Alessio Bax Launches Royal Philharmonic UK Tour This Week, Snares Gramophone’s “Editor’s Choice” for “Hammerklavier” Disc, and Records Two New Albums
Alessio Bax, hailed by International Piano as “a pianist of refreshing depth,” launches a UK tour this week with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (Jan 29 – Feb 8). He performs two repertory classics, Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto and Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto, under the baton of Alexander Shelley, the orchestra’s newly named Principal Associate Conductor. The enterprising pianist precedes the five-concert tour, which includes a stop in London on February 3, with recording sessions for a pair of Signum Classics albums at Snape Maltings in Aldeburgh: a solo album of Russian repertoire, and music of Poulenc with his wife, pianist Lucille Chung. Snape was also the location for his first recital disc a decade ago for Warner Classics, Baroque Reflections, which snared Gramophone magazine’s “Editor’s Choice” award.
Bax recently scored another Gramophone “Editor’s Choice” for the fall release of Alessio Bax plays Beethoven. The Signum Classics album features two of the master’s greatest sonatas, the “Hammerklavier” and “Moonlight,” as well as pair of Bax’s own lively transcriptions from The Ruins of Athens. Of the “Hammerklavier,” reviewer Bryce Morrison said, “Even when compared to legendary performances of this sonata (Kempff, Richter, Gilels, Brendel, etc), this performance stands its ground in music to test the technique and intellect of even the greatest pianists. … Alessio Bax is clearly among the most remarkable young pianists now before the public.”
Beethoven is also on the docket for the first concert in Bax’s Royal Philharmonic tour: the Piano Concerto No. 5, “Emperor,” at Kingston on Hull. Bax then turns to another favorite composer, playing Rachmaninov’s famously passionate Piano Concerto No. 2 in Northampton (Feb 1), London’s Cadogan Hall (Feb 3), Croydon, South London (Feb 4) and Southend (Feb 8). The Italian-born pianist has won plaudits for his interpretations of Rachmaninov, with Classics Today remarking, “Rachmaninov’s music fits Alessio Bax’s seemingly boundless technique hand in glove, along with his big, luscious, multi-colored sonority and ardent temperament.”
Bax kicked off the New Year playing Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with the Helsinki Philharmonic, led by Pietro Rizzo. Helsingin Sanomat observed, “In the hands of Bax and Rizzo, Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini became a dance in turns demonic, playful, elegant and passionate. Bax possesses a fluid virtuoso technique and a diamond-like color palette.” In March he reunites with the Southbank Sinfonia in London to perform the Rhapsody under the baton of legendary pianist and conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy (Mar 25). The ensemble previously collaborated with Bax on his recording of Mozart’s Piano Concertos K. 491 and K. 595, released by Signum Classics in 2013.
For his current recording sessions in Aldeburgh, Bax has chosen Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition and selections by Scriabin. San Francisco Classical Voice hailed Bax’s Music@Menlo recital last spring of Pictures and Beethoven’s “Hammerklavier”: “Rarely do you hear a pianist play two monumental, exhausting works back-to-back in one concert. Alessio Bax proved he had the chops, youthful stamina, and artistic insight for it.”
This week Bax is also recording the two-piano transcription of Poulenc’s Concerto for Two Pianos in D minor, the Sonata for Four Hands, and L’Embarquement pour Cythère with his wife and frequent duo partner, Lucille Chung. The pair is widely regarded as one of the foremost duos of their generation. UK’s Classical CD Choice declared, “Bax and Chung demonstrate an almost supernatural understanding of the demands of the duo repertoire.”
Bax also has discovered a natural musical kinship with star violinist Joshua Bell. This past fall, after the pianist opened the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s season as soloist in a pair of Mozart concertos, he concertized with Bell on a U.S. tour, including stops at Disney Hall in Los Angeles, Jones Hall in Houston, and the AT&T Center’s Winspear Opera House in Dallas. The pair closed out the year on an extensive European tour, with concerts in London (Wigmore Hall), Salzburg, Madrid, St. Petersburg, Moscow, and beyond. Salzburg’s DrehPunktKultur summed up Bax’s tour reviews in a single sentence: “The musical partnership with Joshua Bell is perfect.”
A complete list of Bax’s upcoming engagements follows, and additional information may be found at his web site: alessiobax.com. High-resolution promotional photos may be downloaded here.
Alessio Bax: upcoming engagements
Jan 29
Kingston upon Hull, UK
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Alexander Shelley
BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 5, Op. 73 “Emperor”
Feb 1-8
UK tour with Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Alexander Shelley
RACHMANINOV: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18
Feb 1: Northampton, UK
Feb 3: London, England (Cadogan Hall)
Feb 4: Croydon, South London, England
Feb 8: Southend, England
Feb 2
BBC Radio 3 “In Tune” appearance
Feb 20
Covington, LA
Louisiana Philharmonic / Teddy Abrams
RAVEL: Piano Concerto in G
Feb 21
New Orleans, LA
Louisiana Philharmonic / Teddy Abrams
RAVEL: Piano Concerto in G
(Feb 21: Masterclass)
March 1
Tallahassee, FL
Florida State University’s Artist Series
BEETHOVEN: Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2 “Moonlight”
SCRIABIN: Sonata No. 3
MUSSORGSKY: Pictures at an Exhibition
March 8
Baltimore, MD
Goucher College
BEETHOVEN: Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2 “Moonlight”
SCRIABIN: Sonata No. 3
MUSSORGSKY: Pictures at an Exhibition
March 11
Dallas, TX
Dallas International Piano Competition
SMU masterclass
March 17
Santa Barbara, CA
Lobero Theatre
Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra / Heiichiro Ohyama
BRAHMS: Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor
March 20-22
Mexico City, Mexico
Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional / Antoni Ros-Marbà
RACHMANINOV: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
March 25
London, UK
Cadogan Hall
Southbank Sinfonia / Vladimir Ashkenazy
RACHMANINOV: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
March 28
Fort Myers, FL
Southwest Florida Symphony / Nir Kabaretti
RACHMANINOV: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18
March 31
Grass Valley, CA
InConcert Sierra
BEETHOVEN: Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2 “Moonlight”
SCRIABIN: Sonata No. 3
MUSSORGSKY: Pictures at an Exhibition
April 20
New York, NY
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Spring Gala
Alice Tully Hall
GERSHWIN: Rhapsody in Blue with Wu Han
April 26
Washington, DC
National Academy of Sciences
BEETHOVEN: Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2 “Moonlight”
SCRIABIN: Sonata No. 3
MUSSORGSKY: Pictures at an Exhibition
May 2
La Crosse, WI
La Crosse Symphony Orchestra / Alexander Platt
RAVEL: Piano Concerto in G
May 9, 2015
Brooklyn, NY
Bargemusic
Recital with Lucille Chung
May 15
New York, NY
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
Alice Tully Hall
FALLA: Danza del Molinero
ALBÉNIZ/GODOWSKY: Tango
FALLA: Fire Dance (solo piano)
RAVEL: Sonata No. 2 in G major for Violin and Piano with Benjamin Beilman, violin
BOCCHERINI, PAGANINI and KERNIS: works with Jason Vieaux, guitar; Escher String Quartet
May 17
Boston, MA
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
Gardner Museum
FALLA: Danza del Molinero
ALBÉNIZ/GODOWSKY: Tango
FALLA: Fire Dance (solo piano)
RAVEL: Sonata No. 2 in G major for Violin and Piano with Benjamin Beilman, violin
BOCCHERINI, PAGANINI and KERNIS: works with Jason Vieaux, guitar; Escher String Quartet
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