DISCOGRAPHY

 

SCRIABIN MUSSORGSKY

"His musical sensitivity is fully on display in this album of Russian classics."

Included in Music-Web’s Best recordings of 2015: "here are so many highlights in Bax's interpretation but I especially enjoyed the Ballet des poussins dans leurs coques which really captured the essence of the tiny unhatched chicks frolicking in their egg-shells. Equally the hustle and bustle of Limoges market-place is superbly brought to teeming life. Bax's treatment of the gentle passages is so magical, sometimes with fingers barely caressing the keys, creating real contrast as when the ending of Cum mortuis in lingua mortua segues into the beginning of La cabane sur des pattes de poule, 'Baba-Yaga'. Bax says in his introduction that he "... decided to thicken it up in places, to give it a richer, wider and perhaps more dramatic palette". He certainly succeeds in making it a truly memorable listen.”

"The Italian pianist is remarkably persuasive in the steamy, dreamy world of Alexander Scriabin. He understands the composer's sinuous textures; the mix of declamation and poetry in the first movement of the Third Piano Sonata is perfectly gauged."

"The colours throughout this really show the piano to its true potential, both in tone, colour and dynamics.”

“Recording of the Month … and quite possibly my recording of the year” - For me this has been The Year of the Piano, with a number of fine recordings of 19th-, 20th- and 21st-century repertoire. It was a tough call, but in the end I had to choose Alessio Bax’s selection of pieces by Mussorgsky and Scriabin. These are fresh, very idiomatic readings that make the music seem newly minted. Lovely tactile sound.

ALESSIO BAX PLAYS BEETHOVEN

Top 10 Recent Recordings – Beethoven
[Chosen for best Beethoven recordings recently reviewed in the pages of Gramophone]
“'Even when compared to legendary performances of this sonata (Kempff, Richter, Gilels, Brendel, etc), this performance stands its ground in music to test the technique and intellect of even the greatest pianists.”

“To start your first Beethoven release with the gigantic 'Hammerklavier' shows chutzpah - and Bax has that in spades. No technical demand scares him, and he often chooses tempos faster than many other pianists, though without ruining the musical sense. His 'Hammerklavier', which stands comparison with the finest on CD, is followed by the popular 'Moonlight', where Bax glides his was gracefully through the dreamy first movement, never dragging and never pedantic. … His own two idiomatic arrangements of music from ‘The Ruins of Athens’ round off a Beethoven CD in a class of its own.”

“Alessio Bax commands our attentive respect in two Beethoven sonatas, of which his Hammerklavier may rate as a contemporary classic. … Bax’s rendition [of the “Moonlight” Sonata] favors poetry and clarity in all parts, and the combination of imagination and technical prowess remains the performer’s hallmark.”

"This behemoth [the “Hammerklavier”] is both technically and intellectually challenging and only the greatest of pianists have really conquered it... I am also impressed with Bax’s dazzling finger-work in the finale’s fugue…. I find this performance hugely stimulating both technically and emotionally. It is quite a switch to the Moonlight Sonata, but again Bax excels here, too, by playing the work simply and beautifully.”

“Most of Bax's 'Hammerklavier' is bracing and visionary.”

“Often known as ‘the Mount Everest of the keyboard’, Beethoven’s Hammerklavier Sonata poses every conceivable problem, musically and technically (though the two are indissoluble). Even Myra Hess, a great Beethoven pianist, was daunted by its demands, leaving it to others for public performance. For Alessio Bax the challenge remains, but is superbly resolved in a reading of a formidable pace and impetus yet leaving ample time for expressive resource. His opening Allegro is like a river in full spate (though sharply focused rather than, as in Schnabel’s case, a frenetic race against the clock). At the same time the great Adagio sostenuto, appassionato e con molto sentimento is just that, finely shaded and tautly disciplined, while Bax’s final fugue, rapid and resolute, is, as Stravinsky put it, ‘contemporary forever’.Even when compared to legendary performances of this sonata (Kempff, Richter, Gilels, Brendel, etc), this performance stands its ground in music to test the technique and intellect of even the greatest pianists. … Alessio Bax is clearly among the most remarkable young pianists now before the public.”

