Emanuel Ax is a pianist whose British appearances aren’t frequent enough for his many devoted followers, so this recital under the auspices of the Chipping Campden festival – out-of-season, slightly off-piste, but on the case – was a treat. Ax may seem like a slightly old-style performer by comparison with the plethora of younger generation virtuosos but, in this all-Beethoven programme, the integrity of his interpretation and the depth of his tone spoke volumes.
He opened with the Pathétique Sonata Op 13 in C minor, and what was immediately gripping was the drama invested the Grave introduction, which here and in its various returns carried an element of the fantasia in the manner of CPE Bach and Mozart’s Fantasia, K 475, apparently retrospective in style but hinting already at Beethoven’s crossing of the threshold into Romanticism. Ax had drawn his listeners in and held us there, now equally mesmerised by the fleet fingerwork.
In the G major Sonata, Op 31 No 1, it was the sense of Ax and Beethoven plainly having great fun with the syncopated rhythm that emerged strongly, finding the logical balance between emphasising its quirkiness and maintaining an elegant flow. Ax’s instinct too for lingering sufficiently to make the melodies sing while still driving everything forward brought poise to a work that can sometimes sounds plain awkward.
Interwoven between the sonatas were less familiar works: the Variations in F, Op 34, and the Polonaise in C, Op 89, the latter a little-played gem. Yet it was in the final Appassionata Sonata, Op 57 in F minor, with its combination of brooding passion and powerful resonance that Ax came into his own. This was a masterclass in the infinite graduation of dynamics, the finest pianism and, overall, a grandeur to rival the symphonies.
