Alessio Bax 2015-16 Season Includes Russian Album Release, Colorado Symphony Opening, Tours of South America and Asia, and Emerson String Quartet Partnership
Alessio Bax launches the new season with the release of Russian favorites by Scriabin and Mussorgsky on Signum Classics (Aug 28, digital; Sep 11, CD). The new solo album pairs Scriabin’s Piano Sonata No. 3, Prelude for the left hand, and Etude Op. 2, No. 1 with Mussorgsky’s beloved Pictures at an Exhibition and Night on the Bare Mountain, the latter in an original arrangement by the pianist himself. In an illuminating liner note, he characterizes the music as “describ[ing] emotions in strong colors, in a passionate and unabashedly Russian way.”
Given that Ravel’s orchestration of Pictures at an Exhibition may be better known than Mussorgsky’s original piano score, Bax sought to “dig out the typically Russian colors” from Mussorgsky’s original to develop his own unique interpretation. He explains:
“I wanted to go back to the original version, as if trying to clear my ears of the beautiful colors of the Ravel, and dig out the typically Russian colors that I think are embedded within the piano score. I was fueled by years of studying Russian piano, orchestral and chamber music and by my extensive travels all across Russia. All of a sudden the piece, which I had heard through all my years of studying piano played by countless pianists, and which always struck me as very powerful but uneven, made perfect musical and pianistic sense to me.”
To celebrate the new release, there will be a special event at the new Brooklyn art space National Sawdust on October 18.
Click here to see Bax performing Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, filmed live in the Daniel and Joanna S. Rose Studio in March 2014.
The coming season also takes Bax around the world in solo recital, chamber music, and orchestral performances. He opens the Colorado Symphony’s 2015-16 season with Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto, reuniting with Andrew Litton, with whom he made his Minnesota Orchestra debut this summer, prompting the Star Tribune to praise the way the pianist “brought forth surprising and subtle details in an imaginative account of Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.” He then tours South America, appearing both with orchestras and in a solo recital program featuring Pictures at an Exhibition, crowned by a trio of concerts at Buenos Aires’s famed Teatro Colón. He embarks on two tours of Asia, first with Berlin Philharmonic concertmaster Daishin Kashimoto and then superstar violinist Joshua Bell; collaborates for the first time with the Emerson String Quartet; joins partner and fellow pianist Lucille Chung for two concerts, first at the Teatro Colón and then a four-hand recital in Canada; and returns to the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center for engagements in New York and beyond. Looking ahead to the new season, Bax comments:
“Next season will start for me in Denver, playing Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto with Andrew Litton and the Colorado Symphony for their season’s opening. It is a joy to collaborate with Andrew and to go back to Denver. I first heard Andrew when I moved to the States in 1994. Having lived in Dallas for many years, I have such wonderful memories of many of his performances there while he was music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.”
Season highlights:
Sep: Releases Russian solo album of Mussorgsky and Scriabin on Signum Classics
Sep: Opens Colorado Symphony season performing Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1
Sep/Oct: South American recital tour, including three concerts at Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires
Oct: First collaboration with Emerson Quartet
Nov: Van Cliburn series recital in Ft. Worth
Dec: Asia tour: solo recitals, & chamber music with Berlin Phil concertmaster Daishin Kashimoto
Jan: Releases children’s lullaby album on Signum Classics
Jan/Feb/April: Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center concerts in NYC and on tour
April: Asia tour with Joshua Bell
High-resolution photos can be downloaded here.
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Alessio Bax’s 2015-16 season dates:
Aug 19-22
Moritzburg, Germany
Festival
8/19 – RAVEL: Trio; SCHUBERT: Fantasy in F minor (with Lucille Chung)
8/21 – KOECHLIN: Quatre Petites Pieces for Horn, Violin and Piano
8/22 – PIAZZOLLA: Three Tangos (with Lucille Chung); TANEYEV: Quintet
Aug 26-30
Lexington, KY
Chamber Music Festival of Lexington
8/26 – POULENC: Sextet for Piano and Winds (with WindSync)
8/28 – BRAHMS: Violin Sonata No. 2 in A major (with Nathan Cole); TANEYEV: Piano Quintet (with Nathan Cole, Burchard Tang and Priscilla Lee)
8/30 – SCHUMANN: Fantasiestücke for cello and piano (with Priscilla Lee)
Sep 4 & 6
Melbourne, Australia
