Emanuel Ax Plays Chopin
Polish by birth and a victor of the Chopin Competition, Emanuel Ax was bound to have a close relationship with Chopin. But it is the sheer quality of his playing that makes him so renowned as a Chopin performer. Six CDs present Ax’s interpretations of a stimulating range of concertante, solo and chamber works by his compatriot. The two concertos are played with Sir Charles Mackerras conducting the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment across two discs from 1998–1999.
In his debut recordings on a historical instrument, Ax conjured “period performances unlikely to be outshone for their imagination and poetry” (Gramophone). Reviewing some of the solo performances collected here, Gramophone wrote that Ax’s recordings “are of a superlative distinction and show all the relaxed fluency and tonal elegance of a master pianist”. “No doubt Chopin would have approved” of his handling of the Mazurkas, said ClassicsToday.com, presented alongside the complete Scherzos and Ballades, as well as the Second and Third Sonatas. Ax’s famed partnership with Yo-Yo Ma, represented on the final disc, produces a “tactfully balanced, persuasively fluid performance” (Gramophone) of the Cello Sonata.
REVIEW:
Ax’s recordings are of a superlative distinction and show all the relaxed fluency and tonal elegance of a master pianist. Ax and Yo-Yo Ma produce a tactfully balanced, persuasively fluid performance of the Cello Sonata.
-- Gramophone (paraphrased from note above)
Product Description:
-
Release Date: January 05, 2018
-
UPC: 889854650421
-
Catalog Number: 88985465042
-
Label: Sony Masterworks
-
Number of Discs: 6
-
Period: Romantic
-
Composer: Frédéric Chopin
-
Conductor: Sir Charles Mackerras
-
Orchestra/Ensemble: Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
-
Performer: Emanuel Ax, Pamela Frank, Yo-Yo Ma
Works:
-
Concerto for Piano & Orchestra no. 1
Composer: Frédéric Chopin
Ensemble: Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
Performer: Emanuel Ax (Piano)
Conductor: Charles Mackerras
-
Grande Valse brillante in A minor
Composer: Frédéric Chopin
Performer: Emanuel Ax (Piano)
-
Variations on "Là ci darem la mano" (after Mozart)
Composer: Frédéric Chopin
Performer: Emanuel Ax (Piano)
-
Concerto for Piano & Orchestra no. 2
Composer: Frédéric Chopin
Ensemble: Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
Performer: Emanuel Ax (Piano)
Conductor: Charles Mackerras
-
Fantasy on Polish Airs
Composer: Frédéric Chopin
Performer: Emanuel Ax (Piano)
-
Andante spianato & Grande Polonaise, Op. 22
Composer: Frédéric Chopin
Ensemble: Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
Performer: Emanuel Ax (Piano)
Conductor: Charles Mackerras
-
Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 35 'Marche funèbre'
Composer: Frédéric Chopin
Performer: Emanuel Ax (Piano)
-
Piano Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58
Composer: Frédéric Chopin
Performer: Emanuel Ax (Piano)
-
Andante spianato & Grande Polonaise, Op. 22
Composer: Frédéric Chopin
Performer: Emanuel Ax (Piano)
-
Nocturne No. 17 in B major, Op. 62 No. 1
Composer: Frédéric Chopin
Performer: Emanuel Ax (Piano)
-
Ballades Nos. 1-4
Composer: Frédéric Chopin
Performer: Emanuel Ax (Piano)
-
Scherzo No. 4 in E major, Op. 54
Composer: Frédéric Chopin
Performer: Emanuel Ax (Piano)
-
Polonaise No. 7 in A flat major, Op. 61 'Polonaise-fantaisie'
Composer: Frédéric Chopin
Performer: Emanuel Ax (Piano)
-
Trois Nouvelles Études
Composer: Frédéric Chopin
Performer: Emanuel Ax (Piano)
-
Scherzo No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 31
Composer: Frédéric Chopin
Performer: Emanuel Ax (Piano)
-
Scherzos Nos. 1-4
Composer: Frédéric Chopin
Performer: Emanuel Ax (Piano)
-
Mazurkas, Op. 6: No. 2 in C-Sharp Minor
Composer: Frédéric Chopin
Performer: Emanuel Ax (Piano)
-
Op. 24: No. 2 in C
Composer: Frédéric Chopin
Performer: Emanuel Ax (Piano)
-
Mazurkas, Op. 56: No. 3 in C Minor
Composer: Frédéric Chopin
Performer: Emanuel Ax (Piano)
-
Mazurkas, Op. 59: No. 1 in A Minor
Composer: Frédéric Chopin
Performer: Emanuel Ax (Piano)
-
Op. 59: No. 2 in A-Flat
Composer: Frédéric Chopin
Performer: Emanuel Ax (Piano)
-
Mazurka No. 38 in F sharp minor, Op. 59 No. 3
Composer: Frédéric Chopin
Performer: Emanuel Ax (Piano)
-
Trio for Piano and Strings in G minor, Op. 8
Composer: Frédéric Chopin
Performer: Pamela Frank (violin), Yo-Yo Ma (cello), Emanuel Ax (Piano)
-
Introduction and Polonaise Brillante in C, Op. 3
Composer: Frédéric Chopin
Performer: Yo-Yo Ma (cello), Emanuel Ax (Piano)
-
Sonata for Cello and Piano in G minor, Op. 65
Composer: Frédéric Chopin
Performer: Yo-Yo Ma (cello), Emanuel Ax (Piano)