Emanuel Ax
SPONSORED BY
Ann Marie Kilpatrick Terry
Scott Speck, conductor
Emanuel Ax, piano
Saturday, April 10, 2027 – 7:30 PM
Sunday, April 11, 2027 – 2:30 PM
Saenger Theatre
This concert, including intermission, is approximately 1 hour, 30 minutes.
Please review the venue’s security policies including the use of clear bags/purses only by clicking here.
Program
Louise Farrenc: Overture No. 2, Op. 24
(1804-1875)
Felix Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4 “Italian”
(1809-1847)
INTERMISSION
Frederic Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 21
(1810-1849) Emanuel Ax
OUR SOLOIST
Emanuel Ax, piano
Born to Polish parents in what is today Lviv, Ukraine, Emanuel Ax moved to Winnipeg, Canada, with his family when he was a young boy. Mr. Ax made his New York debut in the Young Concert Artists Series, and in 1974 won the first Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition in Tel Aviv. In 1975 he won the Michaels Award of Young Concert Artists, followed four years later by the Avery Fisher Prize.
Mr. Ax was named Musical America’s 2026 Artist of the Year. “Emanuel Ax, at age 76, combines the pianistic insight of an old master with the freshness and modesty of a newcomer,” the award presentation explained. “His half-century career has been based in the classics – Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Haydn – but this season he is barnstorming with a new, bespoke work: John Williams’s jazzy piano concerto.”
In recognition of the 50th anniversary of his first appearance with the orchestra, the 2025/26 season began with the Philadelphia Orchestra in Carnegie Hall on October 31. Last season also included an Asian tour that took him to Tokyo, Seoul and Hong Kong. Following the world premiere at Tanglewood in summer 2025, the concerto written for him by John Williams had its Boston Symphony subscription debut in January with the New York premiere one month later with New York Philharmonic. As a guest artist he returned to orchestras in Dallas, St. Louis, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Charleston, Madison, Naples and New Jersey. In recital he played in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Santa Barbara, Des Moines, Cedar Falls, Schenectady and Princeton. An extensive European tour included concerts in Munich, Prague, Berlin, Rome and Torino.
Mr. 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 three discs have been released. He 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 Yo-Yo Ma of the Beethoven and Brahms sonatas for cello and piano. In the 2004/05 season Mr. Ax contributed to an International EMMY® Award-Winning BBC documentary commemorating the Holocaust that aired on the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. In 2013, Mr. Ax’s recording Variations received the Echo Klassik Award for Solo Recording of the Year (19th Century Music/Piano).
Mr. Ax is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and holds honorary doctorates of music from Skidmore College, New England Conservatory of Music, Yale University and Columbia University.
TakeNote! Learn More, Enjoy More
Enhance your concert experience with Take-Note! Join music experts and explore the world of classical music from an in-depth perspective. This informative pre-concert talk begins at 6:30 p.m. before Saturday classical performances and 1:30 p.m. before Sunday classical performances in Room 1927 adjacent to the Saenger entrance on Joachim Street.
Bring the kids for FREE on Sunday!
Through MSO’s Big Red Ticket program, sponsored by Alabama Power Foundation and the Figures Foundation, students in grades K-12 can attend any classical Sunday matinee FREE when accompanied by a paying adult. It’s a great cultural opportunity and an amazing concert experience! Seats are limited, so please purchase tickets by phone at (251)432-2010. Please no children under 5 and no babies in arms. Want to bring a student on a Saturday? Student tickets are just $10.
Speck Speaks
Music Director Scott Speck Discusses the Concert
“When Yo-Yo Ma was fourteen years old, he met his fellow student, the brilliant pianist Emanuel Ax, in the Juilliard School cafeteria. Over the next 53 years, Yo-Yo and Manny became lifelong collaborators. Since 1973 they’ve toured the globe together, recorded countless duet albums, won five Grammy awards together, and championed solidarity and peace through music. Musically speaking, no two artists are more joined at the hip.
After Yo-Yo had graced the Saenger stage with the Mobile Symphony for the third time — he played the cello concerto by Dvorak in 2005, Schumann in 2012, and Elgar in 2024 — we received a call from his management. Apparently Yo-Yo had been talking up Mobile Symphony to his friend. “And Manny wants to play with you too,” they said. Who are we to refuse?
At this stage in his life, Manny Ax is concentrating on the exquisite, soulful and poetic music of Frederic Chopin. Together we chose the glorious Piano Concerto no. 2 for his performances here. We haven’t played that piece for over 20 years, and it’s way past time to revisit it. What a thrill to play it under such beautiful circumstances — with the world-renowned pianist who wanted to experience what his best friend Yo-Yo experienced, here with us in Mobile.”