Ravinia 2026 Issue 2

Above: Along with Ravinia Music Directors James Levine, Christoph Eschenbach, and James Conlon, Ax collaborated with conductor Christoph von Dohnányi several times at the festival, most recently in 2013 for back-to-back nights of Beethoven piano concertos. Left and Right: When Ax made his Ravinia debut in 1975—then recently named the winner of Young Concert Artists’ Michaels Award— it was not only to perform in place of Alexis Weissenberg, but a solo recital on the Pavilion stage. write a piano concerto. I just took the bull by the horns and wrote him a note. I knew him from Tanglewood a bit, and I said, ‘If you really mean that, I would love to play it.’ He very kindly answered right away and said, ‘Great, let’s do it.’ And then he wrote me the piece, though he said that he always had always want- ed to write a piano concerto. We’ve been playing it. I’ve done it in a few places and I’m very happy about it.” Was what Williams wrote a surprise versus what Ax might have expected? “I didn’t know what to expect. I mean, I knew it wouldn’t be like Star Wars because I had heard his Violin Concerto and the piece he wrote for Yo-Yo. So I knew it would be closer to Schoenberg than to Star Wars . I knew more or less it was going to be not easy and thorny. And it turned out to be not easy and thorny. But I like it very much. I think it’s quite pleasing. People seem to enjoy it.” The three movements are inspired by great jazz pianists: Art Tatum, Bill Evans, and Oscar Peterson. “The Art Tatum stuff in the first movement is more about the chords that he used to play, which are very Tatum. The Bill Evans reference is because that movement is kind of dreamy. It’s more about mood than notes. The last movement includes riffs that Oscar Peterson might have used, but they’re not as difficult as what Peterson did, since I could never have played any of that stuff.” In all of Ax’s years as a classical pia- nist, has he ever had interest in playing jazz piano? “I love listening to it, but I can’t do it at all. I’m a great Oscar Peterson fan. I know a lot of his recordings. “I did a lot of work with André Pre- vin over the years, and he tried to show me a couple of things, but he gave up and told me to ‘go practice your Chopin.’ “With the Piano Concerto, I just play what’s on the page. I played it for John a few times, and he was generally very positive and helpful, and seemed to be okay with what I was doing. So that’s where we are. I hope the Ravinia perfor- mance goes well and we’ll do our best.” Ax’s feelings about becoming Musical America ’s 2026 “Artist of the Year?” “Well, just lucky. They have to find somebody, you know? I’m an old guy, so I guess it’s time!” Award-winning veteran journalist, critic, author, broadcaster and educator Dennis Polkow has been covering Chicago-based cultural institutions across various local, national, and international media for more than 40 years. RAVINIA.ORG • RAVINIAMAGAZINE 27 RAVINIA/TODDROSENBERG(2013)