“Entering a competition is like going to a 7-11 and buying a lottery ticket.” - Emanuel Ax
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- Опубликовано: 7 май 2018
- Living the Classical Life: Episode 56
Distinguished pianist Emanuel Ax won the first Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition, the Avery Fisher Prize, and several Grammy awards, and has been a Sony Classical exclusive recording artist since 1987. He has had works written for him by John Adams, Christopher Rouse, Krzysztof Penderecki, Bright Sheng, and Melinda Wagner, and as teacher, performer, and recording artist receives uniform praise throughout the world. During a visit to Zsolt's Cleveland home, the irresistibly charming maestro chats about competitions, practicing, and finding a zone for balanced living. 
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I knew Manny briefly when we were students at Juilliard. At the end of the day (around 5 pm) I would rest for a few minutes in the student lounge. Manny came in one day, walked over to me and introduced himself. He just open and friendly, and fun to talk with. After that we would talk often, about music, pianists, and the Benjamin Miracord tape recorder he had. I have never known anyone who could make me feel like a dear old friend as quickly as Manny, and when I heard him perform the Liszt Sonata in the Juilliard Recital Hall, I felt sure that he would have himself a career. But I think, more important than that, he was probably the only pianist in Juilliard who played better than me of whom I felt no envy. What I saw in this interview was the Emanuel Ax who used to tell me jokes in the lounge in the old Juilliard building, about 53 years ago. Someone who I was always happy to see walking into the room. His humanity can be heard any time he speaks, and every time he plays. Really one of the nicest people I've ever known.
Wow, thanks for sharing! He seems a nice person indeed
You have described this wonderful person exactly as I imagine him to be!❤
Thank You!!!
I can tell he is a genuinely affable and warm person just through the interview. Such a great pianist, but most winningly, just a warm person who happens to be a gifted musician.
I’ve never met him; but I simply know that you are 100% correct in your assessment.
He has a very pleasant modest and insightful demeanour. This is refreshing among so many inflated egos in the classical music world.
Oh you are so right!!!
What a sweetheart!!! And he’s polish! That’s my heritage!
I have never heard him speak before. Only heard his recordings! After just one minute, I feel like I would love to meet him! He just seems like a very warm person!
"I'm Manny Ax...."
WAIT. He goes by "Manny"? My mind is blown. I've always loved Emanuel Ax but never heard him talk. What a gent. I especially love his honesty about his difficulties learning pieces quickly. And his regrets about not playing enough Bach or Chopin etudes growing up... and his descriptions of seeing Richter and Horowitz play live. What a treasure this interview is.
We're glad you enjoyed it, Eric Nyberg!
He has ALWAYS been 'Manny Ax'.
You should hear Brit conductor Andrew Davis. He goes "Hello, I'm Sir Andrew Davis"
@@marks1417 Hahahaha. I've met Sir Andrew myself. Nice gent.
You can find other pianists on youtube who studied with him calling him that, such as Tiffany Poon.
Not only a great artist but a beautiful and incredibly humble human being!!!! He makes himself and music so approachable by his words. I hear him play many years ago in Montreal and went backstage to shake his hand. It is common to hear that one needs to be arrogant to be a performer. The greatest confidence comes from humility and he exemplifies this!
You said it perfectly...wonderful choice of English words!!
Truly a humble human being. Classical musicians deserve the highest respect.
Not all classical musicians are like him. He shows quite a bit of humility.
I love that he listens to his own concert recordings- so many artists say they don’t, but I don’t believe them! Love Mr.Ax’s candor. Wonderful
I had a wonderful opportunity to speak with Mr. Ax for all of 5 minutes when he visited the Brevard Music Center many years ago. The man you see here is the same man I met back then. He is an absolute delight, and I will never forget his kindness and words of encouragement - 15 years later.
He's an absolute gentleman and a class act. Wow!!!!!!
The level of interviewing finesse is through the roof. Sublime dialogue. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Thanks for watching and commenting, Albert Wong!
There's something enchanting in his bearing and locution. I mean here is this great artist with such a wonderfully deep understanding of the music he plays and he comes through as such a down to earth guy.