Mimir Festival
9/4 – SHOSTAKOVICH: Piano Trio No. 1 (with Stephen Rose and Brant Taylor)
9/6 – SCHUBERT: Grand Duo in A major (with Frank Huang); ARENSKY: Trio in D minor (with Stephen Rose and Brant Taylor)
Sep 11 (Aug 28 for digital and UK release)
Signum Classics release: Russian solo album
SCRIABIN: Piano Sonata No. 3; Prelude for the left hand; Etude Op. 2, No. 1
MUSSORGSKY: Pictures at an Exhibition
MUSSORGSKY/arr. CHERNOV/arr. BAX: Night on the Bare Mountain
Sep 18-20
Denver, CO
Colorado Symphony / Andrew Litton
TCHAIKOVSKY: Piano Concerto No. 1
Sep 25 & 27
Lima, Perú
Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional del Perú / Fernando Valcárcel
RACHMANINOV: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Oct 3
Valparaiso, Chile
BEETHOVEN: “Moonlight” Sonata
RACHMANINOV: Hopak; Preludes Op. 32, No. 5 and Op. 23, No. 5; Liebesleid & Liebesfreud
MUSSORGSKY: Pictures at an Exhibition
Oct 5 & 6
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Teatro Colón
BEETHOVEN: “Moonlight” Sonata
RACHMANINOV: Hopak; Preludes Op. 32, No. 5 and Op. 23, No. 5; Liebesleid & Liebesfreud
MUSSORGSKY: Pictures at an Exhibition
Oct 9 & 10
Raleigh, NC
North Carolina Symphony / Grant Llewellyn
MOZART: Piano Concerto No. 24 (KV 491)
Oct 18
Brooklyn, NY
National Sawdust
CD Release event
Oct 20
Wichita Falls, TX
BRAHMS: Piano Quintet in F minor
With Emerson String Quartet
Oct 22
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Teatro Colón
Filarmónica de Buenos Aires / Enrique Diemecke
BARTOK: Concerto for Two Pianos and Percussion
With Lucille Chung
Nov 12
Fort Worth, TX
Cliburn Concerts Series recital
BEETHOVEN: “Moonlight” Sonata
SCRIABIN: Sonata No. 3
MUSSORGSKY: Pictures at an Exhibition
Nov 13-15
Dallas, TX
Teaching residency at the Meadows School of the Arts, SMU
Nov 19
Waco, TX
Waco Symphony
RACHMANINOV: Piano Concerto No. 2
Plus Baylor University masterclass
Dec 6–14
Asia tour
Solo recitals plus BEETHOVEN Second, BRAHMS Second, and FRANCK Violin Sonatas with Berlin Philharmonic Concertmaster Daishin Kashimoto
12/6 – Chung Shan Hall in Taichung, Taiwan
12/8 – Chang Gung University in Likao, Taiwan
12/11 – Jhihde Hall in Kaohsiung, Taiwan
12/12 – Pingtung Performing Arts Center in Pingtung, Taiwan
12/14 – National Concert Hall in Taipei, Taiwan
Jan 4-9
Akita, Japan
Chamber Music Festival and Academy
Jan 21
Grand Rapids, MI
St. Cecilia Music Center
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center on Tour
Jan 23
Purchase, NY
SUNY Purchase Performing Arts Center
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center on Tour
Jan 24
New York, NY
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
Alice Tully Hall
ARENSKY: Suite No. 2 (with Wu Qian, piano)
RACHMANINOV: Symphonic Dances (with Orion Weiss, piano)
Feb 11
Athens GA
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center on Tour
With Wu Han and Robert Spano
DEBUSSY: Petite Suite (with Wu Han, piano)
LUTOSLAWSKI: Paganini Variations (with Wu Han, piano)
GERSHWIN: An American in Paris (with Robert Spano, piano)
Feb 19, 22, 23
Dallas, TX
Project at the Meadows School of the Arts, Southern Methodist University
Caruth Auditorium
March 14
Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON
With Lucille Chung
MOZART: Sonata for Piano Four Hands, K. 19
SCHUBERT: Fantasy in F minor, Military March No. 1, Lebensstürme, Andantino Varie
MENDELSSOHN: The Hebrides Overture
March 16
Montreal, QC
Bourgie Hall
With Lucille Chung
MOZART: Sonata for Piano Four Hands, K. 19
SCHUBERT: Fantasy in F minor, Military March No. 1, Lebensstürme, Andantino Varie
MENDELSSOHN: The Hebrides Overture
March 25-27
Costa Rica
National Symphony / Gregory Vajda
March 29
Santiago, Chile
Recital, Teatro Municipal
Ciclo de Grandes Pianistas
SCHUBERT: Sonata Op. 143
RACHMANINOV: Hopak, Liebesleid & Liebesfreud
SCRIABIN: Sonata No. 3
RAVEL: La Valse
April 6-20
Asia tour
With Joshua Bell, violin
4/12 – Taipei, Taiwan
4/14 – Shenzhen, China
4/15 – Beijing, China
4/16 – Shanghai, China
4/17 – Hong Kong
April 24
New York, NY
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
Alice Tully Hall
With Paul Neubauer, viola
KLUGHARDT: Schilflieder, 5 fantasy pieces after Lenau poems, Op. 28
SCHUMANN: Märchenerzählungen (Fairy Tales)
BRAHMS: Two Songs for Mezzo, viola and piano, Op. 91
TURINA: Scène Andalouse, Op. 7 for viola, piano and string quartet
KREISLER: Syncopation and Marche Miniature Viennoise for viola, cello and piano
Gypsy Music à la Paul – for viola and piano quartet
May 15
Dallas, TX
Meyerson Symphony Center
Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra / Richard Giangiulio
BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 5, “Emperor”
May 17
Santa Barbara, CA
Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra / Heiichiro Ohyama
SCHUMANN: Piano Concerto in A minor
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© 21C Media Group, August 2015