor*
1. Allegro con brio
2. Largo
3. Rondo: Allegro

Piano Concerto No. 4 , Op. 58 in G Major*
4. Allegro moderato
5. Andante con moto
6. Rondo: Vivace
 

Beethoven: Cello Sonata No. 4; Variations

With Yo-Yo Ma, cello

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Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827)

Sonata No. 4 for Cello and Piano in C Major, Op. 102, No. 1
1. I. Andante; Allegro vivace
2. II. Adagio; Allegro vivace

3. Seven Variation in E-flat Major on the Theme Bei Männern, Welche Liebe Fühlen, from Mozart's Die Zauberflüte, WoO 46
4. Twelve Variations in G Major on the Theme "See, The Conqu'ring Hero Comes", from Handel's Oratorio Judas Maccabaeus
5. Twelve Variations in F Major on the Theme Ein Mädchen Oder Weibchen, from Mozart's Die Zauberflüte, Op. 66

Beethoven: Cello Sonatas, Op. 5, Nos. 1 & 2

With Yo-Yo Ma, cello

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Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827)

Sonata No. 1 in F Major for Cello and Piano, Op. 5
1. I. Adagio sostenuto-Allegro-Adagio-Presto
2. II. Rondo: Allegro vivace

Sonata No. 2 in G minor for Cello and Piano, Op. 5
3. I. Adagio sostenuto e espressivo-Allegro molto piu tosto presto
4. II. Rondo: Allegro

 

Beethoven: Cello Sonatas Nos. 3 & 5

With Yo-Yo Ma, cello

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Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827)

Sonata No. 3 in A Major for Cello and Piano, Op. 69
1. I. Allegro ma non tanto
2. II. Scherzo: Allegro molto
3. III. Adagio cantabile; Allegro vivace

Sonata No. 5 in D Major for Cello and Piano, Op. 102
4. I. Allegro con brio
5. II. Adagio con molto
6. III. Allegro fugato

 

Beethoven, Schumann: Piano Quartets

With Jaime Laredo, viola; Yo-Yo Ma, cello & Isaac Stern, violin

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Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827)

Piano Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 16
1. I. Grave; Allegro, ma non troppo
2. II. Andante cantabile
3. III. Rondo: Allegro, ma non troppo

Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856)

Piano Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 47
4. I. Sostenuto assai; Alegro, ma non troppo
5. II. Scherzo: Molto vivace
6. III. Andante cantabile
7. IV. Finale: Vivace

Brahms, Beethoven, Mozart: Clarinet Trios -Expanded Edition

With Richard Stoltzman, clarinet; Yo-Yo Ma, cello; Alexander Heller, bassoon

 

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Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897)

Trio in A minor for Piano, Clarinet and Cello, Op. 114
1. I. Allegro
2. II. Adagio
3. III. Andantino grazioso - Trio
4. IV. Allegro

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827)

Trio in B-flat Major for Piano, Clarinet and Cello, Op. 11
5. I. Allegro con brio
6. II. Adagio
7. III. Tema: Pria ch'io l'impegno. Allegretto

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791)

Trio in E-flat Major for Piano, Clarinet and Viola (Cello), K. 498
8. I. Andante
9. II. Menuetto - Trio
10. III. Rondeaux. Allegretto

Sonata in B-flat Major for Bassoon and Cello, K. 292
11. I. Allegro
12. III. Rondo. Allegro

Brahms: Double Concerto

With Isaac Stern, violin; Yo-Yo Ma, cello; Jaime Laredo, viola; Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Claudio Abbado, conductor

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Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897)

Concerto for Violin, Cello and Orchestra in A minor, Op. 102
1. Allegro
2. II. Andante
3. III. Vivace non troppo

Piano Quartet No. 3 in C minor, Op. 60
4. I. Allegro non troppo
5. II. Scherzo: Allegro
6. III. Andante
7. IV. Finale: Allegro comodo

Brahms: Sonata for Two Pianos; Variations on a Theme By Haydn

With Yefim Bronfman, piano

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Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897)

Sonata in F minor for Two Pianos, O/ 34b
1. I. Allegro non troppo
2. II. Andante, un poco Adagio
3. III. Scherzo. Allegro - Trio
4. IV. Finale. Poco sostenuto - Allegro non troppo - Tempo I - Presto, non troppo

