The Ax Man Cometh Again

Looking at Emanuel Ax’s tour schedule, I get frequent-flyer envy—by the time he tickles the ivories for the Schubert Club’s International Artist Series this month, the pianist will have given more than thirty concerts in 2007, including one the night before in Philadelphia.

The breadth of Ax’s performing activities is as notable as his busy schedule. The virtuoso has recorded solo, chamber, and orchestral works by Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Dvorak, Fauré, Haydn, Liszt, Mozart, Rachmaninoff, and Schumann—and that’s just in the last five years. He also has seven Grammys.

“He’s a major artist,” says Sharon Carlson, Schubert Club’s interim executive director. “We’re thrilled to have him again.” Ax first appeared with the Schubert Club in 1983, then returned in 1997 with one of his frequent collaborators, Yo–Yo Ma. Though his program for this month’s concert has not yet been determined, it’s bound to let his poetic lyricism shine. Some might expect a grandiose ego to match his talent, but, according to Carlson, “he’s really low-key and quiet.”

That down-to-earth personality pervades his blog, where an entry describing when to applaud could also be a guide for his own concertgoers. “I think that if there were no ‘rules’ about when to applaud,” he writes, “we in the audience would have the right response almost always. Most composers trust their listeners to respond at the right time, and if we feel like expressing approval, we should be allowed to, anytime! Just one favor—even if you don’t like a concert of mine, please please applaud at the end anyway.” March 21. Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, 345 Washington St., St. Paul, 651-224-4222

Reach Lani Willis at laniwillis@aol.com.