Back to Press Release List > 12/22/2009 - Three Carnegie Hall Recitals by Pianist Emanuel Ax Celebrate 200th Birthdays of Chopin and Schumann

In early 2010, Carnegie Hall presents pianist Emanuel Ax in three recitals—one solo recital and one each with cellist Yo-Yo Ma and soprano Dawn Upshaw—in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage that celebrate the 200th anniversary of the births of Frédéric Chopin and Robert Schumann, exact contemporaries and two giants of the Romantic-era piano repertoire.

“These are two composers whose music every pianist wants to play,” said Mr. Ax about Chopin and Schumann. “In a way, it’s not helping them to celebrate this anniversary. The last thing Chopin and Schumann need is [for us] to be reminded that it’s their 200th birthday. Everybody knows; they’re very famous. It’s more a chance for us, really, to do that music. Also, I thought it would be the right thing to do for us to have a lot of fun by introducing some new music as well.”

For each program, Carnegie Hall has commissioned three contemporary composers—Peter Lieberson, Thomas Adès, and Osvaldo Golijov—to write a new work for the bicentennial. The titles of Lieberson’s and Adès’s works—Remembering Schumann and Three Mazurkas—suggest potential homage to Schumann and Chopin respectively, while Golijov—whose work is currently untitled—says in the January issue of Carnegie Hall’s Playbill that his new composition will try to create the “more airy world” that Chopin and Schumann inhabit.

The series launches with a recital by cellist Yo-Yo Ma and Mr. Ax on Friday, January 29 at 8:00 p.m. Longtime friends and collaborators, Mr. Ma and Mr. Ax will perform Chopin’s Polonaise brillante and Cello Sonata (a work Mr. Ax notes they haven’t performed together in over 20 years) and Schumann’s Adagio and Allegro, Op. 70; Five Pieces in Folk Style, Op. 102; and Fantasiestücke, Op. 73. This program also features the New York premiere of Peter Lieberson’s piece for cello and piano, Remembering Schumann.

Mr. Ax returns to Carnegie Hall on Wednesday, February 10 at 8:00 p.m. for a solo recital featuring two pivotal Schumann piano works, the Fantasy in C Major, Op. 17, and Fantasiestücke, Op. 12; as well as Chopin’s Andante spianato and Grand Poloaise, Op. 22; Polonaise-fantaisie in A-flat Major, Op. 61; and four Mazurkas, Op. 41. Mr. Ax will also perform the world premiere of Thomas Adès’s Three Mazurkas on this program.

The recital series concludes on Wednesday, March 17 at 8:00 p.m. with soprano Dawn Upshaw joining Mr. Ax for a selection of Schumann songs and rarely performed Chopin songs, to be announced. The program also features a selection of Chopin Nocturnes performed by Mr. Ax and the U.S. premiere of a new song cycle by Osvaldo Golijov for soprano, piano, and hyper-accordion, with guest artist Michael Ward-Bergeman on hyper-accordion.

“Yo-Yo and I have been friends for 40 years,” said Mr. Ax. “We’ve been playing together for about 35 years. I can’t think of doing the cello music of Schumann and Chopin with anyone else, actually. Dawn, first of all, is a truly incredible artist; she’s someone I’ve been a fan of for a very, very long time. And also, she does things like learn Polish for Chopin songs. Not everyone is willing to do that. It’s my privilege to be able to go onstage with these people.”

Two other renowned pianists will celebrate the 200th anniversary of Chopin’s birth at Carnegie Hall this season: Nelson Freire performs the composer’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and Music Director Riccardo Chailly on Sunday, February 28 at 2:00 p.m.; and Maurizio Pollini performs three all-Chopin recitals on Sunday, April 18 at 3:00 p.m., Thursday, April 29 at 8:00 p.m., and Sunday, May 9 at 3:00 p.m.

About the Artists
Pianist Emanuel Ax’s career has included appearances with major symphony orchestras worldwide, recitals in celebrated concert halls, a variety of chamber music collaborations, the commissioning and performance of new music, and Grammy Award-winning recordings on the Sony Classical label. Born in Lvov, Poland, Mr. Ax moved to Canada with his family and at an early age studied at The Juilliard School with Mieczyslaw Munz. Mr. Ax first captured the public’s attention in 1974 when, at age 25, he won the first Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition in Tel Aviv. Soon after, in 1979, he received the Avery Fisher Prize. He has been an exclusive Sony Classical recording artist since 1987 and two of his recordings of Haydn Piano Sonatas have won Grammy Awards. In the 2003–04 season, Mr. Ax presented a Carnegie Hall Perspectives series.