Humility is wonderful. Thanks for watching, Coos Oorlog!
Really admire your interviewing style, you ask great questions and it is all very genuine. Thank You!
I wanted to say the exactly the same comments. Very profound and eloquent interview!
kind, articulate, warm, enlightening..a great artist and wonderful man. I loved this interview. Also, this interviewer brings out the best in people.
Thanks for watching, and for your kind words, Ruben Greenberg!
He is incredibly humble and kind!
For somebody who always looks so confident and comfortable at the piano, and then plays SO MASTERFULLY, I would have never guessed Emanuel Ax has ever even CONSIDERED freaking out on the inside!
Simply extraordinary in every sense. Every music lover, let alone student, should watch this interview many times. Thank you!!
We're so glad you enjoyed it, Carlos Maldonado! Thanks for watching!
Wow, he's a giant and yet so humble talking about winning the competitions is a matter of luck, and he's is very slow at learning pieces.
What a thoroughly nice, friendly, genuine man, totally without pretentiousness. Thank you for sharing this delightful interview.
What a great guy Manny is! Thoroughly enjoyed this interview. I am glad to know I am not the only pianist who is a slow learner. I hated sight reading and I guess that shows in my inability to learn a new piece quickly. I have always taken my time to learn a new piece and will not play it publicly until I feel I play it reasonably well. I felt so comfortable listening to him because I feel I see so much of myself in him. Was not expecting that at all. I have found a kindred spirit....thank you!
This is so wonderful and touching to watch!!
So touching. So reassuring and heartening to hear a towering figure such as Ax express that he too has hang-ups that the rest of us musicians can identify with - everything from nerves to using music, and the difficulties of page-turning pedals!
He's one one of the greatest pianist's of our age. His recording of the Chopin Ballads is stupendous.
I can totally relate to this man. I appreciate his vulnerability. What a humble man.
Such great questions! Such great answers! Two absolutely wonderful human beings who have not allowed the typical musical snobbiness of being classical music performers enter into their attitudes. Emanuel Ax is the whole package: marvelous musician and exceptional human being. Bravo!!!
Thank you very much for watching, and for your kind words, Leo Catalano!
What a lovely and kind conversation, thank you so much, i got a wonderful time
interesting to hear rafa mentioned here. Rafa is born in a music family, his grandfather is a very respected musician, he studied with legendary pianist and himself the concert master of Palma de mallorca, worked with many greatest tenor/ soprano of our time. rafa love his classic music, opera and musical. such a connection! two masters in their own field!
Such a lovely chap! :)
He is the sweetest guy ever.
We agree!
Fantastic pianist and the kind of guy who says hello, first, to the orchestra musicians backstage.
@@LivingtheClassicalLife National Symphony of Mexico
@@LivingtheClassicalLife I was principal trumpet, a long time ago
@@LivingtheClassicalLife Thanks. I enjoy the interviews a great deal and I pass on things from each episode to my daughter, who is a young violinist. Thank you for the show!
I was at Emanuel Ax’s performance of Mozart’s 16th and 17th piano concertos, about three years ago, and here in St. Louis. My grandmother and I were so impressed and overwhelmed with the warmth and attention he payed to the music, as well as the conductor and orchestra. What a humble and great ambassador of the piano and music Ax is!
Thanks for watching, Joshua Fruend, and for sharing that lovely moment in your life with us!
This is a phenomenal interviewer.
Great interview! Mr. Ax is such a genuine guy.
I chatted to Emmanuel Ex backstage when he played with my orchestra as a soloist. He was unbelievably nice and humble! Zsolt - I only just discovered your channel and I now cannot stop watching. Fantastic interviews and so many great insights. I just bawled my eyes out watching the one with Lars Vogt. Thank you so much for this wonderful channel! ❤
He is such a nice person.
I'm sure I'd be happy to listen to him do sight-reading on stage (or on youtube). Oh that would be just great, listening to him figure it out (maybe the Art of the Fugue), which is the kind of thing I do every day as essentially a permanent student of piano.
What an amazing interview. I will not ever forget it., Manny Ax- a most musical name. I’ve waited all my life to hear some of the wisdom and generosity of spirit offered to us in under one hour. I will now practice more Bach. Thank you both!
Fantastic guy and such a musical pianist.
What modest man!Very nice 👍👏
I several years ago developed an affection for Emanuel Ax. Ax’s rapport with the members of an orchestra touched me as much as his work on the keyboard. He draws encouragement from the orchestra, which in turn encourages the orchestra. He interacts with orchestra and conductor not only between movements, but also when he gets a break during a movement. His deportment is fluid, spontaneous, humane, not the stiff presentations we witness from so many soloists. I love to watch him when he is not playing as much as I love to hear him when he is playing. My opinion of Ax was confirmed by this interview. Inside the brilliant pianist we find a man just like ourselves, one determined to do his best even as he contends with doubts and with memories of past mistakes, mistakes noticed only by other world-class pianists, by the pedantic, or by the ultrafastidious.
Truly a wonderful interview and great insights from a renowned musician. He was so personable, it felt as if I were actually in that room having this discussion.
Thanks for watching and commenting, jcord001!
This man is wonderful, and so wise. I enjoyed listening to this very much. I very much like what he said about what an audience brings to a concert, in terms of expectation.
Awesome !!!
I remember seeing Manny Ax,when I was at University in Brighton UK,I live in Canada 🇨🇦 And I saw him several times,(Before he won the Rubinstein competition)so way back,and I knew he was a star ⭐️It’s lovely to see that he’s such a really nice guy. I do so agree with him,about Chopin ⭐️
His words are such a major inspiration ❤ he shares
Very human concepts that applies to whatever technical level we have as musicians from nothing to genius level thanks for sharing this video of mr Ax.!
Ashkenazy and Ax. 2 gentlemen that define the word “gentleman”.
I enjoyed this interview, he reminds me of myself, my approach to towards music, studying, practicing, performing. Makes me feel I am not the only one and there are many others among professionals dealing with the same issues.
He's wonderful.
What a beautiful humble man. Brilliant interview, thank you.
What a humble and noble pianist and lovely to watch this interview.
Thanks for watching, Christina Han!
The bottomline about being a pianist is that if you don't have technique, nobody will care about your musicality. Pianists like Emmanuel Ax can talk about musical poetry, interpretation and what not because he can easily pull off running passages, octaves, double notes and whatever other musical acrobatics without much of an effort.
So glad I watched this! Manny Ax is pretty chill. It was fun to sort of get inside his head about performance anxiety, fantasies about sports, building trades etc! I like his philosophy about not having blinders on when it comes to a career, or life in general. I love to hear the greats talk about their childhoods, and I love it when truly talented people are truly self-effacing: "I listened to an old recording and it wasn't terrible!" It's also cool to hear the great musicians talk about learning particular music, such as Bach in this case, even late in their careers. I've heard Daniel Barenboim and Itzhak Perlman say the same thing about practicing: that "more" isn't necessarily better. Perlman also said that when he was a little kid, he hated practicing, and would sometimes sort of goof off musically, since if his non-musician parents could hear the sound of his violin they'd stay off his case!
This interview is just great! I have seen the wonderful Ax many times and I can’t wait for the next time with this interview in my head. After he spoke of Bach I hit pause and played Bach - a simple piece!
His modesty is so touching.
Thank you for this and for all these interviews that I’ve just discovered.
Very inspiring episode!! ❤
Most enjoyable, and teaches so much about life and music... :-)
Nice guy! Thank you, Mr. Ax!
Wonderful man!
Wow! What a humble and genuine man. I love how he is so transparent about his nerves on stage. Such a great interview!
I love this interview, especially the comments about Chopin!!! This man is so humble. Amazing. I talked with him briefly at a Van Cliburn competition, and he was just so accessible. Thank you.
What a wonderful man.
What an honest and sincere interview! An absolute joy to listen to!
Thank you so much for this great video!
Maestro AX is so humble and sincere that it is a joy to hear him talk (and play as well, of course). Interesting video 🎹
I love this so much. The interview is so inspiring. Thank you!
Thank you for watching, Meredith Steele!
