Emanuel Ax
One of the 20th and 21st century's most highly regarded pianists, Emanuel Ax has performed all over the United States and Europe. His repertoire includes chamber music literature such as Béla Bartók, Schoenberg, and Mozart. He regularly performs concerts and recitals with Yo-Yo Ma and Yong Uck Kim. A renowned pianist by the age of 25, his popularity as a classical pianist has only increased.
Ax was born in Lvov, Poland, on June 8, 1949. His love for the piano began at the age of six when he started taking lessons in Warsaw. He and his family moved to North America in 1961, where he continued his piano lessons. At the Juilliard School of Music in New York, Ax studied with Mieczyslaw Munz. He made his professional debut recital in 1973. In 1974, Ax earned international fame when he won the first Arthur Rubenstein International Competition in Israel. From this one competition came a lifetime of fame as a pianist. After numerous recitals and performances all over the world and playing in London in 1977, Ax traveled back to New York and won the Avery Fisher Prize for Music in 1979. He regularly performed with the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, and Philadelphia Orchestra. Ax also performs at festivals including Ravinia, Aspen, and Tanglewood. In 1994, he played Mozart's D minor concerto at the London Proms.
In 1987, Ax signed an exclusive contract with the Sony Classical label. He recorded the Liszt Concertos and a Schoenberg Concerto, as well as many works by Beethoven and Brahms, including the Brahms' Second Concerto with the Boston Symphony, conducted by Bernard Haitink. The second and third releases in his Haydn piano sonata cycle each won him a Grammy Award. While touring in Europe during the 1996-1997 season, Ax played Hans Werner Henze's Tristan, conducted by Kurt Masur, for the composer's 70th birthday. His concert tours have been a major part of his international recognition, including concerts with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the European Union Youth Orchestra, and the Berlin Festival Orchestra. During his musical career, he has worked with such conductors as Simon Rattle, Donald Runnicles, and Leonard Slatkin, among many others.
Aside from numerous concert and recital appearances per season, Ax still finds time to record with his colleagues. He has regularly appeared with cellist Yo-Yo Ma since the '70s. Together, the two have earned five Grammy Awards; one was for an album of clarinet trios with Ma and Richard Stoltzman. With Isaac Stern, Jaime Laredo, and Yo-Yo Ma, he toured the U.S. performing works by Brahms, Fauré, Beethoven, and Mozart. Ax and Ma continued their partnership in 2020 with a series of recitals at Carnegie Hall, and the pair spontaneously performed several times for essential workers during the coronavirus lockdowns that year. When regular concerts resumed, Ax, Ma, and violinist Leonidas Kavakos impressed the audience at Tanglewood with a trio arrangement of Beethoven's Symphony No. 2. Subsequently the trio began a series of recordings, Beethoven for Three, in 2022, which was also a hit with listeners. Ax teaches at the Juilliard School.
© Kim Summers /TiVo
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Beethoven for Three: Symphony No. 4 and Op. 97 "Archduke"
Yo-Yo Ma, Leonidas Kavakos, Emanuel Ax, Ludwig van Beethoven
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 15 Mar 2024
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven for Three: Symphony No. 6 "Pastorale" and Op. 1, No. 3
Yo-Yo Ma, Leonidas Kavakos, Emanuel Ax, Ludwig van Beethoven
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 11 Nov 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven for Three: Symphonies Nos. 2 and 5
Yo-Yo Ma, Leonidas Kavakos, Emanuel Ax
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 4 Mar 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms : The Piano Trios
Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax, Leonidas Kavakos
Trios - Released by Sony Classical on 15 Sep 2017
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Hope Amid Tears - Beethoven Cello Sonatas
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 4 Jun 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Trout Quintet & Arpeggione Sonata & Die Forelle
Emanuel Ax, Yo-Yo Ma, Barbara Bonney
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 23 Jan 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Emanuel Ax Plays Haydn
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 1 Mar 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Fauré & Strauss: Violin Sonatas
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon on 25 Aug 2015
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn: Concertos for Piano & Orchestra
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 12 Jan 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: 25 Variations & Fugue on a Theme by Handel, Op. 24, 6 Klavierstücke, Op. 118 & 2 Rhapsodies, Op. 79
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 30 Apr 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 20 & 22
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 1 Jan 1980
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 17 & 18
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 1 Jan 1985
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chopin: Sonata No. 3 and Works by Liszt
Classical - Released by RCA Red Seal on 1 Jan 1975
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Emanuel Ax Plays Chopin
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 17 Aug 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances & Suites for 2 Pianos
Emanuel Ax, Yefim Bronfman, Emanuel Ax, Yefim Bronfman
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 25 Oct 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ravel: Gaspard de la nuit, M. 55 & Valses nobles et sentimentales, M. 61 & Ma mère l'Oye, M. 60
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 17 Aug 2018
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 3 Aug 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven, Piano Concertos Nos. 4 & 5
Classical - Released by RCA Red Seal on 6 Oct 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Thomas Quasthoff in Verbier (Vol. II / Live)
Thomas Quasthoff, Evgeny Kissin, Martha Argerich, Emanuel Ax, James Levine
Classical - Released by Verbier Festival Gold on 1 Dec 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn: Piano Sonatas
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 2 Jun 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn: Piano Sonatas Nos. 32, 47, 53 & 59
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 19 Sep 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo