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Emanuel Ax

Variations

Sony Masterworks
Release Date: January 22, 2013

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Backstage with Peter Oundjian: Emanuel Ax
EMANUAL AX - MOZART PIANO CONCERTO # 22 in E flat / BAVARIAN RADIO SYMPHONY
1 Beethoven: Variations & Fugue Eb M, Op. 35/Intro
2 Beethoven: Variations & Fugue in Eb M, Op. 35/V1
3 Beethoven: Variations & Fugue in Eb M, Op. 35/V2
4 Beethoven: Variations & Fugue in Eb M, Op. 35/V3
5 Beethoven: Variations & Fugue in Eb M, Op. 35/V4
6 Beethoven: Variations & Fugue in Eb M, Op. 35/V5
7 Beethoven: Variations & Fugue in Eb M, Op. 35/V6
8 Beethoven: Variations & Fugue in Eb M, Op. 35/V7
9 Beethoven: Variations & Fugue in Eb M, Op. 35/V8
10 Beethoven: Variations & Fugue in Eb M, Op. 35/V9
11 Beethoven: Variations & Fugue in Eb M, Op. 35/V10
12 Beethoven: Variations & Fugue in Eb M, Op. 35/V11
13 Beethoven: Variations & Fugue in Eb M, Op. 35/V12
14 Beethoven: Variations & Fugue in Eb M, Op. 35/V13
15 Beethoven: Variations & Fugue in Eb M, Op. 35/V14
16 Beethoven: Variations & Fugue in Eb M, Op. 35/V15
17 Beethoven: Variations & Fugue in Eb M, Op. 35/Fuga
18 Haydn: Variations In F Minor (Sonata) Hob. XVII:6
19 Schumann: Symphonic Etudes Op. 13; Thema: Andante
20 Schumann: Symphonic Etudes Op. 13; Etude 1
21 Schumann: Symphonic Etudes Op. 13; Etude 2
22 Schumann: Symphonic Etudes Op. 13; Etude 3
23 Schumann: Symphonic Etudes Op. 13; Etude 4
24 Schumann: Symphonic Etudes Op. 13; Etude 5
25 Schumann: Symphonic Etudes Op. 13; Variation 4
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Sony Classical is proud to announce a new recording by pianist Emanuel Ax of four significant sets of Variations by four titanic composers: Haydn, Beethoven, Schumann, and Copland. One of the best known classical musicians of our time and winner of multiple Grammy awards for both solo and chamber performances, Ax believes that the Variations format is the great composer's way of showing consummate artistry. "I think people like Beethoven, Haydn, and Schumann show what great compositional virtuosos they are in these pieces."

The pianist points out that each of these sets of Variations is unusual, "each revolutionary in its own way." He has also discovered that they go very well together in a concert program. Now, surely to the worldwide delight of fans of virtuoso classical piano performance, he presents them together on a recording as well.

The album features Beethoven's Variations and Fugue for Piano in E-flat major, Op. 35, commonly known as the Eroica Variations because it's built partly on the famous theme of the Eroica Symphony. It also includes Haydn's Andante with Variations in F minor (Hob. XVII:6), also known as the Keyboard Sonata "Un piccolo divertimento."

The Symphonic Etudes Op. 13 by Robert Schumann, a very difficult piece and a recent addition to the pianist's repertoire, round out the CD version of the release. However, a bonus track of the great American composer Aaron Copland's Piano Variations is also included with purchase of a digital download only. Mr. Ax describes this less well known piece as "very 'in your face' – there are beautiful things in it and it's a very powerful piece, and [in the opening] it's a real expression of the piano as a percussion instrument."

  • St James Church recital devoted to Schubert and Liszt perfectly showcases Emanuel Ax's unfussy approach / The Guardian
    Posted At: May 15, 2023 12:00 AM
    Emanuel Ax has been a Sony Classical exclusive recording artist since 1987 and following the success of the Brahms Trios with Kavakos and Ma, the trio launched an ambitious, multi-year project to record all the Beethoven Trios and Symphonies arranged for trio of which the first two discs have recently been released. He has received GRAMMY® Awards for the second and third volumes of his cycle of Haydn’s pian...
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  • Emanuel Ax set to perform at Brevard Music Center's Parker Concert Hall / The Transylvania Times
    Posted At: January 9, 2023 12:00 AM
    Born in modern day 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 made his New York debut i...
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  • Emanuel Ax playing Chopin was spellbinding combination at Union College / The Daily Gazette
    Posted At: December 13, 2021 12:00 AM

    The Daily Gazette's Geraldine Freedman writes...The privilege of hearing a great artist like pianist Emanuel Ax live, in person, in a full recital that includes an intermission cannot be underestimated, especially in these trying times.   But on Sunday afternoon as part of the Capital Region Classical series at Union College's Memorial Chapel, an almost overflowing crowd - even with soci...
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  • Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax, Billy Keane to offer 'Songs of Comfort' at Hancock Shaker Village / The Berkshire Eagle
    Posted At: August 28, 2020 12:00 AM

    Essential workers and first responders will be the guests of honor Sunday at a virtual concert streamed live from Hancock Shaker Village. Five musicians - internationally renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma; Grammy Award-winning classical pianist Emanuel Ax; singer/songwriter and public school music teacher Anjimile; singer/songwriter and founding member of The Whiskey Treaty Roadshow Billy Keane; and Chantell...
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  • Here's your 98.7WFMT - quarantine livestream planner
    Posted At: April 2, 2020 12:00 AM

    Even though in-person concerts have been suspended, many talented artists and ensembles are committed to sharing stunning music through the internet. Here's a guide to some upcoming classical livestreams you should add to your calendar! On Friday, April 3 at 7 pm CT, Pianist Lara Downes launches her new album, Some of These Days, with a Facebook Live performance from her home in Sacramento, Californi...
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  • Emanuel Ax set for a Mozart opening night at Tanglewood with the BSO / WAMC - The Roundtable
    Posted At: June 28, 2019 12:00 AM

    Globally celebrated pianist, Emanuel Ax, will perform Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 22 with Andris Nelsons and The Boston Symphony Orchestra's season opening concert in The Shed at Tanglewood on July 5 at 8 p.m. The program that evening will also feature the orchestra playing Mahler's Symphony No. 5. Ax will be back at Tanglewood in August to play two concerts at Ozawa Hall – one with Leonidas Kavako...
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  • Emanuel Ax will return for his 14th appearance at Harriman-Jewell Series / The Kansas City Star
    Posted At: March 12, 2019 12:00 AM

    Internationally renowned pianist Emanuel Ax made his debut in the Harriman-Jewell Series in 1984, when he performed with legendary cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Thirty-five years later, Ax will return for his 14th appearance in the series. The Polish-born, Juilliard-educated pianist who won the Avery Fisher Prize in 1979 will play a program with works by Brahms, Ravel and Chopin. Ax returns; Saturday, March 16, ...
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  • Emanuel Ax joins Sarasota Orchestra for Beethoven concerto / Sarasota Herald-Tribune
    Posted At: January 13, 2019 12:00 AM

    The next Sarasota Masterworks performance - scheduled just days after the last one - features a soloist so famous he's the title of the concert. "Ax Plays Beethoven," presented Thursday through Jan. 20, features Emanuel Ax playing Beethoven's Concerto No. 1, and includes Verdi's "La Forza del Destino Overture" and Prokofiev's Symphony No. 5. Music Director Anu Tali will lead the program. The Grammy A...
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  • Yefim Bronfman and Emanuel Ax talk 'New York Phil' / Playbill
    Posted At: January 12, 2019 12:00 AM

    The New York Philharmonic regularly features first-class soloists from around the world, but it is always a special event when local heroes take the stage. This month two beloved New York–based pianists are joining the Orchestra in concerts that promise to offer spectacular music-making. Yefim Bronfman, who was honored with a seat on the Orchestra's Board after many appearances with the organizatio...
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  • Steinway delivers to some wacky places / New York Post
    Posted At: October 15, 2018 12:00 AM

    In May, Daniel Epstein was set to perform Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2. There was just one problem: The standard 7-foot grand at the Broadway Presbyterian Church in Morningside Heights wasn't grand enough. So the Upper West Sider did what any keyboardist of his stature would do: He called Steinway & Sons, picked out a 9-foot concert grand from its Astoria factory, and waited for the company to delive...
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  • Emanuel Ax and Pamela Frank present an unusual evening of Mozart sonatas / HudsonValley360
    Posted At: August 22, 2018 12:00 AM