Variations on a Theme by Haydn for Two Pianos, Op. 56b
5. Thema. Chorale St. Antoni
6. Variation 1. Andante con moto
7. Variation 3. Vivace
8. Variation 3. Con moto
9. Variation 4. Andante
10. Variation 5. Poco presto
11. Variation 6. Vivace
12. Variation 7. Grazioso
13. Variation 8. Poco presto
14. Finale. Andante
 

Brahms: Concerto No. 2 for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 83 & Sonata in D Major, Op. 78

With Yo-Yo Ma^, cello; Boston Symphony Orchestra*; Bernard Haitink, conductor*

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Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897)

Concerto No. 2 in B-flat Major for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 83^
1. I. Allegro non troppo
2. II. Allegro appassionato
3. III. Andante
4. IV. Allegretto

Sonata in D Major for Cello and Piano, Op. 78 (arr. from the Sonata in G Major for Violin and Piano)*
5. I. Vivace ma non troppo
6. II. Adagio
7. III. Allegro molto moderato
 

Brahms: Piano Concertos, Two Rhapsodies, Op. 79; Intermezzos, Op. 117 & Op. 119

With the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; James Levine, conductor*; Boston Symphony Orchestra; Bernard Haitink, conductor

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Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897)

Disc 1
Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 15*
1. I. Maestoso
2. II. Adagio
3. III. Rondo: Allegro non troppo

4. Two Rhapsodies, Op. 79, No. 1. Agitato in B minor
5. Two Rhapsodies, Op. 79, No. 2. Molto passionato, ma non troppo Allegro in G minor
6. Rhapsodie in E-flat Major, Op. 119, No. 4

Disc 2
Concerto No. 2 in B-flat Major for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 83^
1. I. Allegro non troppo
2. II. Allegro appassionato
3. III. Andante
4. IV. Allegretto grazioso

Three Intermezzos, Op. 117
5. Intermezzo in E-flat Major
6. Intermezzo in B-flat minor
7. Intermezzo in C-sharp minor

8. Intermezzo in B mionr, Op. 119, No. 1
9. Intermezzo in E minor, Op. 119, No. 2
10. Intermezzo in C Major, Op. 119, No. 3
 

Brahms: Sonata for Cello & Piano

With Yo-Yo Ma, cello

 

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Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897)

Sonata for Celo and Piano in E minor, op. 38
1. I. Allegro non troppo
2. II. Allegretto quasi Menuetto - Trio
3. III. Allegro

Sonata for Cello and Piano in F Major, Op. 99
4. I. Allegro vivace
5. II. Adagio affetuoso
6. III. Allegro passionato - Trio
7. IV. Allegro molto

Sonata for Violin (Cello) and Piano in D minor, Op. 108
8. I. Allegro
9 II. Adagio
10. III. Un poco presto e con sentimento
11. IV. Presto agitato
 

Brahms: Piano Quartets

With Isaac Stern, violin; Jaime Laredo, viola; Yo-Yo Ma, cello

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Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897)

Disc 1
Quartet No. 1 in G minor for Piano and Strings, Op. 25
1. I Allegro
2. II. Intermezzo. Allegro ma non troppo - Trio. Animato
3. III. Andante con moto
4. IV. Rondo alla Zingarese. Presto

Quartet No. 3 in C minor for Poano and Strings, Op. 60
5. I. Allegro non troppo
6. II. Scherzo. Allegro
7. III. Andante
8. IV. Finale. Allegro comodo

Disc 2
Quartet No. 2 in A Major for Piano and Strings, Op. 26
1. I. Allegro non troppo
2. II. Poco adagio
3. III. Scherzo - Trio. Poco allegro
4. IV. Finale. Allegro
 

Brahms: Handel Variations, Six Piano Pieces, Op. 118 & Rhapsodies, Op. 79

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Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897)

Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, Op. 24
1. Aria
2. Var. I. Piu Vivo
3. Var. III
4. Var. IV
5. Var V
6. Var. VI
7. Var. VII
8. Var. VIII
9. Var. IX
10. Var X. Allegro
11. Var. XI. Moderato
12. Var. XII. L'istesso tempo
13. Var. XIII. Largamente, ma non troppo
14. Var. XIV
15. Var. XV
16. Var. XVI
17. Var. XVII
18. Var. XVIII
19. Var. XIX
20. Var. XX. Andante
21. Var. XXI. Vivace
22. Var. XXII. Alla Musette
23. Var. XXIII. Vivace
24. Var. XXIV
25. Var. XXV
26. Fuga. Moderato