I know I get these videos because I enjoy classical music on RUclips but I don't play the piano... yet I LOVE in-depth pieces like this. What a beautiful conversation with a real human being who happens to be a great piano player. Talk about humble. I have the feeling this channel is going to get a great deal of my attention... on the right I'm seeing a conversation with Vladimir Ashkenazy... oh boy! This is going to be fun. Thanks you so much. This is a treasure. NOW I've subscribed... which is only right.
Love, love love this interview. Love your questions and the great rapport, and the exceptional warmth, honesty and experience Manny shares here, both as a music and a person.❤
I watch this channel to listen to Zsolt...he's a phenomenal interviewer. Easy on the eye also lol.
So honest person...I like this interview so much!!!
@@LivingtheClassicalLife very oft are so called stars of classical misic today supperstisious,narcistic and with no contact to reality and based only on gymnastical playing and performance...No matter on amount of talent,if we take music very seriously, even small menuet of Bach is very difficult work...That is what the mass does not understand...Very few people in history made huge repertoir with high artistical quality:Sviatoslav Richter,Idil Biret..That what we today see by many of modern pianists is only superficial approach to very serious stuffs of music...Ths ser does not belong to that population of pseudo artists...He is a trully artist...
One of the early recordings I frequently listened to 😀
Such a finnesse of an interview. Had a great joy watching this interview.
Excellent practical advice for those of us in the amateur bracket. Saw Emanuel perform here in Tucson at Centennial Hall a few years back playing Beethoven Pathetique and Appassionata, the only two serious major works I've attempted. Seated around row six I was amidst a number of pianists also somewhat adept at those same two pieces. Instant community.
That's a wonderful scene you've described. Thank you, Investing for Tomorrow!
I only watch the first ten or fifteen minutes of a lot of these... that's enough... BUT, I'm glad these videos exist!
I love Emanuel Ax. His advice at the end was really perfect. Thank you for this great episode.
What a great interview. I will show this interview to my best piano student.
This intense pleasant voice competition! I think Ax pulled ahead at the end as most pleasant.
what a wonderful interview! what a pity that this video has only 12k views.
Almost 40k now!
Agreed; some very good pianists are passed over!
What a great human being. Such modesty but this man is fabulous pianist. I really hope he does write that book. To read his thoughts on the many pianists he has seen seen and heard would be fascinating. Must tell my music loving pal to watch.
I have just discovered this channel. What a treat! To hear someone of Emmanuel Ax's stature say that it's enough just to talk intelligently about music...well, that's what I did (I hope intelligently!) for thirty-two years, on a public-radio station in the Midwest. The first segment of LTCL watched was the one with Gary Graffman, whose book so delighted me. I'm so glad you did that one. Please keep it up! This channel is water in the desert for me.
It's an honor and a pleasure to know that you're watching, Karen Bryan! Thanks!
@@LivingtheClassicalLife I eat this stuff up like candy.
A very decent noble man.
I would love to have a second interview in which he discusses his experience(s) playing chamber music. He's a great chamber music performer too.
We would too! Perhaps some day it will happen.
Enjoyed hearing MA perform recital in Chicago USA, years ago....he has some really fine recordings also....funny about “making the same mistakes”.....how many performers know that feeling....😀....slow learner & concert nerves, I know those feelings all too well....😂
Such a lovely person - I love this interview, thank you!
We're glad you enjoyed it, Megan McElroy! Thanks for watching!
Just discovered your you tube channel after discovering Tiffany Poon's site on you tube. One good thing leads to another. U should interview Tiff Poon!
@@gf-sj1sx what does tiffany poon have to do with this YT channel...?
Actually it's been a while since I wrote this comment. I think what I was saying was that I was watching Tiffany Poon's YT vids and YT directed me to this site. YT is big brother 😜
@@gf-sj1sx hmm......curious
I agree with him about national origin not making any difference. Music is a universal, emotional language and we are all the same under the skin. I’ve heard too many Asian performers giving great interpretations of European music to believe actually being from Europe is any prerequisite or even much of an advantage.