    The music of Mozart filled Ozawa Hall with Emanuel Ax at the piano and Pamela Frank on the violin. The pair presented an unusual evening of his mostly violin sonatas. The first half of the concert was supposed to include sonatas No. 10 and 9, but as the musicians came on stage, Ax took the microphone and explained they were going to open with a different sonata because No. 10 was not the one they had pra...
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  • Piano practice tips from Emanuel Ax / lifehacker
    Posted At: May 30, 2018 12:00 AM

    Seven-time grammy-winning pianist Emanuel Ax still practices his instrument four hours a day-when you play Carnegie Hall, you don't just wing it. And sometimes, he admits, "it's kind of a slog," especially to practice a new piece: something written specifically for him, or something he's never heard. "You get the music, and you try to learn it note by note." In an interview with Lifehacker, Ax recommends...
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  • Emanuel Ax makes powerful statements with modesty and elegance / Berkshire Eagle
    Posted At: May 29, 2018 12:00 AM

    Despite the noise coming out of Washington, it is possible to make a powerful statement without resort to boast, bluster and swagger. Consider Emanuel Ax. His piano recital Saturday night as a benefit for the Literacy Network of South Berkshire (LitNet) was a testament to how modesty and elegance can express deeply held values more eloquently than the loudest insult or shout. (And isn't conviction ab...
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  • Watch Emanuel Ax on 'Living the Classical Life'
    Posted At: May 9, 2018 12:00 AM

    "Entering a competition is like going to a 7-11 and buying a lottery ticket." Distinguished pianist Emanuel Ax won the first Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition, the Avery Fisher Prize, and several Grammy awards, and has been a Sony Classical exclusive recording artist since 1987. He has had works written for him by John Adams, Christopher Rouse, Krzysztof Penderecki, Bright Sheng, and ...
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  • The estimable Emanuel Ax closes out Union College Concert Series with a superb program of great diversity / The Daily Gazette
    Posted At: May 7, 2018 12:00 AM

    The internationally famous and estimable pianist Emanuel Ax presented a special concert Sunday afternoon at Union College's Memorial Chapel in honor of Stephen C. Ainlay, who will be retiring after 12 years as Union College's president on June 30. The concert also closed the 46th series of the Union College Concert Series. Prior to the performance, Derek Delaney, the series' artistic...
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  • Timeless works by Brahms with Emanuel Ax & Bernard Haitink leading the BSO / MassLive
    Posted At: May 4, 2018 12:00 AM

    From Fred Astaire to Pablo Picasso, "The Sun Also Rises" to "Citizen Kane," there's always something new to discover each time we return to great artists and great works of art. The same is true for the music of Johannes Brahms. Classical music fans have heard many of his concertos and symphonies many times over the years. And yet, we keep returning again and again to these timeless works of art. And...
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  • Emanuel Ax returns to the San Francisco Symphony for blockbuster works by Mozart, Beethoven, and Schoenberg
    Posted At: January 4, 2018 12:00 AM

    Emanuel Ax returns to the San Francisco Symphony and Davies Symphony Hall for an incredible program featuring a 'blockbuster' works by Mozart, Beethoven, and Schoenberg which he will undoubtedly unleash his fantastic 'lyrical and lustrous' talents upon. Also featured is Strauss' tone poem, an entertaining ode to mischievous German peasant folk hero, Till Eulenspeigels, who, as legend ...
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  • Emanuel Ax plays Beethoven's 4th Piano Concerto with CSO on Illinois Public Media - Evening Concert
    Posted At: December 12, 2017 12:00 AM

    Tonight at 7:00 on the Evening Concert on FM 90.9 it's the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Radio Broadcast. Emanuel Ax is the soloist in Beethoven's "4th Piano Concerto". Michael Tilson Thomas guest conducts. Also on the program, Sibelius' "2nd Symphony" and Stravinsky's "Scherzo a la russe". Michael Tilson Thomas conducts Sibelius Stravinsky: Scherzo á la russe Beethoven: P...
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  • Breakfast with Emanuel Ax / The Berkshire Eagle
    Posted At: July 25, 2017 12:00 AM