Brahms, Beethoven, Mozart: Clarinet Trios

With Richard Stoltzman, clarinet & Yo-Yo Ma, cello

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Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897)

Trio in A minor for Piano, Clarinet and Cello, Op. 114
1. I. Allegro
2. II. Adagio
3. III. Andantino grazioso - Trio
4. IV. Allegro

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827)

Trio in B-flat Major for Piano, Clarinet and Cello, Op. 11
5. I. Allegro con brio
6. II. Adagio
7. III. Tema: Pria ch'io l'impegno. Allegretto

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791)

Trio in E-flat Major for Piano, Clarinet and Viola (Cello), K. 498
8. I. Andante
9. II. Menuetto - Trio
10. III. Rondeaux. Allegretto

Chopin: Ballades & Mazurkas; Scherzos and Other Works

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Frédéric Chopin (1810 - 1849)

Disc 1
Ballades
1. No. 1, Op. 23 in G minor
2. No. 2, Op. 38
3. No. 3, Op. 47 in A flat
4. No. 4, Op. 52 in F minor

Scherzo
5. Op. 20, in B minor - Presto con fuoco
6. Op. 39 in C-sharp minor - Presto con fuoco

Mazurka
7. Op. 24, No. 2 in C Major
8. Op. 56, No. 3 in C minor
9. Op. 59, No. 1 in A minor
10. Op. 59, No. 2 in A-flat Major
11. Op. 59, No. 3 in F-sharp minor

Disc 2
1. Andante Spinato and Grand Polonaise Brillante, Op. 22
2. Nocturne in B, Op. 62, No. 1
3. Scherzo No. 2 in B-flat minor, Op. 31
4. Scherzo No. 4 in E, Op. 54

Trois Nouvelles Étude
5. Étude in F minor
6. Étude in D-flat
7. Étude in A-flat

8. Polonaise-Fantaisie in A-flat, Op. 61

Chopin: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21

Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Sir charles Mackerras, conductor

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Frédéric Chopin (1810 - 1849)

Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21

1. I. Maestoso
2. II. Larghetto
3. III. Allegro vivace

4. Grand Fantasia on Polish Airs for Piano and Orchestra in A Major, Op. 13

Grande Polonaise for Piano and Orchestra (preceded by an Andante Spianato)
5. Andante spinatoin G Major, Tranquillo
6. Grande Polonaise. Molto allegro in E-flat Major)

Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 1; Grande Valse Brillante; Variations on La Ci Darem La Mano

Catherine Mackintosh, violinOrchestra of the Age of Enlightemnet; Sir Charles Mackerras, conductor

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Frédéric Chopin (1810 - 1849)

Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11*
1. I. Allegro maestoso
2. II. Romanze - Larghetto
3. III. Rondo - Vivace

4. Grand Valse Brillante in A minor, Op. 34, No. 2
5. Variations on La ci darem la mano, Op. 2 for Piano and Orchestra*

Chopin: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2

With the Philadelphia Orchestra; Eugene Ormandy, conductor

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Frédéric Chopin (1810 - 1849)

Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor
1. I. Allegro maestoso
2. II. Romance: Larghetto
3. III. Rondo: Vivace

Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor
4. I. Maestoso
5. II. Larghetto 6. III. Allegro vivace

Chopin: Trio for Violin, Cello and Piano in G minor, Op. 8

With Yo-Yo Ma, cello & Pamela Frank, violin

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Frédéric Chopin (1810 - 1849)

Trio for Violin, Cello and Piano in G minor, Op. 8
1. I. Allegro con fuoco
2. II. Scherzo. Con moto, ma non troppo
3. III. Adagio sostenuto
4. IV. Finale. Allegretto

5. Polonaise Brillante in C Major, Op. 3

Sonata for Cello and Piano, Op. 65
6. I. Allegro moderato
7. II. Scherzo. Allegro con brio
8. III. Largo
9. IV. Finale

10. Polonaise Brillante in C Major, Op. 3

Chopin: Scherzos & Mazurkas

 

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Frédéric Chopin (1810 - 1849)

Scherzo
1. Op. 20, in B minor - Presto con fuoco
2. Op. 31 in B-flat minor - Presto
3. Op. 39 in C-sharp minor - Presto con fuoco
4. Op. 54, in E Major - Presto

Mazurka
7. Op. 24, No. 2 in C Major
8. Op. 56, No. 3 in C minor
9. Op. 59, No. 1 in A minor
10. Op. 59, No. 2 in A-flat Major
11. Op. 59, No. 3 in F-sharp minor