“He opens with Beethoven's longest and most challenging of piano sonatas and there can be no doubting Bax's technique or his total musical conviction.  … I thoroughly recommend this release. Needless to say, the competition is immense in this repertoire and, while I would not make this a first choice - Levit's is just that, and he demands to be heard - there is nevertheless a huge amount to be enjoyed in these performances.”

“I find this a wonderfully fresh and lively and energetic recording. … The slow movement [of the ‘Hammerklavier’] is a remarkable achievement; it takes a huge effort of will to sustain it, and I think Bax has done an amazing job here. The sound quality is gorgeous. You can just sink into it like a wonderful hot bath.

[‘Moonlight’ Sonata]: It’s a very flowing tempo over which the top line floats. It’s very ethereal, and beautifully controlled. Wonderful tone quality all the way through. 
[Bax encores): They’re enormous fun. That’s one of the things that really stood out about this disc for me. You feel he’s enjoying every second of it and milking for thrills in some ways. He does sail close to the wind at times with the tempo. But you can’t help but being swept along by the sheer fun of it.” 

“It's in at the deep (and the divine) ends of Beethoven's piano sonatas - the gargantuan Hammerklavier and dreamlike Moonlight - for Alessio Bax's first encounter with the composer on disc. The Hammerklavier is not to be attempted too early in a pianist's career, but Bax, now in his mid-30s, has clearly come to it at the right time. It's a reading distinguished by one impressive technical accomplishment after another: the opening Allegro vivid and fresh, the imposing Adagio sostenuto dispatched with consummate eloquence, the finale ripely balancing poetry and drama. There's revealing nuance aplenty, too, in playing that stands comparison with the best in the field: Richter, Kempff, Gilels and, not least, Brendel, whose probing poetic pragmatism is everywhere in evidence on a major accomplishment for the young Italian. The Moonlight Sonata is just as vital: Bax liquescently graceful throughout yet forcefully robust in the concluding Presto agitato. Bax's own virtuosic arrangements of two excerpts from The Ruins of Athens round proceedings off with witty aplomb. Highly recommended.Description: http://www.signumrecords.com/products/images/pages/AAAA%205%20stars.jpg”

“If you happened to see Daniel Barenboim’s 2003 Beethoven master classes on DVD, you might remember an unusually poised young pianist, Alessio Bax, who chose the ‘Hammerklavier’ sonata’s daunting final movement. Fast-forward 11 years to Bax’s recording of the complete work, coupled with the composer’s ubiquitous ‘Moonlight’ sonata. Bax might not take the ‘Hammerklavier’ Allegro at Beethoven’s admittedly optimistic metronome marking, but the hurling momentum, lean yet nuanced textures, and astute ear for voice leading (the amazingly well contoured fughetta, for instance) convey both structure and kinetic energy. … Bax brilliantly characterizes the Largo’s madcap mood swings and broken chord transition into the Fugue, while the Fugue itself is a knockout: brisk, clear, clean, and jazzy as hell.Bax sets an ideal and flexible pace for the ‘Moonlight’ sonata’s iconic Adagio sostenuto, which he plays gorgeously. … This release adds up to an impressive achievement for which Bax should be proud.”