    For eminent pianist Emanuel Ax - "Manny" to one and all - this is an especially sweet Berkshires summer. For the first time, he has cleared his concert schedule, except for several performances at Tanglewood, so he can spend quality time with his wife Yoko, a pianist he met at music school 43 years ago, and visiting with his children and grandchildren from mid-June to September at their beloved country h...
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  • Emanuel Ax, Anne Akiko Meyers & ZOFO on Performance Today
    Posted At: July 13, 2017 12:00 AM

    Pianist Emanuel Ax has won seven Grammy Awards, an Avery Fisher Prize, and he's soloed with the New York Philharmonic more than a hundred times. On Thursday's Performance Today, Emanuel Ax gives a thrilling performance of Beethoven's last piano concerto, the Emperor Concerto. Anne Akiko Meyers, one of the world's most celebrated violinists, is known for her passionate performanc...
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  • Emanuel Ax joins Kansas City Symphony for summertime energy at Helzberg Hall / Kansas City Star review
    Posted At: June 3, 2017 12:00 AM

    The esteemed Emanuel Ax joined the Kansas City Symphony, conducted by Michael Stern, for a concert of summertime energy in Helzberg Hall on Friday. Claude Debussy's "Jeux, Poème dansé" was a scenic display of ephemeral colors, like a garden set to music, a garden partially returned to the wild, with hidden paths and swells of shadow. Though originally written as a ballet, the music for "Jeu...
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  • Emanuel Ax sells out Skyline Piano Series / The Daily Northwestern
    Posted At: May 4, 2017 12:00 AM

    Seven-time Grammy award winner Emanuel Ax sold out Mary B. Galvin Hall on Wednesday night, performing a recital consisting of impromptus, including many written by a composer from his native land - Frédéric Chopin. Ax is a collaborator with world-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and this was his first time performing at Northwestern. He was the most recent recipient of the Bienen School of M...
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  • Emanuel Ax joins Brad Wilber on his 50th NewYorkTimes crossword
    Posted At: April 19, 2017 12:00 AM

    I got so excited for the constructor Brad Wilber when I read the byline for today's ( Wed. 4/19/17) puzzle. If I had to dream up a perfect pairing for a collaborative crossword, it would be the classical pianist Emanuel Ax and music lover Mr. Wilber. And what a way to celebrate one's 50th contribution to The New York Times Crossword! Today we have another in the series of celebrity-constructed puzzle...
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  • Emanuel Ax gives thrilling performance of Beethoven's Emperor Concerto on Performance Today
    Posted At: April 18, 2017 12:00 AM

    Pianist Emanuel Ax has won seven Grammy Awards, an Avery Fisher Prize, and he's soloed with the New York Philharmonic more than a hundred times. On Tuesday's Performance Today, Emanuel Ax gives a thrilling performance of Beethoven's last piano concerto, the Emperor Concerto. Hour 1 Felix Mendelssohn : String Quintet in B-flat Major: Movement 2 Ian Swensen, violin; Jorja Fleeza...
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  • Emanuel Ax offers thoughtfully conceived program at Merrill Auditorium / Portland Press Herald
    Posted At: April 15, 2017 12:00 AM

    At his Merrill Auditorium recital on Saturday afternoon, pianist Emanuel Ax played the kind of thoughtfully conceived program that has become his hallmark over a 40-plus-year career. True, if you give his program only a cursory glance, it might seem commonplace, given that it was mostly Chopin and Schubert, with one new work, by Samuel Adams. But beneath the surface, the program, presented by Portland Ov...
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  • Emanuel Ax sells out Eastman School performance / Rochester City Newspaper
    Posted At: April 12, 2017 12:00 AM

    The illustrious pianist Emanuel Ax arrives in Rochester on Monday with an excellent program of intimate impromptus, both classic and new. Ax will present Franz Schubert's alluring and enigmatic Four Impromptus alongside rising contemporary composer Samuel Adams' "Impromptu 2 'After Schubert.'" The program also features music by arguably the most beloved composer for the piano, Fréd...
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  • Emanuel Ax is masterful with Seattle Symphony in Beethoven - Emperor Concerto / Seattle Times review
    Posted At: February 3, 2017 12:00 AM

    One of the great pleasures of concertgoing is the chance to hear a classic masterpiece performed by an absolute master. Lucky Seattle Symphony fans had this opportunity on Thursday evening – and will have it again on Feb. 4, when Emanuel Ax returns to the keyboard for another round with Beethoven's "Emperor" Concerto. When Ax plays a concerto, it's a collaborative event with the orchestra and c...
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  • Emanuel Ax & CSO celebrate 40 years of collaboration with Beethoven - Emperor Concerto / SymphonyCast
    Posted At: January 30, 2017 12:00 AM

