Ravinia 2026 Issue 2

NIGELPARRY IT SEEMS LIKE veteran pianist Emanuel Ax is busier than ever these days. In addition to concertizing all over the world, as he has for over years, “Manny,” as he is a ectionately known in the music world, is championing a new piano concerto written for him by legendary composer John Williams. e work will receive its Midwest premiere at Ravinia Festival on August under Ravinia Chief Conductor Marin Alsop and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra with Ax as soloist. Chosen as Musical America’ s Artist of the Year, Ax is busy o the concert stage as well, hosting a podcast series produced by WQXR in partner- ship with Carnegie Hall called Classi- cal Music Happy Hour , where Ax has informal conversations with musicians, composers, creative gures, and well- known folks of various elds who love and play music. “I’m excited about it,” says Ax. “I’ve got a couple of football players lined up for the next go-round. We did a bunch of [episodes] over the year, and now they’re releasing them one by one.” Composer John Adams, who has written pieces for Ax, and longtime Ax chamber music partner and friend Yo- Yo Ma, have been early guests. Ax has even scored a very di cult interview to procure, pianist Yuja Wang. “I know Yuja fairly well, and she was nice enough to spend some time doing this, which is great. She’s an amazing personality and the most fabulous pianist and an incredible lady.” In addition to being a great pianist himself, Ax has always been a true con- noisseur of other pianists. “I’m a piano- phile. I love, I love the piano. And I love almost all pianists. I would nd it hard to think of a pianist I don’t like, actually. I like piano playing, and most of what you hear these days is so great.” As a young music student attending Juilliard, where he has since taught for decades, Ax heard all the great pianists that came through New York, which remains his home base. And Ax savored every one of them, even having consid- ered writing a book on the great pianists. “I don’t know that I could do a good job, but maybe the podcast will take care of that. I think it’s easier to interview great people than write about them.” Ax is “really excited” about returning to Ravinia over years since making his debut at the festival in , quite by chance, astonishingly. “ at was a replacement perfor- mance that I did, actually. I was just starting out doing some concerts and I played a recital that was supposed to be played by Alexis Weissenberg. He canceled just a couple of days earlier for ill health, or whatever it was. And they were pretty frantic. ey couldn’t nd anybody. So I was very much untried. “[Ravinia Executive Director] Ed Gordon, who was running the festival at the time, took a chance. ‘Well, I don’t know him, but he should come and play the concert.’ So I came and fortunately, I think it went all right. And Ed and I became very good friends. He was a wonderful man, a warm-hearted, de- cent, wonderful person. And a wonder- ful pianist. Ed was an extraordinary guy, and is very missed. “I have wonderful memories of all my years at Ravinia. One of the really special moments for me was when there was a Mozart festival that [then-Music Director James] Levine used to do every summer. ey were marathons, and I did a Mozart concerto one summer, and a couple of pieces later they announced that there were going to be two Mo- zart arias with a singer that none of us knew yet at the time, Kathleen Battle. I remember that very well. We had no idea who she was, we’d never heard her. And it was like an angel descended from heaven. I will never forget that. It was sheer perfection. She sang so fabulously. It was an unforgettable event.” Central to Ax’s many appearances both at Ravinia and downtown over the years has, of course, been the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. “ at orchestra has been an incredible part of my life. Not only playing with them, but as a student, we used to hear them regularly with [Georg] Solti and [Carlo Maria] Giulini when they came to New York. And those were incredibly memorable events, a big, big part of our concertgo- ing life and upbringing. “ And I did a lot with the orchestra and with [then-CSO Principal Conduc- tor] Bernard Haitink, which was also an incredible honor and pleasure. So, yeah, I’ve been very lucky to be in Chicago over the years.” RAVINIA.ORG • RAVINIAMAGAZINE 25 NIGELPARRY