BAX & CHUNG

"Pardon the cliché, but here’s a husband-and-wife piano duo who make beautiful music together. In Stravinsky’s duet reduction of Petrushka, Alessio Bax and Lucille Chung do not attempt to replicate orchestral dynamic levels. Instead they apply their effortless synchronicity to unlocking the music’s pianistic potential, aiming for textural clarity and

colouristic variety as they shape the catchy melodies with maximum lilt and characterful accentuation. Newly minted colours, inner voices and highlighted bass-lines emerge from Brahms’s Op 39 Waltzes with minimum sustain pedal and maximum tonal imagination. … 
Although the smoky underpinnings of Piazzolla’s tango idiom usually lose their edge via classical interpreters, Bax and Chung internalise this composer’s rhythmic syntax to the point where syncopations pack an understated punch and curvaceous melodies offhandedly slip by in the manner of a master actor who knows how to throw away a good line. As I listened to Libertango’s sultry introductory pages unravel, its tempo increase, and the finale’s peroration whirl about with the utmost in controlled ardour, I wished that Piazzolla had been alive to hear it as well. Superb annotations and engineering make the Bax/Chung duo debut CD all the more auspicious."

“This varied and enjoyable disc from married duo Bax and Chung is notable mainly for Stravinsky’s own four-hand transcription of Petrushka, heard here in a remarkably affectionate performance. The opening of the Shrovetide Fair is misty, almost Impressionist. This is an intelligent reading, ever aware of the linear element and highlighting strands impeccably Rhythm, so vital here, is well disciplined. While the imitations of the drum remain unconvincing, this is a minor matter in a performance as vital as this. The Brahms brings great contrast, and the players accord it great warmth, in terms of both tone and spirit. The miraculously beautiful shading of No 7 (C sharp minor) demands mention. The set of four Piazzolla Tangos offer a fun and stylish way to close the recital.”

"Bax and Chung clearly enjoy performing together, and from the opening notes of The Shrove-Tide Fair onward, their playing is virtually seamless. Technique and ensemble are impeccable. Having been so accustomed to hearing the work performed by a full orchestra, I was surprised at how effective this four hand piano reduction could be. Bax and Chung make it even more convincing. I particularly liked their light and well-articulated treatment of the Russian Dance and the splashes of colour that they produce in Petrouchka’s Cell. ... Alessio Bax and [Lucille] Chung are without a doubt one of the finest piano duos out there. I can’t wait to hear what they’ve got in store for us next."

"I continue to marvel at how Brahms could put so much expression into pieces that are as short as these waltzes. The longest is only two minutes in duration, which is practically instantaneous compared to the waltzes of Frédéric Chopin. Yet there is so much spirit within that brevity. Bax and Chung have clearly been moved by that spirit and communicate their impressions wonderfully.”

"Here's a cracker. Alessio Bax and Lucille Chung are a celebrated piano duo (and man and wife). Their new album on Signum crams in a mix of repertoire and an amalgam of musical styles, with Stravinsky's Petrushka rubbing shoulders with Brahms Waltzes and Piazzolla's

tangos. It looks like a stylistic train crash but it unfurls into an intoxicating flavour of exhilarating musical experience. If there is one element that integrates the mix it is the playing style of the two young pianists, who have a fascinating clarity and delicacy to their four-hand pianism. The articulate bustle of the Shrove Tide Fair in the outer tableaux of Petrushka should dazzle listeners (even if the great Coachmens' Dance in the final tableau is a bit light). The Brahms, not often played, is a wonder, to which I will return, and the Piazzolla is pure magic: basically the two pianists take the themes, rhythms and harmonies of four of Piazzolla's tangos and improvise on them to brilliant effect."

"The husband and wife duo enjoy easy rapport, and their Piazzolla tangos have a smoky panache."

"Bax and Chung are husband and wife, so it's not surprising that their piano duets work so well. They share a brilliant clarity in their playing. In this scintillating recital, it's hard to find even a fleeting moment where ensemble is less than meticulous. They realize Petrushka's wondrous array of colours with consummate assurance, and enjoy equally the inventive variety in 16 Waltzes, while their own arrangements of four tangos unleash their virituosity."

"Virtuosic pianism is the order of the day here; if the two-piano versions of Stravinsky's Petrushka dances have the effect (as ever) of making one yearn for their orchestral dress, there is no denying the sheer panache with which they're dispatched here. Bax and Chung demonstrate an almost supernatural understanding of the demands of the duo repertoire."

