February 22, 2012 SUPPLEMENT EMANUEL AX the 2012–13
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FOR RELEASE: February 22, 2012 SUPPLEMENT EMANUEL AX THE 2012–13 MARY AND JAMES G. WALLACH ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE Pianist To Perform J.S. BACH’s Keyboard Concerto in D minor, SCHOENBERG’s Piano Concerto, MOZART’s Piano Concerto No. 25, Christopher ROUSE’s Seeing, Written for Ax Mahler/Schoenberg Das Lied von der Erde — a Co-Presentation with Lincoln Center’s White Light Festival — and Brahms’s Piano Quintet in CHAMBER CONCERTS with Philharmonic Musicians Emanuel Ax To Be Soloist on EUROPE / SPRING 2013 Tour ______________________________________ “It’s a great, great honor to work with the New York Philharmonic. I’ve been a resident of New York since I was 12 years old, and I’ve performed more than 100 concerts now with the Orchestra. Being the Artist-in-Residence in 2012–13 is going to be very special for me. Alan Gilbert is one of the most important people in music today. He’s a fabulous conductor, but in a way, for a music director, that’s not the only thing you need — it’s all the other things he does: he’s incredibly inventive with programming, and has a powerful ability to connect with people on every level.” — Emanuel Ax ____________________________ Emanuel Ax has been named The Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence at the Philharmonic for the 2012–13 season. He is the fourth musician to hold this title, following Frank Peter Zimmermann (2011–12), Anne-Sophie Mutter (2010–11), and Thomas Hampson (2009–10). The pianist, who became an Honorary Member of the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York in April 2011 on the occasion of his 100th performance with the Orchestra, will make three concerto appearances with the Philharmonic in addition to performing chamber music and traveling with the Orchestra on the EUROPE / SPRING 2013 tour. Alan Gilbert said: “Emanuel Ax is a beloved artist on the New York concert scene and, of course, one of the most important pianists around the world, so the choice to have him as our Artist-in-Residence was obvious. I’m thrilled that he has agreed to do this: he has a very strong concert presence, of course, but more important, he himself has told me that his relationship with New York Philharmonic is incredibly important to him. He’s very excited at the possibility of showing the various aspects of his musical personality as a 2 concert soloist and chamber music collaborator, and as a performer of music ranging from the Baroque and Classical eras to the present day.” EMANUEL AX TO MAKE THREE CONCERTO APPEARANCES Bach Keyboard and Schoenberg Piano Concertos Mr. Ax will make three concerto appearances with the Philharmonic: In his first program as Artist-in-Residence, October 4–6, 2012, Mr. Ax will join the Orchestra for his first-ever performance of a Bach concerto, the Keyboard Concerto in D minor. Emanuel Ax said: “I’m incredibly nervous and excited about doing the Bach because I’ve never performed a Bach concerto. There’s so much music for piano that I’ve just never touched in this area, which is fabulous and wonderful. I’m absolutely ecstatic about getting a chance to do it.” Mr. Ax will follow the Bach with Schoenberg’s Piano Concerto, which the composer wrote utilizing his 12-tone technique. The original manuscript includes commentaries for each of the four movements: “Life was so easy,” “Suddenly hatred broke out,” “A grace situation was created,” and “But life goes on.” The designations were removed for the published version so as to remove any programmatic connotations for the listener. Emanuel Ax said: “The Schoenberg concerto is a favorite of mine. It is a wonderful, brilliant, and, in some ways, maybe slightly disturbing piece; it is a very exciting concert piece, and I hope that audiences will take to it. It’s certainly not a piece that has not been played, but I am thrilled anytime I get a chance to do it.” Alan Gilbert said: “I think Schoenberg is a tricky composer for audiences to deal with because, on the surface, there are a lot of his pieces that are hard to get to. But I’ve always enjoyed the fact that the first syllable of his name is ‘Schoen,’ which means beautiful in German, and his music really is beautiful.” Mr. Gilbert and Mr. Ax will precede the Schoenberg Piano Concerto with an on-stage discussion as a guide to the 1942 piece, which is considered a 20th-century masterpiece. To illuminate the work, Mr. Gilbert and Mr. Ax plan to discuss the works from the stage before each of these performances, which conclude with Mozart’s Symphony No. 36, Linz. Mr. Gilbert