Alessio Bax: spring highlights include Lincoln Center solo recital (March 27)
Alessio Bax’s “formidable and sensitive rendition of the ‘Hammerklavier’” has drawn praise from the New Yorker’s Alex Ross, and indeed Beethoven’s monumental sonata is one of the works with which the pianist secured first-prize wins at both the Leeds and Hamamatsu international piano competitions. For his upcoming solo recital in the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s new “Art of the Recital” series at the Rose Studio on March 27, Bax – who received Lincoln Center’s 2013 Martin E. Segal Award – pairs the “Hammerklavier” with Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, in a performance that will be webcast live. March also sees him reunite with his duo partner and wife, pianist Lucille Chung, for a program of Stravinsky’s Pétrouchka and other four-hand favorites at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, DC (March 9 & 10). This comes on the heels of their recent Signum Classics album release, Bax & Chung, which the Sunday Times (UK) calls a “scintillating recital.”
For Bax, it is no exaggeration to describe Beethoven’s “Hammerklavier” as “one of the great achievements of humankind.” Even after playing the sonata for nearly two decades, the pianist finds:
“The longer I live with it, the more it amazes me. … Each time I play the ‘Hammerklavier’ in concert, it is like leading a group of climbers to new vistas in uncharted territory. And that is incredibly exciting.”
“Hammerklavier” is one of the works Bax recorded in January for his next solo CD, an all-Beethoven disc for Signum Classics. His previous account of the concluding fugue is available on EMI’s 2007 DVD release of the PBS documentary Barenboim on Beethoven: Masterclasses. Reviewing the DVD set, Fanfare magazine concluded:
“Alessio Bax’s performance of the last movement of the ‘Hammerklavier’ … was atmospheric, lyrical, singing, and beautifully played. It had power when needed and, more important, an overall structure and feeling that was most refreshing. This was one instance where the pupil had far more to teach the master. I could find little fault, if any, with Bax’s performance.”
At Lincoln Center, Bax couples Beethoven’s masterpiece with another colossus of the piano literature, Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, in which he has proved himself “simply one of the most vivid pianists around” (Concerto.net). After a traversal of Mussorgsky’s suite in the Portland International Piano recital series, the Oregon Music News pronounced his performance “outstanding,” and elaborated: “Showing impeccable technical control and balance, Bax’s playing revealed all sorts of textures and colors. It was a remarkable concert.”
“Hammerklavier” and Pictures also serve as the vehicles for Bax’s upcoming recitals in Maine (March 21), Dallas (March 23), and the Music@Menlo series in Palo Alto, CA (May 11), while Beethoven’s music continues to loom large in the pianist’s programming. Having given accounts of the “Emperor” Concerto on a January tour of England with the Southbank Sinfonia, and performed Piano Sonata, Op. 110 with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in New York and Boston last month, he looks forward to playing Op. 110 again along with eight of the master composer’s ten sonatas for violin and piano in a series of Dallas Symphony Orchestra Chamber Concerts at the new City Performance Hall this spring (April 28–May 10).
Both Bax and Lucille Chung, his wife and regular collaborator, “see their joint career as a highlight of their professional lives,” as the Wall Street Journal reported in its recent profile of their musical partnership. They are not alone; Music and Arts calls theirs “a marriage of wondrous colors and dextrous aplomb, subtly balanced to make a musical performance sound as one.” At Dumbarton Oaks this March, their duo recital program features four-hands music by Mendelssohn alongside Stravinsky’s original four-hand version of Pétrouchka (the complete ballet), Brahms’s Waltzes, Op. 39, and a selection of Piazzolla tangos in the couple’s own original arrangements, much of which may be heard on their new dance-themed Signum Classics album, Bax & Chung.
The disc has already received a warm welcome. Herald Scotland pronounces it “a cracker” that “unfurls into an intoxicating flavor of exhilarating musical experience,” BBC Music magazine admires the pianists’ “easy rapport” and “smoky panache,” while the Sunday Times notes: “They share a brilliant clarity in their playing. In this scintillating recital, it’s hard to find even a fleeting moment where ensemble is less than meticulous.” As Classical CD Choice observes,
“Virtuosic pianism is the order of the day here. … Bax and Chung demonstrate an almost supernatural understanding of the demands of the duo repertoire.”