 

Lincoln Center’s 2013 Martin E. Segal Award recipient
“Alessio came to our attention many years ago, and we were captivated from the first notes we heard him play at the keyboard. He is the complete package – a consummate recitalist, a superb soloist, an expert recording artist, and in addition, a stellar chamber musician. … Alessio takes on the biggest challenges while maintaining a sense of grace and style that might make a lesser mortal a little envious. But those of us who know him well, know his warmth and humble nature, making it impossible to have any feelings but those of admiration and thanks that he is a part of our community.”
— David Finckel and Wu Han, co-artistic directors, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, May 2013

 

On the Radio

Favorite Sessions: The Poetry and Power of Pianist Alessio Bax
“I had heard concert recordings of Alessio before he arrived for our chat and was impressed by his pianistic power and poetry. Both were present again here — he opened with a patiently tender performance of Bach's ‘Sheep May Safely Graze,’ then brought out the searching melancholy in a Ballade by Johannes Brahms. He finished with dazzling color and fireworks in a set of three Rachmaninoff Preludes — all suffused with the same glow of personal warmth that came through in our conversation. I'm awfully glad to have met Alessio, and I can't wait to hear what he'll bring to the music he plays in the future.”

In Concert
2014-15 Season Highlights

"....Bax is a musician with technique up to the task” 
- Theater Jones, November 2015

"With fluent technique, a light touch and a wide range of tonal color, the gifted young pianist Alessio Bax brought forth surprising and subtle details in an imaginative account of Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.”
- Star Tribune, July 2015

 

Fall 2014 Tours with Joshua Bell

Gothenburg, Sweden 
"This creates a dense and intimate atmosphere in Stenhammarsalen when Bell, along with his brilliant accompanist, pianist Alessio Bax, gives life to three gems from the classical violin sonata repertoire."
– Göteborgs-Posten, November 23, 2014 [Eleonor Ekström-Frisk]

Salzburg Mozarteum
Brilliant with Bell and Bax
"The musical partnership with Joshua Bell is perfect. Both musicians react to each other constantly and run eloquent dialogue. The resulting sound issue in the best sense. Bax, he also sometimes amazingly soft tones eliciting the instrument impeccable and the Steinway may take a back seat as a companion too, but at the right time and with the violinist returns exactly equal rights and equal voted back into the limelight."
– Drehpunct Kulture, November 21, 2014 [Von Gottfried Franz Kasparek]

Dallas
"Here, [Alessio Bax] collaborated in a way that proved that, even though his name is not a household word on the level of violinist Bell’s, he is a musician of equal significance in terms of artistry."
– D Magazine, Dallas, November 7, 2014 [Wayne Lee Gay]

Miami
"A soloist in his own right, Bax brought to the performance a big tone, a smooth technique and a complete absence of deference to his better-known partner, fully holding up his end of the recital."
 – Miami Herald/South Florida Classical Review, November 2, 2014 [David Fleshler]

Santa Barbara, CA

"Joshua Bell clearly has an ideal recital partner in Italian pianist Alessio Bax, judging from Tuesday’s performance at the Granada Theatre. Balance and communication were the hallmarks of the evening, by two young masters (Bax is Bell’s junior by ten years) who display a no frills, no fuss, strait-laced stage presence. Bell strikes me as the Clark Kent of super-violinists — humble and mild-mannered even after the cape is donned and we are confronted with undeniable solidity and power. By power I don’t mean volume and exaggerated articulations; the moments that took my breath away exhibited a super-vigilant restraint. This recital was a feast for refinements and subtleties, and Bell and Bax excelled at listening to one another.”
– Santa Barbara Independent, November 1, 2014 [Joseph Miller]