Dvorák: Piano Trios

With Yo-Yo Ma, cello & Young Uck Kim, violin

 

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Antonín Dvorák (1841 - 1904)

Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello in F minor, Op. 65
1. I. Allegro ma non troppo
2. II. Allegretto grazioso
3. III. Poco adagio
4. IV. Finale. Allegro con brio

Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello in E minor, Op. 90 "Dumky"
5. I. Lento maestoso
6. II. Andante
7. III. Andante moderato (quasi tempo di marcia)
8. IV. Allegro
9. V. Lento maestoso

Fauré: Piano Quartets

With Yo-Yo Ma, cello, Isaac Stern, violin & Jaime Laredo, viola

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Gabriel Fauré (1845 - 1924)

Quartet No. 1 in C minor for Piano & Strings, Op. 15
1. I. Allegro molto moderato
2. II. Scherzo. Allegro vivace
3. III. Adagio
4. IV. Allegro molto

Quartet No. 2 in G minor for Piano & Strings, Op. 45
5. I. Allegro molto moderato
6. II. Allegro molto
7. III. Adagio non troppo
8. IV. Allegro molto

Fauré: Piano Quartets

With Yo-Yo Ma, cello, Isaac Stern, violin & Jaime Laredo, viola

*Kathryn Stott, piano

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Gabriel Fauré (1845 - 1924)

Quartet No. 1 in C minor for Piano & Strings, Op. 15
1. I. Allegro molto moderato
2. II. Scherzo. Allegro vivace
3. III. Adagio
4. IV. Allegro molto

Quartet No. 2 in G minor for Piano & Strings, Op. 45
5. I. Allegro molto moderato
6. II. Allegro molto
7. III. Adagio non troppo
8. IV. Allegro molto

9. Méditation from Thaïs*

Haydn: Concertos for Piano and Orchestra

With the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra;

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Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809)

Concerto in F Major for Piano and Strings, Hob. XVIII: 3
1. I. Allegretto
2. II. Largo cantabile
3. III. Presto

Concerto in G Major for Piano and Strings, Hob. XVIII: 4
4. I. Allegro moderato
5. II. Adagio
6. III. Rondo. Presto

Concerto in D Major for Piano and Strings, Hob. XVIII: 22
7. I. Vivace
8. II. Un poco Adagio
9. III. Rondo all'Ungarese. Allegro assai

Haydn: Piano Sonatas
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Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809)

Sonata No. 31 in A-flat Major, Hob. XVI: 46
1. I. Allegro moderato
2. II. Adagio
3. III. Finale. Presto

Sonata No. 34 in D Major, Hob. XVI: 33
4. I. Allegro
5. II. Adagio
6. III. Tempo di Minutto

Sonata No. 29 in E-flat Major, Hob. XVI: 45
7. I. Moderato
8. II. Andante
9. III. Finale. Allegro Di Molto

Sonata No. 49 in C-sharp minor, Hob. XVI: 36
10. I. Moderato
11. II. Scherzando. Allegro con brio
12. III. Menuet and Trio. Moderato

Sonata No. 35 in A-flat Major, Hob. XVI: 43
13. I. Moderato
14. II. Menuetto
15. III. Rondo. Presto

Haydn: Piano Sonatas nos. 32, 47, 53 & 59
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Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809)

Piano Sonata No. 47 in B minor, Hob. XVI: 32
1. I. allegro moderato
2. II. Menuet
3. III. Finale. Presto

Piano Sonata No. 53 in E minor, Hob. XVI: 34
4. I. Presto
5. II. Adagio
6. III. Vivace molto

Piano Sonata No. 32 in G minor, Hob. XVI: 44
7. I. Moderato
8. II. Allegretto

Piano Sonata No. 59 in e-flat Major, Hob. XVI: 49
9. I. Allegro
10. II. Adagio e cantabile
11. III. Finale. Tempo di Minuet

Haydn: Piano Sonatas Nos. 33, 38, 58 & 60

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Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809)

Sonata No. 58 in C Major for Piano, Hob. XVI: 48
1. I. Andante con espressione
2. II. Rondo. Presto

Sonata No. 33 in C minor for Piano, Hob. XVI: 20
3. I. Moderato
4. II. Andante con moto
5. III. Finale. Allegro

