Meet Emanuel Ax

"Manny" Ax is possibly the most self-effacing, unassuming, clear-headed, down-to-earth bloke who ever set finger to Steinway. I more or less had to be his wake-up call for his plane that morning, but he talked at crack-of-dawn anyway. Now he's in town for a concert with the LPO playing Haydn and Stravinsky tomorrow night at the RFH, and a Wigmore Hall Coffee Concert on Sunday morning. (It's time the hall was honest, though, and started calling them Sherry Concerts instead.)

Here he is playing Brahms:

"On the professional side of music, I've never seen anything like the level of accomplishment the young players have now," he says. "It's mind-boggling. There was never a time before when almost every professional pianist was capable of playing the complete Chopin etudes. The profession is in great shape.

"But on the listening side, we have more problems because fewer people play instruments for fun - that's very sad. There's a separation between the professional and the amateur and I think that's not so healthy. The issue is that it's not easy to play an instrument: it takes a certain amount of effort, application and daily practice. And there are so many choices for kids now, especially with good music being readily available without having to learn to play it. I hope the musical community will be interested in pushing the idea of playing instruments. That, I think, is the secret to everything. It's like sports: if you don't kick a ball around, you probably won't go to football matches. A lot of people do care about this situation and are working to change it. Yo-Yo is incredibly involved. Simon Rattle is another great advocate. I'm sure they will have an effect. They are leading the way towards a whole new vision of what a musician should be."

Read the full interview in this week's Jewish Chronicle, just out now. 

In solidarity

It is pretty much impossible to find an appropriate musical response to the Japanese earthquake, tsunami and nuclear danger. Music-ish friends, caught up in Tokyo, have largely got out now - the BBC Philharmonic is home safe and sound (tearful scenes reported at the airport) and Japanese orchestras pressed on with their own concerts despite depleted audiences, determined to keep going. Pianist Noriko Ogawa is in Tokyo and was drafted in for an interview on BBC Newsnight yesterday to talk about the ongoing mood: the chief message is clearly a determination on everyone's part to stay calm and continue with life as normally as possible.

As for Libya, while the various international councils argue amongst themselves over what, if anything, to do, Gaddafi's forces seem to be moving in on Benghazi and a hint of horrors unfolding in Bahrain is being masked because, one assumes, there isn't enough time to do Japan, Libya and Bahrain all at once, especially not when Prince William is visiting New Zealand and the aftermath of its earthquake in Christchurch. This is dangerous - personally I'd just like to remind people that in 1956 Russia was able to quash the uprising in Hungary not least because the world was looking the other way, towards Suez.

Update: Stephen Llewellyn of Portland Opera has posted a Youtube message from Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic's concertmaster in Japanese, expressing solidarity and moral support to the people of Japan. http://www.portlandopera.org/blog/operaman/2011/03/16/ongoing-tragedy-japan

News now in that the Berlin Phil's concert with Bernard Haitink and Leif Ove Andsnes performing Lutoslawski and Brahms tomorrow night, available by webcast at their Digital Concert Hall, will be dedicated to the victims of the Japan tragedy: http://www.digitalconcerthall.com/en/concert/1637

Meanwhile, Norman Lebrecht heard that Andre Previn was to conduct the NHK orchestra in a concert in Montreal and asked for an interview. Previn refused (as he usually does - I've never once managed to get him to agree to an interview about anything, not even Korngold). Slipped Disc was not amused.  Norman also reports that the Czech government airlifted the Czech Philharmonic out of Japan and Florence's Maggio Musicale orchestra has somehow managed to get back to Italy. Dusseldorf, where there's a large ex-pat Japanese community, is having a solidarity concert and John Zorn is leading a benefit concert in New York.

Another update: violinist Anne Akiko Meyers has written a blogpost about her visit to Osaka and includes links to relief efforts/donation sites. http://anneakikomeyers.com/blog/?p=239

I've been hunting for something that shows at least some sort of empathy and solidarity, as far as we can imagine the unimaginable. Here, with the best of intentions, is Jonas Kaufmann singing Florestan's aria from Fidelio.