Disney Hall, Los Angeles
“When one thinks of a "recital hall," generally a 2,200-seat venue does not come to mind. Yet within the first quiet moments of Schubert's Violin Sonata in A major, D. 574, Joshua Bell and pianist Alessio Bax somehow cast such a strong feeling of intimacy over their recital, it seemed to take place in a living room rather than the capacious Disney Hall on Sunday evening.
 … The Schubert flowed like water, with both performers sensitive to one another and well-balanced in their interplay....They captured the energy of the second movement, the changing moods of the third movement, everything so finely put together.”
– Violinist.com, October 28, 2014 [Laurie Niles]

Opening night of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
“What finer way to open the season at Chamber Music Society of Lincolb Center than with an all-Mozart programme featuring the excellent Italian pianist Alessio Bax, a quintet of stellar string players, and the silvery flute artistry of Carol Wincenc. … The pianist Alessio Bax and double-bassist Joseph Conyers then joined the ensemble for the Concerto No. 12 in A major for Piano and String Quintet, K. 414. Mr. Bax's cascading scalework in the opening Allegro had a wonderfully fresh clarity. Each of the concerto's three movements has a cadenza where the pianist was at his most luxuriantly communicative: marvelous delicacy in the second and vivid trills in the third (including a sustained trill which shifted from whole- to half-tone). The central Andante was movingly played by the finely-blended string ensemble, with the pianist drawing us in with his expressive mastery. Throughout the concerto, the honeyed resonance of Mr. Conyers' double bass maintained a superb grounding. At the end, as the audience burst into applause, Mr. Bax rose from the keyboard but his colleagues unexpectedly remained seated, giving him an impromptu solo bow which the audience loved.”
– Oberon’s Grove, October 15, 2014

PIANIST magazine cover story by Jessica Duchen – October 2014 
“Alessio Bax – on playing Beethoven, fine foods, and the joy of playing duets with his wife
http://www.scribd.com/doc/241365447/Pianist-Magazine-October-November-2014#scribd

Taneyev at the Mimir Chamber Music Festival

"[The Taneyev Piano Quintet in G minor] is unlikely to get a finer performance, though, than that by pianist Alessio Bax, violinists Jun Iwasaki and Curt Thompson, plus [Kirsten] Docter

and [Brant] Taylor. With assured technique, they poured heart and soul into the piece. Bax worked particular magic with the piano part, pouring out great surges of tone when appropriate, elsewhere laying down just the right undertow."
– Dallas Morning News, July 8, 2014 [Scott Cantrell]

Beethoven at Chicago’s North Shore Chamber Music Festival
"Meyers was joined by cellist Wendy Warner and pianist Alessio Bax for Beethoven’s Trio No. 4 in B flat, Op. 11. The lively performance had great freshness and an appealing give-and-take spontaneity. Bax’s light and playful keyboard work was especially fine, fully in synch with the vivacious spirit of this early work. ... The players brought vivid characterization to Beethoven’s far-flung variations with Bax fully in synch with Beethoven’s quirky humor."
– Chicago Classical Review, June 5, 2014 [Lawrence A. Johnson]

Music@Menlo solo recital
"Alessio Bax Tackles a Pianistic Challenge"
"Rarely do you hear a pianist play two monumental, exhausting works back-to-back in one concert. Alessio Bax proved he had the chops, youthful stamina, and artistic insight for it, as his Music@Menlo recital paired an exciting performance of Beethoven's 'Hammerklavier' Sonata, Op. 29, No. 6 with Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. Bax who is a familiar face at Music@Menlo carried the audience through the epic journey with a sharp and determined sense of pulse. From the triumphant opening, announcing the arrival, to the finger-busting counterpoints of the fugue in the last movement, there was a granite-like discipline that permeated throughout. It was not that the rhythm was robotic or mechanical at all. Rather, the presence of pulse was well defined, to give music a solid framework. Such rigor helped maintain cohesiveness of the lengthy Adagio movement, and the blazing depiction of the fugue in the last movement, with crystal clear thematic elements and contrasting counterpoints. The momentum helped carry the fugue to its explosive and victorious end. ... I look forward to his next visit at Music@Menlo, and I cannot wait to hear what his daring program will be."
– San Francisco Classical Voice, May 11, 2014 [Ken Iisaka]