Such a gift this incredible pianist has given me with his wisdom. Truly inspiring and insightful. Thank you,! And to you , Zsolt Bognár for the wonderful interviews. Ax is right, this effort is making an impact in the perception of great artists and what musicians bring to the world not only as performers , but as human beings... Awesome work, I am very glad I found these.
Thanks for watching, and for your kind words, Mercedes Calcano!
Wonderful interview from perhaps the most sincere pianist in the world.
One question though: I could find no information on the Tonara music reading app that automatically turns pages. Can anyone help?
5:30 speaks to me on a deeply personal level lol
I recently thoroughly enjoyed his fine pianism at the Kimball in Fort Worth. Thanks for this program!
Wow. Such a genuine person. I love his art and personality.
Competitions should be abolished. We should have many many more venues for pianists to perform for the public. That would benefit both the pianists and the public. Competitions are about careers, not about music.
If someone doesn't know him, they think he's just a very nervous pianist who was just lucky to become what he is now🤦🏻♀️
Emanuel Ax was at the Elisabetcompetition the same year than Cyprien Katsaris, 1972. They did't win, but became famous pianists with a fine carreer.
Ax did take first prize at the Arthur Rubinstein competition in 1974. Katsaris took first prize at the Cziffra comp also in 1974.
he was brilliant in Mozart in the Jungle
I had the great pleasure of touring China with Manny Ax. A charming and warm-hearted man, with a wicked sense of humour.
The interview tiptoed around the sensitive topic of "winners of competitions whose career did NOT flourish." As just two of many examples, you can look up the winners of the Indianapolis Violin Competition or the Paganini Violin Competition. I believe some juries actually consider how much charisma a player exhibits on stage and some juries don't. Heifetz advised Friedman not to enter the Tchaikovsky competition because he felt it was rigged. Friedman ignored the advice and came in SIXTH place.
In the XVII Chopin piano competition a few years ago (2008) where Seong-Jin Cho was the winner, it was said Emmanuel Ax who was a Jury member, didn't give Mr Cho any points in most of his concert in that contest....what a shame
@@Bruce.-Wayne Seong Jin Cho was the winner in the 2015 17th Frederick Chopin Piano Competition. And Emmanuel Ax was not in the jury.
Maybe you are referring to Philippe Entremont who caused controversy when he gave Cho the lowest score of 1.
Which Schubert Sonata did you mention Richter playing in New York? B-Major or D-Major? Thank you for the wonderful interview and the great channel!
@@LivingtheClassicalLife Thank you very much for your answer!
Reading between the lines- practicing only 5 hours a day he must practice very intelligently, probably making better use of 5 hours than others make of 10
Great attitude to enter a competition! Practice hard, prepared really well, and hope perform well. It is what we can control the rests are beyond of our control. I am baffled by people who are too afraid of entering a competition. Ax is a very honest person by stating that he is a slow learner!
Thanks Peter for your interviews. As I mentioned in my comment about the Gary Graffman interview, Tiffany Poon is one of my two favorite young pianists, and Emanuel Ax was one of her teachers at Julliard. So I was interested about his opinions and advice to students.... and about competitions. What he said was revealing. By the way, there is a new, very different kind of competition out there, in Germany, called "KlavierOlymp", in Bad Kissingen, where every participant gets a very fair chance; ideal for pianists like Tiffany who 'bloom' on the stage in front of an audience, but do less well in competitions playing for a jury. Whoever checks the page out will have to use Google translate, though- it's only in German.
Thanks again for your work and posting these interviews! Keep on the good job! :)
At 13:25 does he say the 3 B’s and Dvorak? If so interesting fourth name to add to the list! But hence why I’m questioning my ears!
Please someone, what is the piece at the start?!
37:14 "the level of pianistic ability I've never seen (before) .. never had such a (high) level ... everybody plays so well now .. (many) will have a hard time getting noticed" My view as well - so many thousands of very fine pianists these days and so many more being turned out by the music colleges that it's hard to see how all of them can possibly earn a living. I would not be encouraging my children to take up the piano other than as a hobby.
That's odd. You don't think that rather than discourage them, you should teach them entrepreneurial skills?