Sonata No. 60 in C Major for Piano, Hob. XVI: 50
6. I. Allegro
7. II. Adagio
8. III. Allegro molto

Sonata No. 38 in F Major for Piano Hob. XVI: 23
9. I. Moderato
10. II. Adagio
11. III. Finale. Presto

Lieberson: King Gesar

With: András Adjorán, flute; Stefan Hüge, percussion; Yo-Yo Ma, celloDeborah Marshall, clarinet; William Purvis, french Horn; Peter Serkin, piano;David Taylor, trombone;

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Peter Lieberson (b. 1946)

King Gesar (1991 - 92)
1. Part I - Calling on the Power of Goodness in Men's Hearts: An Invocation to the Imperial Drala, Gesar, King of Ling
2. Part II - The Birth of Gesar
3. Part III - Gesar in the Desert
4. Part IV - The Horse Race
5. Part V - The Song of Manene
6. Part VI - The Battle with the Tirthikas
7. Part VII - Gesar's Song of Completion

Liszt: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2; Schoenberg: Piano Concerto

With The Philharmonia Orchestra; Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor

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Arnold Schoenberg (1874 - 1951)

Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 42
1. I. Andante
2. II. Molto allegro (Bar 176)
3. III. Adagio (Bar 264)
4. Giocoso (Moderato) (Bar 329)

Franz Liszt (1811 - 1886)

Concerto No. 2 for Piano and Orchestra in A Major
5. I. Adagio sostenuto assai - Allegro agitato assai
6. II. Allegro moderato
7. III. Allegro deciso - Marziale un poco meno Allegro
8. IV. Allegro animato

Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major for Piano and Orchestra, S. 124
9. I. Allegro maestoso
10. II. Quasi Adagio
11. III. Allegretto vivace - Allegro animato
12. IV. Allegretto marziale animato

Liszt: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2; Schoenberg: Piano Concerto - Expanded Edition

With The Philharmonia Orchestra; Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor

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Franz Liszt (1811 - 1886)

Concerto No. 2 for Piano and Orchestra in A Major
1. I. Adagio sostenuto assai - Allegro agitato assai
2. II. Allegro moderato
3. III. Allegro deciso - Marziale un poco meno Allegro
4. IV. Allegro animato

Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major for Piano and Orchestra, S. 124
5. I. Allegro maestoso
6. II. Quasi Adagio
7. III. Allegretto vivace - Allegro animato
8. IV. Allegretto marziale animato

Sonata in B minor
9. Lento assai - Allegro energico
10. Andante sostenuto
11. Allegro energico

Los Tangueros

With Pablo Ziegler, piano

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Astor Piazzolla (1921 - 1992)
1. Revirado
2. Fuga y misterio
3. Milonga del Angel
4. Decarissimo
5. Soledad
6. La muerte del angel
7. Adiss Nonino
8. Libertango
9. Verano Portego
10. Michelangelo '70
11. buenos Aires Hora cero
12. Tangata

Mozart: Piano Quartets

With Jaime Laredo, viola; Yo-Yo Ma, cello; Isaac Stern, violin

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791)

Quartet in E-flat Major for Piano, Violin, Viola and Cello, K. 493
1. I. Allegro
2. II. Larghetto
3. III. Allegretto

Quartet in G minor for Piano, Violin, Viola and Cello, K. 478
4. I. Allegro
5. II. Andante
6. III. Rondo

Mozart: Piano Quartets - Expanded Edition

With Jaime Laredo, viola; Yo-Yo Ma, cello; Isaac Stern, violin

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791)

Quartet in E-flat Major for Piano, Violin, Viola and Cello, K. 493
1. I. Allegro
2. II. Larghetto
3. III. Allegretto

Quartet in G minor for Piano, Violin, Viola and Cello, K. 478
4. I. Allegro
5. II. Andante
6. III. Rondo

Trio in E-flat Major for Piano, Clarinet and Viola (Cello), K. 498
7. I. Andante
8. II. Menuetto - Trio
9. III. Rondeaux. Allegretto

Rachmaninoff & Prokofiev Cello Suites

With Yo-Yo Ma

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Sergei Prokofiev (1891 - 1953)

Sonata in C Major for Cello and Piano, Op. 119
1. I. Andante grave - Moderato animato - Allegro moderato
2. II. Moderato - Andante dolce
3. III. Allegro ma non troppo - Andantino

Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873 - 1943)