said: “We’re hoping to provide an elucidation of the piece itself, how it unfolds, where its structural points are. Since this work is in a language that is less familiar to certain people, I think that showing how it’s constructed, where the themes are, can make a huge difference in how the audience listens to it, and will enhance their enjoyment of it.” Mr. Ax said: “I hope that people who know me from other performances will be willing to trust the fact that Alan and I are really excited about this, and will come and listen with open ears. The more we share our own excitement about Schoenberg with them, the easier it will be for them to like it. I don’t think the music itself is as problematic as it is reputed to be, so we’ll try to change his reputation — we’ll popularize him a bit.” 3 Mozart Piano Concerto No. 25 In his second orchestral appearance, Mr. Ax will perform Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 25, conducted by Alan Gilbert, April 24–25 and 27, 2013, as well as on the Philharmonic’s EUROPE / SPRING 2013 tour. Completed in 1786, the work is the last of Mozart’s four C-major concertos, as well as the last of the 12 he wrote in Vienna between 1784 and 1786. Completed at the same time as the Prague symphony, this concerto was composed during the height of Mozart’s career, while he was also reveling in the success of The Marriage of Figaro. But after Mozart’s untimely death the concerto ultimately fell into an extended period of neglect, and wasn’t reintroduced into the standard repertoire until the years following World War II. Since then, it has become acclaimed for being one of the greatest works in the repertoire. The April performances in Avery Fisher Hall will pair the concerto with Bruckner’s Symphony No. 3; the EUROPE / SPRING 2013 tour programs will be announced at a later date. Mr. Ax said: “Mozart 25 — nothing is really better, so why not? The last time I toured with the Philharmonic we performed Beethoven, and the tour before that, we played Brahms, so it is nice now to play Mozart.” Mr. Gilbert said: “Playing Mozart with Manny is a real joy and a real privilege. He has a lightness and an elegance of touch that are supported by an incredible warmth that he brings to the music. The word that comes to mind so often when I think about Manny and his musicianship is ‘natural:’ it unfolds in an absolutely compelling, inevitable way — and that’s not as easy as it sounds with Mozart, or with any composer, for that matter – and he inspires the musicians he works with to join his natural ‘breathing’ of the music.” Christopher Rouse’s Seeing, Commissioned for Ax in 1990s For his third orchestral program, June 20–22, 2013, Emanuel Ax will perform Seeing for Piano and Orchestra by The Marie Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence Christopher Rouse, a Philharmonic commission that Mr. Ax premiered in 1999 under the baton of Leonard Slatkin and reprised in 2003 with David Zinman. A non-traditional piano concerto, Seeing’s genesis lies in Robert Schumann’s piano concerto and the song “Seeing” by Moby Grape’s guitarist, the late Skip Spence. Upon Christopher Rouse’s discovery that both Schumann and Spence suffered from psychosis, the conception for Seeing took shape. These programs, led by Alan Gilbert, will also include A Ring Journey, Mr. Gilbert’s arrangement of Erich Leinsdorf’s synthesis of orchestral music from Wagner’s Ring Cycle. Mr. Ax said: “I think Seeing is an incredibly wonderful piece of music and deserves to become part of the standard repertoire, so I’m doing what I can to help that along. This will be the third time I’ll have performed it with the Philharmonic, but I’ve also played it at the Proms in London, with the Tonhalle Orchestra in Zurich, and with The Cleveland Orchestra in Aspen.” Alan Gilbert said: “I heard Manny play this piece years ago, in Aspen, and I love it. I’ve been begging him to play it ever since then. It’s a perfect end to his residency — Seeing 4 nicely balances out the other works he’s performing, and I also think it’s really important and gives a very strong message to be able to bring back a work that was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic for Manny by Christopher Rouse.” CHAMBER MUSIC PERFORMANCES Mahler/Schoenberg and Brahms In addition to his three concerto appearances with the Orchestra during the 2012–13 season, Emanuel Ax will participate in two November chamber music programs alongside Philharmonic musicians. In the first, on November 4, 2012, the New York Philharmonic and Lincoln Center’s White Light Festival present a program that includes a performance by Mr.