Yakov Kreizberg (1959-2011)

The music world is mourning the death yesterday of the conductor Yakov Kreizberg, who has died at the age of only 51. Here is the statement from his manager, Linda Marks of Harrison Parrott:

It is with deep sorrow that we must announce the passing of conductor Yakov Kreizberg on 15 March 2011. He died peacefully after a long illness – borne with great courage, fortitude and determination – at his home in Monte Carlo, surrounded by his wife and two sons. He was aged only 51.

Yakov Kreizberg was one of the most interesting and exciting conductors of his generation. He was widely sought-after by the world's leading orchestras, and held posts with the Theater Krefeld Mönchengladbach, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, the Komische Oper in Berlin and the Wiener Symphoniker.

At the time of his death he was the Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Netherlands Philharmonic and Netherlands Chamber Orchestras. He led them on many highly successful tours and leaves behind a number of great recordings.

He conducted his very last concert with the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra on 14 February 2011 at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. The programme consisted of Glinka’s Overture to Russlan and Ludmilla, Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No.2 with soloist Alexander Sitkovetsky, and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade.  

Yakov Kreizberg was appointed Artistic Director of L'Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo in January 2008, and subsequently Artistic Director and Music Director in September 2009. Although his time with them was cut short, his relationship with this orchestra was one of the happiest and most rewarding of his career.

Yakov Kreizberg was one of the kindest, thoughtful and considerate artists I knew and it was a great privilege to work for him. He leaves behind a tremendous gap in the music world and we send our sincere condolences to his family.

I had always hoped to meet Yakov Kreizberg, having much enjoyed his performances, but the opportunity never arose. I had not realised - none of us had - that time was going to run out quite so soon. His death yesterday coincides with the anniversary of my sister's death at the age of 45. Here is some Mozart in tribute to both of them: Kreizberg conducts his frequent musical collaborator, violinist Julia Fischer, and violinist (here on the viola) Gordan Nikolic with the Netherlands Philharmonic as they record the Sinfonia Concertante - a performance that could scarcely be more positive, filled with light and love.

My Big Fat Gypsy Violin!

Forget "Gypsy" weddings, just hear the music... Meet the magical Magyar melodies and their impact in my feature in today's Independent, which was kind enough to let me add details of our Hungarian Dances concerts next week. 18 March, Potton Hall, Suffolk; and 22 March, Old Swinford Hospital School, Stourbridge. Do come and join us!

It's Friday, so here's Jascha Heifetz in Dohnanyi's Andante rubato alla Zingaresca, with pictures to match. This unbelievably beautiful piece is the first number in our concert: to me it's the perfect incarnation of the 'lost Gypsy concerto' straight out of the novel. This recording was made in 1943.

At that point, the Roma of Nazi-controlled European countries were undergoing the same fate as the Jews, being rounded up and herded into concentration camps, and indeed one section of Auschwitz was designated for them. But in August 1944, after the invasion of Hungary, a new contingent of tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews was brought to the camp. There was not enough room for them, so the Nazis decided to make room. They slaughtered the Roma inmates in one night.

I've run this tribute video before, but several years ago. We should see it again. We shouldn't forget what happened to them.

Meet Sonia Wieder-Atherton

Here's my piece from the JC about the amazing cellist Sonia Wieder-Atherton, who is bringing a series of three varied and fascinating concerts to Kings Place next week. The article is about the first concert, Chants Juifs, but the programmes pairing Monteverdi and Scelsi with a dose of magical realism (Vita, just out on disc too) and Chants d'Est - cello music and transcriptions from around central and eastern Europe - promise to be every bit as intriguing. I will be doing an open interview with Sonia at the Institut Francais in South Kensington on Tuesday 15 March. Do come along and join in.

Here she is talking about Chants d'Est and playing extracts from the album. Enjoy.