Fresno welcomes pianist Emanuel Ax
Those of you lucky enough to have tickets to tonight's sold-out Keyboard Concerts solo recital by Emanuel Ax at the Fresno State Concert Hall know that you're in for a treat. I didn't want his intimate concert here -- and, remember, this is a guy who often performs in the world's largest and most prestigious concert halls -- to go without a mention. According to Andreas Werz, the artistic director of Keyboard Concerts, this is "without doubt the high point of our season, and we are extremely proud to present a pianist of this caliber and reputation to Fresno audiences."
As I wrote in last week's 7 section, Ax has performed with such powerhouses as the Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, St. Louis Symphony and Toronot Symphony. He'll play works by Schubert and List.
Although the 8 p.m. concert is sold out, Werz says that unclaimed tickets will go on sale right before the concert. A waiting list for these is being started at 7 p.m.
If you go, tell me what kind of reception Fresno gives this renowned artist.
Comments:
I'm looking forward to the concert tonight. I'm not sure what seats I have, but I hope they're good!
Posted by: Cristobal at January 15, 2009 4:38 PM
I was all set to go tonight with one of my students, when I heard on KVPR that the concert was sold out. Could slap myself for not buying the whole series, which is worth every penny. (compared to NYC prices, the tab is a steal)
Andreas said the only hope was to come at 7 p.m. to obtain unclaimed tickets.. but I could only imagine a line around the block. This may be a personal disappointment but it shows that Fresno is mustering a bit of support for the arts in addition to what it has committed to sports. Bravo, and let's hope Emanual Ax comes back again soon.. as will
others of his caliber.
Posted by: Shirley Kirsten at January 15, 2009 7:31 PM
Well, I'm guessing no other post is going to come up about the Ax concert, so I'll just post my small recap here:
Though the concert was apparently sold out, there were a small amount of empty seats available. Still, the place was pretty packed, and the crowd gave Ax many ovations during the two hour performance. He had to come out some three or four times after the crowd gave him a standing ovation, which he rewarded with an encore performance of some piece he neglected to name (in fact, he didn't talk throughout the whole performance).
As for my experience, I enjoyed the concert. Unfortunately, I fell asleep through a good 1/4 of it. What can I say, classical music puts me to sleep, but in a good way. Despite my napping, I could tell Ax is a very graceful and strong pianist, able to bring out both the beautiful (Schubert) and fierce (Lizst) in the music he played. I overheard one concertgoer call him "humble", which also seems apt.
Overall, a good experience. I'm going to have to start attending more Fresno State music events.
Posted by: Cristobal at January 16, 2009 10:46 AM
Here's a link that shows the human side of Emanuel: A conversation between Yo Yo Ma and Ax
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMDU28eZVKE&NR=1
Posted by: Shirley Kirsten at January 17, 2009 7:23 PM
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