The many-faceted career of cellist Yo-Yo Ma is testament to both his continual search for new ways to communicate with audiences and his personal desire for artistic growth and renewal. Whether performing a new concerto, revisiting a familiar work from the cello repertoire, coming together with colleagues for chamber music, or exploring musical forms outside of the Western classical tradition, Mr. Ma strives to find connections that stimulate the imagination. One of Mr. Ma’s goals is the exploration of music as a means of communication, and as a vehicle for the migrations of ideas across a range of cultures throughout the world. Expanding upon this interest, Mr. Ma established the Silk Road Project to promote the study of the cultural, artistic, and intellectual traditions along the ancient Silk Road trade route that stretched from the Mediterranean Sea to the Pacific Ocean.

Dawn Upshaw’s acclaimed performances on the opera stage comprise the great Mozart roles as well as modern works by Stravinsky, Poulenc, and Messiaen. From Salzburg, Paris, and Glyndebourne to the Metropolitan Opera, where she began her career in 1984 and has since made nearly 300 appearances, Ms. Upshaw has also championed numerous new works created for her, including The Great Gatsby by John Harbison; L’Amour de Loin and La Passion de Simone by Kaija Saariaho; John Adams’s nativity oratorio El Niño; and Osvaldo Goljjov’s chamber opera Ainadamar and song cycle Ayre. Ms. Upshaw’s 2009–2010 season opened with festival concerts in Edinburgh, Montreux, Zurich, and the BBC Proms with David Zinman and the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich. This season she sings the world premieres of three new works written for her, by David Bruce, Alberto Iglesias, and Osvaldo Golijov. She also appears at Carnegie Hall in its residency by composer Louis Andriesson. In 2007, Ms. Upshaw was named a Fellow of the MacArthur Foundation, the first vocal artist to be awarded the five-year “genius” grant. She is a four time Grammy Award-winner featured on more than 50 recordings, including the million-selling Symphony No. 3 by Henryk Górecki. Ms. Upshaw is Artistic Director of the Vocal Arts Program at Bard College Conservatory of Music.

Program Information
Friday, January 29, 2010 at 8:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage
YO-YO MA, Cello
EMANUEL AX, Piano

CELEBRATING CHOPIN AND SCHUMANN AT 200

ROBERT SCHUMANN Adagio and Allegro, Op. 70
ROBERT SCHUMANN Five Pieces in Folk Style, Op. 102
PETER LIEBERSON Remembering Schumann (NY Premiere, co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall)
FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN Polonaise brillante in C Major, Op. 3
ROBERT SCHUMANN Fantasiestücke, Op. 73
FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN Cello Sonata in G Minor, Op. 65

Sponsored by Ernst & Young LLP

Tickets: $51, $61, $78, $106, $144, $159 (Limited Availability)
__________________________________________________

Wednesday, February 10, 2010 at 8:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage
EMANUEL AX, Piano

CELEBRATING CHOPIN AND SCHUMANN AT 200

FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN Polonaise-fantaisie in A-flat Major, Op. 61
THOMAS ADÈS Three Mazurkas (World Premiere, co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall)
ROBERT SCHUMANN Fantasy in C Major, Op. 17
ROBERT SCHUMANN Fantasiestücke, Op. 12
FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN Mazurka in C-sharp Minor, Op. 41, No. 1
FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN Mazurka in E Minor, Op. 41, No. 2
FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN Mazurka in B Major, Op. 41, No. 3
FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN Mazurka in A-flat Major, Op. 41, No. 4
FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN Andante spianato and Grand Polonaise, Op. 22

Sponsored by DeWitt Stern Group, Inc.

Tickets: $34, $40, $50, $67, $90, $99
__________________________________________________

Wednesday, March 17, 2010 at 8:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage
DAWN UPSHAW, Soprano
EMANUEL AX, Piano
Michael Ward-Bergeman, Hyper-accordion

CELEBRATING CHOPIN AND SCHUMANN AT 200

FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN Songs to be announced
FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN Nocturnes to be announced
OSVALDO GOLIJOV New Work for Soprano, Piano and Hyper-accordion (US Premiere, co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall)
ROBERT SCHUMANN Songs to be announced

Tickets: $31, $37, $47, $63, $84, $92

Bank of America is the Proud Season Sponsor of Carnegie Hall.

Ticket Information
Tickets are available at the Carnegie Hall Box Office, 154 West 57th Street, or can be charged to major credit cards by calling CarnegieCharge at 212 247-7800 or by visiting the Carnegie Hall website, carnegiehall.org.

For Carnegie Hall Corporation presentations taking place in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage, a limited number of seats, priced at $10, will be available day-of-concert beginning at 11:00 a.m. Monday through Saturday and 12:00 noon on Sunday until one hour before the performance or until supply lasts. The exceptions are Carnegie Hall Family Concerts and gala events. These $10 tickets are available to the general public on a first-come, first-served basis at the Carnegie Hall Box Office only. There is a two-ticket limit per customer.

In addition, for all Carnegie Hall presentations in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage a limited number of partial view (seats with obstructed or limited sight lines or restricted leg room) will be sold for 50% of the full price. For more information on this and other discount ticket programs, including those for students, Notables members, and Bank of America customers, visit carnegiehall.org/discounts.

###