Sonata in G minor for Cello and Piano, Op. 19
4. I. Lento - Allegro moderato - Moderato
5. II. Allegro scherzando
6. III. Andante
7. IV. Allegro mosso - Moderato - Vivace

8. II. Allegro from Sonata in D minor for Cello and Piano, Op. 40
9. IV. Marcia. Energico from Sonata in C Major for Cello and Piano, Op. 65
10. III. Finale: Allegro vivo from Sonata in F Major for Cello and Piano, Op. 6

Rachmaninoff: Suites Nos. 1 & 2; Symphonic Dances for 2 Pianos

With Yefim Bronfman, piano

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Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873 - 1943)

Symphonic Dances for 2 Pianos, Op. 45
1. I. Allegro
2. II. Andante con moto
3. III. Lento assai

Suite No. 2 for 2 Pianos, Op. 17
4. I. Introduction
5. II. Waltz
6. III. Romance
7. IV. Tarantella

Suite No. 1 for 2 Pianos, Op. 5, Fantaisie-tabeleaux
8. I. Barcarole
9. II. A Night for Love
10. III. Tears
11. IV. Russian Easter

Strauss & Britten Cello Sonatas

With Yo-Yo Ma, cello

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Richard Strauss (1864 - 1949)

Sonata in F Major for Cello and Piano, Op. 6
1. I. Allegro con brio
2. II. Andante ma non troppo
3. III. Finale. Allegro vivo

Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976)

Sonata in C Major for Cello and Piano, Op. 65
4. I. Dialogo. Allegro
5. II. Scherzo Pizzicato. Allegretto
6. III. Elegia. Lento
7. IV. Marcia. Energico
8. V. Moto Perpetuo. Presto

 

R. Strauss: Enoch Arden A melodrama for piano and speaker after Alfred Lord Tennyson

With Patrick Stewart, narrator

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Richard Strauss (1864 - 1949)

Enoch Arden, Op. 38 A melodrama for piano and speaker after Alfred Lord Tennyson
1. Prelude. Andante "Long lines of cliff breaking"
2. "So these were wed" Langsam
3. Allegro appassionato "She when the day, that Enoch mentioned"
4. Tranquillo, "And so ten years, since Enoch left"
5. Annie's Dream. Langsam "When lo! Her Enoch sitting on a height"
6. Prelude. Allegro moderato. "And where was Enoch?"
7. "Thus over Enoch's early silvering head"
8. Allegro agitato. "When the dead man comes to life"
9. Langsam "Women, disturb me not at the last"

10. Andante, Op. 3, No. 1 from Five Piano Pieces for Solo Piano
11. Allegro Molto, Op. 3, No. 4 from Five Piano Pieces for Solo Piano

 

Schubert: Quintet in A Major for Piano and Strings, Op. post. 114, D. 667 "The Trout"

With Barbara Bonney, soprano~, Pamela Frank, violin*; Yo-Yo Ma, cello^; Edgar Meyer, bass* and Rebecca Young, viola*

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Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828)

Quintet in A Major for Piano and Strings, Op. post. 114, D. 667 "The Trout"*^
1. I. Allegro vivace
2. II. Andante
3. III. Scherzo. Presto - Trio
4. IV. Theme & Variations. Andantino
5. V. Finale. Allegro giusto

Sonata in A minor for Piano and Arpeggione (Cello). D. 821^
6. I. Allegro moderato
7. II. Adagio
8. III. Allegretto

9. Die Forelle, D. 550~

Shostakovich: Piano Trio No. 2 & Cello Sonata

With Yo-Yo Ma, cello & Isaac Stern, violin

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Dimitri Shostakovich (1906 - 1975)

Trio No. 2 in E minor for Piano, Violin and Cello
1. I. Andante - Moderato
2. II. Allegro con brio
3. III. Largo
4. IV. Allegretto

Sonata in D minor for Cello and Piano, Op. 40
5. I. Allegro non troppo
6. II. Allegro
7. III. Largo
8. IV. Allegro

 





TOUR SCHEDULE

Please click on the venue name for more information and to purchase tickets.