“Playing piano four hands is really special because it’s incredibly intimate,” says Bax in a promo video for the album on YouTube. “If you can imagine, it’s the only forum where you are actually sharing the same instrument. So you have to know each other so well, and each other’s intention.” A YouTube video of the couple’s unique take on Piazzolla’s Libertango may be viewed here.
To round out his full spring line-up, Bax – recognized for his “impassioned, world-class Rachmaninov” (Classics Today) – plays the composer’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with Japan’s Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra (March 14) at the invitation of maestro Kazuyoshi Akiyama after their Vancouver collaboration, as well as another Russian masterwork, Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto, which he performs with orchestras in North Dakota (March 1) and Texas (April 5). Bax also gives a master class at New York University (March 6), plays a recital at the Tokyo Spring Festival (March 16), chamber music with violinist Arnaud Sussmann and cellist Nicholas Canellakis in New Jersey (March 30), and appears in a 100th birthday celebration concert for Salon de Virtuosi’s Charlotte White in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall (May 7).
A complete list of the pianist’s upcoming engagements follows, and additional information may be found at his web site: alessiobax.com. High-resolution photos may be downloaded here.
Alessio Bax: spring engagements
March 1
Minot, ND
Minot Symphony Orchestra / Scott Seaton
Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1
March 6
New York, NY
New York University
Piano Artist Master Class Series
March 9-10
Washington, DC
Dumbarton Oaks
Recital with Lucille Chung
Stravinsky: original four-hand version of Pétrouchka
Mendelssohn, Brahms, Piazzolla
March 14
Hiroshima, Japan
Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra / Kazuyoshi Akiyama
Rachmaninov: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
March 16
Tokyo, Japan
Tokyo Spring Festival
Metropolitan Art Museum
Recital: Rachmaninov; Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition
March 21
Orono, ME
University of Maine
Beethoven: “Hammerklavier” Sonata
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition
March 23
Dallas, TX
Meadows School of the Arts, Southern Methodist University
Beethoven: “Hammerklavier” Sonata
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition
March 27
New York, NY
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
Rose Studio
Solo Recital (live webcast)
Beethoven: “Hammerklavier” Sonata
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition
March 30
Ridgewood, NJ
Parlance Chamber Concerts
Ravel: Tzigane for violin & piano
Mendelssohn: Sonata No. 2 in D, Op. 58 for cello & piano
Brahms / Cziffra / Bax: Hungarian Dance No. 5 for solo piano
Arensky: Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 32 for violin, cello, and piano
With Arnaud Sussmann, violin; Nicholas Canellakis, cello
April 5
Plano, TX
Plano Symphony Orchestra / Hector Guzman
Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1
April 28
Dallas, TX
Dallas Symphony Orchestra Chamber Concert
City Performance Hall
Beethoven: Violin Sonatas Nos. 8 and 3
Haydn: Gypsy Trio
With Nathan Olson and Alexander Kerr, violin, and Christopher Adkins, cello
May 2
Dallas, TX
Southern Methodist University
Chamber music master class
May 3
Dallas, TX
Dallas Symphony Orchestra Chamber Concert
City Performance Hall
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 31 in A-flat, Op. 110
Beethoven: Violin Sonatas Nos. 2 and 6
With Chee-Yun, violin
May 6
Dallas, TX
Dallas Symphony Orchestra Chamber Concert
City Performance Hall
Beethoven: Violin Sonatas Nos. 4 and 10
Schubert: Notturno
With Alexander Kerr, violin, and Christopher Adkins, cello
May 7
New York, NY
Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall
Birthday Celebration Concert for Charlotte White, Salon de Virtuosi
May 10
Dallas, TX
Dallas Symphony Orchestra Chamber Concert
City Performance Hall
Beethoven: Violin Sonatas Nos. 7 & 9
With Alexander Kerr and Nathan Olson, violins
May 11
Palo Alto, CA
Music@Menlo Winter Series
Beethoven: “Hammerklavier” Sonata
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition
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© 21C Media Group, March 2014