How did pianist Emanuel Ax convince 'Star Wars' composer John Williams to write him a concerto? He hand-wrote a letter.
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It was the closest collaboration with Williams to date for Ax, who frequently shares the stage with cellist Yo-Yo Ma, a player who may as well be Williams's muse. Their association stretches as far back as the 1980s when Williams conducted the Pops; the two released an album together in 2022, 'A Gathering of Friends,' featuring the numerous concert works Williams has written for the cellist. This coming Sunday afternoon, Ma and Ax – as well as violinist Leonidas Kavakos and violist Antoine Tamestit – take over the Koussevitzky Music Shed for an all-Beethoven chamber program.
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Ax's outreach wasn't a cold call, either. Because both Ax and Williams have such longstanding Tanglewood ties, the two have crossed paths a handful of times. For 1994's Tanglewood On Parade with then-BSO music director Seiji Ozawa, Ax and Williams joined Italian pianist Maria Tipo for Mozart's Concerto in F for Three Pianos. 'I don't know if [Williams] remembers it, but I certainly remember it very vividly,' Ax said. 'And, of course, I've been to dozens of movie nights.'
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In his program notes for the piece, Williams praised Ax's 'technical brilliance, refined elegance and great artistic sensibilities,' and recounted a time when he'd asked Ax if he'd 'ever encountered a bad piano,' to which Ax replied, 'all pianos are my friends.'
The piece itself is inspired by the composer's memories of witnessing performances by three 20th century greats of the jazz piano: Art Tatum, Bill Evans, and Oscar Peterson. He did not intend to mimic their styles, but 'suggest and remember the unique artistic personalities of three men who greatly inspired me,' Williams wrote.
Ax is an avid jazz listener – he's especially fond of Peterson as well as the young American pianist Aaron Diehl – but he's 'not a jazz player in the least,' he said. 'I'm hopeless with it!'
However, the concerto isn't what anyone would call a jazz piece, Ax clarified. 'You wouldn't know that it's based on these people. It's more an inspiration for [Williams] than anything overt, if that makes sense.'
As for Saturday, the composer was present for the preparation as well as the premiere. 'I think he'll tell Andris and me exactly what he wants from the orchestral performance,' Ax said.
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Ax will also perform the new concerto at Symphony Hall in January with Nelsons and the BSO, on an all-John Williams program scheduled to include a mix of the composer's music for silver screen and concert hall.
BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Tanglewood, Lenox. July 26 8 p.m. 617-266-1200, www.tanglewood.org
A.Z. Madonna can be reached at
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