2009

Date: March 24 & 25
City: Montreal, Canada
Venue: Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier at Place des Arts
Repertoire: Brahms: Symphony No. 3
Performing with: Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal; Kent Nagano, conductor

Date: March 30
City: University Park, PA USA
Venue: Eisenhower Auditorium at Penn State
Repertoire: Mendelssohn: Piano Trio in D minor, Op. 49; Piano Trio No. 2 in C minor, Op. 66
Performing with: Yo-Yo Ma, cello; Itzhak Perlman, violin

Date: March 31
City: New York, NY USA
Venue: Carnegie Hall
Repertoire: Mendelssohn: Piano Trio in D minor, Op. 49; Piano Trio No. 2 in C minor, Op. 66
Performing with: Yo-Yo Ma, cello; Itzhak Perlman, violin

Date: April 3, 4 & 5
City: Kansas City, MO USA
Venue: Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts
Repertoire: World Premiere: Stephen Hartke: Piano Concerto
Performing with: Kansas City Symphony; Michael Stern, conductor

Date: April 16
City: Paris, France
Venue: Theatre de Champs-Elysees
Repertoire: Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1
Performing with: Orchestre National de France; Daniele Gatti, conductor

Date: April 19
City: Dresden, Germany
Venue: Semperoper Dresden
Repertoire: R. Strauss: Burleske
Performing with: Dresden Staatskapelle; Fabio Luisi, conductor

Date: April 23
City: Paris, France
Venue: Theatre de Champs-Elysees
Repertoire: Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2
Performing with: Orchestre National de France; Daniele Gatti, conductor

Date: May 3
City: Hong Kong
Venue: Hong Kong Cultural Centre
Repertoire: R. Strauss: Burleske for Piano and Orchestra in D minor
Performing with: Staatskapelle Dresden; Fabio Luisi, conductor

Date: May 4
City: Hong Kong
Venue: Hong Kong Cultural Centre
Repertoire: Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37
Performing with: Staatskapelle Dresden; Fabio Luisi, conductor

Date: May 7
City: Beijing, China
Venue: National Center for Performing Arts
Repertoire: Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37
Performing with: Staatskapelle Dresden; Fabio Luisi, conductor

Date: May 9
City: Seoul, Republic of Korea
Venue: Sejong Cultural Center
Repertoire: Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37
Performing with: Staatskapelle Dresden; Fabio Luisi, conductor

Date: May 13
City: Zurich, Switzerland
Venue: Tonhalle Zurich
Repertoire: Mozart: Piano Concerto, K. 503
Performing with: Tohalle Orchester Zurich; Herbert Blomstedt, conductor

Date: May 16
City: Aschaffenburg, Germany
Venue: Stadthalle
Repertoire: Mozart: Piano Concerto, K. 503
Performing with: Rundfunksinfonieorchester Berlin; Marek Janowski

Date: May 20
City: Helsinki, Finland
Venue: Helsinki Finlandia Hall
Repertoire: Mozart: Piano Concerto, K. 503
Performing with: Finnish Radio Orchestra; Sakari Oramo, conductor

Date: June 17 & 18
City: Toronto Canada
Venue: Toronto Sympony Orchestra
Repertoire: Bartók: Double Concerto; R. Strauss: Burleske
Performing with: Yoko Nozaki, piano; Toronto Symphony Orchestra; Peter Oundjian, conductor

Date: July 10
City: Lenox, MA USA
Venue: Tanglewood - Koussevitzky Music Shed
Repertoire: Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4
Performing with: Boston Symphony Orchestra; Herbert Blomstedt, conductor

Date: August 5 & 6
City: Lenox, MA USA
Venue: Tanglewood - Seiji Ozawa Hall
Repertoire: Ives: Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello "A Lake"; Beethoven: Sonata No. 4 in C for Cello and Piano, Op. 102, No. 1
Performing with: Yo-Yo Ma, cello; Colin Jacobson, violin; Mark Morris Dance Group, Mark Morris, choreographer

Date: August 11
City: Saratoga, NY USA
Venue: Saratoga Festival at Little Theater
Repertoire: Beethoven: Sonata No. 4 for Cello and Piano
Performing with: Yo-Yo Ma, cello

Date: August 13
City: Saratoga, NY USA
Venue: Saratoga Festival at Little Theater
Repertoire: Beethoven: Piano Concerto, No. 4
Performing with: Philadelphia Orchestra; Charles Dutoit, conductor

Date: August 18 - 22
City: New York, NY USA
Venue: Moztly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center
Repertoire: Ives: Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello "A Lake"; Beethoven: Sonata No. 4 in C for Cello and Piano, Op. 102, No. 1
Performing with: Yo-Yo Ma, cello; Mark Morris Dance Group, Mark Morris, choreographer




 

 

 

 

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