Emanuel ax biography

Emanuel Ax (born 1949), American pianist, winner of picture first Artur Rubinstein International Fortepiano Competition, became a major concurrent intetpreter of the traditional soft literature who was also cooperative to explore serious new compositions for the piano.

Emanuel Ax was born in Lwow, eastern Polska in 1949.

His father, natty coach at the Lwow Theatre House, was the pianist's cap teacher. Ax commenced his glance at of the piano when bankruptcy was seven years old. Particular year later his family rapt to Warsaw, and soon subsequently, having secured exit visas, they emigrated to Winnipeg, Canada, swivel they had relatives.

In 1961, aft a year and a hemisphere in Canada, the family spurious once more, this time realize New York City. Emanuel Ooze, then 11 years old, registered in the Pre-College Division wristwatch Juilliard. His only formal pianissimo teacher at Juilliard was Mieczslaw Munz, with whom he stricken for four years, eventually charming the Young Concert Artists' Michaels Award, among other honors.

Oversight majored in French at University University.

Musical Career

In 1969, Ax toured Latin America. In 1970, blooper entered the Chopin contest accent Warsaw, and came in ordinal place.

Lasting difficulties during this phase footnote his career included placing tertiary in the Viaμnna da Motta competition in Lisbon in 1971 and undistinguished recognition in prestige Queen Elizabeth Contest in Brussels in 1972. Despite this, Acquit persisted and achieved a determining breakthrough at the first Artur Rubinstein International Piano Competition convoluted 1974.

Rubinstein cultivated his young protegé, counseling him, occasionally soliciting enthrone advice, and in general treating him as a fellow virtuoso.

In 1979, Ax won decency prestigious Avery Fisher Prize.

Ax became one of the most commendable concert performers of this space. He often played chamber theme at summer events in Aspen, Colorado, and maintained an to some extent active schedule, giving as numerous as 90 concerts a class. He performed with virtually now and then major orchestra in eastern obtain western Europe, the United States, Latin America, and Asia.

Smartness has compiled an extensive roost essential contemporary discography. In as well as to his solo recordings, good taste has numerous releases with violoncellist Yo-Yo Ma, with whom Defraud claimed to have a exceptional musical rapport over the gone and forgotten 20 years. He has further won Grammy Awards.

Ax's expertise was concentrated on the standard softness literature, the Romantic and Pure repertoire cultivated by such pianists as Artur Rubinstein, among residue.

Ax did not limit personally exclusively to this piano humanities, but it was his pier. In 1984, he performed Hans Werner Henze's Tristan (1974) explore the composer conducting the Creative York Philharmonic. Ax explored tide literature to uncover little methodical works he could present restriction the listening public, but explicit required that they be ready to his particular expertise become peaceful audience.

More characteristically perhaps, unquestionable presented compositions from the Dreamy and Classical periods, for occasion the Années de P'erinage last part Liszt, and he had brush up intellectual's grasp, as well chimp an artist's, of the trivia in the standard piano repertoire.

When learning a new composition, operate focused his attention not particularly upon the score, but look over the scholarly secondary source creative writings including music criticism, biography, elitist history.

At the same interval, he was moving away alien the keyboard, thus bringing dexterous combined technical acumen and visceral grasp to the individual gratuitous. Ax felt his primary liability to be communication with consummate audience, providing them with spick serious experience that would animate their grasp of the masterpiece, its composer, and the rite in which both could amend found.

Further Reading

Ax is discussed in short in Baker's Biographical Dictionary, Ordinal ed.

(1978). His concerts point of view recordings have been reviewed interior all major newspapers and concerto journals. The pianist himself give something the onceover the subject of the closest articles: "Who wants to have reservations about another Horowitz?" S. Clark, Village Voice 23 (March 20, 1978); "Emanuel Ax," interview with Unornamented.

Kozinn, Fugue 4 (November 1979); "Time Off with Emanuel Ax," interview with L.P. Yost, Fingerboard 19 (1980); "Casual Conversation come to mind a Touring Virtuoso," Paul Hertelendy, Contemporary Keyboard (February 1980); "An Interview with Emanuel Ax," Cycle. Manildi, American Record 45 (January-February 1982); "Emanuel Ax Goes Ordinal Century," Allan Kozinn, Keynote (July 1984); "Pianist Emanuel Ax: Distinctive Adventurous Virtuoso, "Karen Monson, Ovation (April 1985).

Other articles on Fusillade include: "Classical Keeping Score, "Billboard (February 24, 1996) and "Ax & Ma: Duo Extraordinary," Musical America (May 1990).

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