"Bax provided stunning, even glorious, testimony to his digital and expressive gifts, almost comparable to the famous Sviatoslav Richter performance of ‘Pictures’ in Sofia, Bulgaria in 1958. Few keyboard artists thoroughly know and can nurture the specific sonority of their instrument, but Alessio Bax manages to transform the percussive power of his Steinway into a velvet-pawed lion which can purr like an Aeolian Harp. ... With the last, resounding chords, the Menlo audience well rose as one in ecstatic applause and cries of ‘Bravo!’ to elicit but one encore, Mussorgsky’s little Hopak from his opera Sorochinsky Fair, transcribed by Rachmaninov, as is only fitting that these two icons of Russian music should meet at this spectacularly memorable concert."
– Peninsula Reviews, May 12, 2014 [Dr. Gary Lemco]

Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s Beethoven Festival chamber music series

"The pianist for some of the concerts was the magnificent Alessio Bax, who is also affiliated with SMU.  Mostly, he appeared as a collaborative pianist for all the sonatas, a role in which he excels. But on May 3, he played Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 31, No. 1 in A major, Op. 110. This sonata is almost completely overshadowed by its companion, the so-called ‘Hammerklavier,’ but in many ways, it is just as innovative. Bax gave it a sensitive and insightful performance. He was quite sparing on his use of the sustaining pedal but really soaked it when he brought it into play. Likewise, his loud playing was all in Beethovian scale, even though he rose off the bench to use his full body weight at one point. The majestic fugal section in the last movement was played with great clarity and the entrance of the subject in octaves in the bottom of the instrument was an awe-inspiring sound. It was fascinating to hear him boldly step forward in this solo appearance and then return to the collaborator a moment later."
– TheaterJones, Dallas,May 15, 2014 [Gregory Sullivan Isaacs]

"Kerr, Olson, Bax brilliant in DSO chamber concert
"It’s fair to say that both violinists [Alexander Kerr and Nathan Olson] dazzled in Monday night’s opening concert, with pianist Alessio Bax. ... In works that Beethoven actually titled sonatas for piano with violin accompaniment neither violinist felt a need to compete with piano parts often more important. No less attentive to drama and expressivity, Bax supplied a full range of color and dynamics. Given the performers’ busy schedules, there hadn’t been a lot of rehearsal time, making the flawless coordination all the more impressive."
– Dallas Morning News, April 28, 2014 [Scott Cantrell]

 

Schubert with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
"Written for that short-lived and long-defunct instrument, this music [Schubert’s Sonata in A minor for cello and piano (Arpeggione), D. 821 (1824)] can sound like a transcription or a party-trick piece in lesser hands—a “look what I can do” moment rather than a foray into sublime music. Happily [Alessio] Bax and [Andreas] Brantelid gave this work their all and the performance was a treat to hear. The Allegro moderato was dispatched with ease and grace. The recurring theme gives this sonata-form movement the aspect of a rondo; Brantelid especially varied the colors and tone of the cello’s line, bringing a wealth of expression to this music. The Adagio was a study in soulful lyricism, and the solo cello bridge to the finale was beautifully phrased and paced. The concluding Allegretto opened in a quietly playful vein. When the writing turned virtuosic, the spirit of play remained. Bax and Brantelid deployed a wide range of dynamics which a smaller hall allows, with the piano passages quiet and subtle, the forte passages rich and full without being overpowering. This was profound, thoughtful, and utterly moving. While Rodda considers this “a friendly specimen of Biedermeier Hausmusik,” Brantelid and Bax imbued the friendly tunefulness with a profundity that elevated the performance to one worthy of the greatest of houses."
– Boston Musical Intelligencer, February 11, 2014 [Cashman Kerr Prince]

 

© 21C Media Group, January 25, 2015
For further information, contact Michael Lutz: mlutz@21cmediagroup.com; 917-691-1282