    Legendary pianist Emanuel 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...
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  • A double dose of Emanuel Ax on Houston Symphony broadcast / Houston Public Media
    Posted At: January 27, 2017 12:00 AM

    Tune in for this Sunday's (1/29) concert on Houston Public Media's News 88.7 or Wednesday (2/1) on Classical at 8 PM for a double dose of Emanuel Ax. The first piece on the program is fitting! Maurice Ravel's Valses nobles et sentimentales (Noble and Sentimental Waltzes) is a work originally for piano, inspired by another set of piano works from Franz Schubert… though the only resemb...
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  • Emanuel Ax set for Green Music Center's - Weill Hall / Santa Rosa Press Democrat
    Posted At: January 13, 2017 12:00 AM

    Although he is a man of few words, veteran pianist Emanuel Ax always chooses each one wisely, hitting just the right note of modesty, with a sprinkling of common sense and self-deprecating wit. "Piano playing is difficult, and making things sound good is hard," Ax said in a phone interview from his home on the Upper West Side of New York. "You have to make it sound like the music is as good as it is. All...
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  • Emanuel Ax plays world premiere of HK Gruber's Piano Concerto with NYPhil / New York Classical Review
    Posted At: January 8, 2017 12:00 AM

    To hear Emanuel Ax's performance of HK Gruber's Piano Concerto Thursday night with the New York Philharmonic, one might imagine he'd been playing the piece his whole life, it sounded so seasoned and "lived in." It was enough to make one open the program again and stare in wonder at the words, "World Premiere." Although the pianist was playing with a score open on the piano, neither ...
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  • Orlando Philharmonic takes a dramatic turn With Emanuel Ax / Orlando Sentinel
    Posted At: December 5, 2016 12:00 AM

    The Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra went for drama in an enjoyable performance Saturday night. Nothing could detract from the music, which included a world premiere by composer Lisa Bielawa, and a performance by Emanuel Ax. The renowned pianist led the orchestra through Beethoven's Concerto No. 2. The concerto is full of call-and-respond moments between the piano and the orchestra, but even when Ax...
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  • Emanuel Ax reflects on 40 years of CSO concerts / Cincinnati.com
    Posted At: September 11, 2016 12:00 AM

    Not many musicians can claim a 40-year relationship with an orchestra, but pianist Emanuel Ax has been coming to Cincinnati since 1976. Ax, who is "Manny" to his many musical friends, was born in Lvov, Poland, and grew up in Winnepeg, Canada. His career was catapulted in 1974, when he won the first Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition. Just two years later, he made his debut with the Cincinn...
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  • Emanuel Ax, Charles Dutoit & BSO in fine form at Tanglewood / MassLive
    Posted At: August 14, 2016 12:00 AM

    Where was pianist Emanuel Ax on Friday night at Tanglewood when the audience was giving him and the Boston Symphony Orchestra a standing ovation? You could see Ax, just off stage. But as the crowd was urging him to come back out for another bow, Ax was doing some coaxing of his own. He was waving his arms and waiting to come back on stage until he was joined by conductor Charles Dutoit. That ...
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  • Emanuel Ax brings powerful Beethoven interpretation to Carnegie Hall / The New York Times
    Posted At: April 29, 2016 12:00 AM

    Describing a pianist's performance as unhinged might seem like an unlikely compliment. But the adjective could be applied in the most flattering terms to Emanuel Ax's engrossing interpretation of Beethoven's "Pathétique" Sonata on Wednesday evening at Carnegie Hall. The sonata was included on an all-Beethoven lineup, with two popular sonatas bookending three lesser-known pieces. Mr. Ax...
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  • Emanuel Ax plays Broward Center Classical Series / South Florida Classical Review
    Posted At: March 24, 2016 12:00 AM

    In 1974 a young Juilliard School student strode out on the stage of what was then the Miami Beach Auditorium (now the Jackie Gleason Theater) to perform Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Miami Beach Symphony. The semi-professional orchestra (long defunct) was scrappy at best, yet the pianist made a strong impression. Later that year the same artist–Emanuel Ax–would win the Arthur Rub...
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