I have for your enjoyment today three master classes:
Emanuel Ax, On Beethoven: Emanuel Ax is one of the most eminent and popular of pianists in the United States. He lives in New York and performs frequently with The New York Philharmonic and most of the major orchestras and conductors and as a soloist has given recitals all over the world. He also plays chamber music and has created an important partnership with Yo Yo Ma. In recent years, He has turned his attention toward the music of 20th-century composers and has commissioned new works from composers John Adams, Peter Lieberson and Osvaldo Golijov. In this all-Beethoven master class he works with students on two piano sonatas and the 32 Variations in C minor.
Stephen Hough is also a dedicated and much sought-after teacher. He is a visiting professor at the Royal Academy of Music in London and holds the International Chair of Piano Studies at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. In this master class he works with students on two of Liszt’s virtuoso pieces for solo piano, The Spanish Rhapsody and The Hungarian Rhapsody No. 12 Student: Qian Wu
Finally, Stephen Isserlis, one of the world’s outstanding cellists, is a musician known for his strong ideas and passionate convictions about music. A champion of the works of Schumann, he also gets satisfaction in discovering and introducing into the repertoire works by lesser known composers which he considers deserve a wider audience. As well as giving concerts and recitals throughout the world, he is much sought after as a teacher.
He is Artistic Director of the International Musicians’ Seminar at Prussia Cove in Cornwall UK, the world-renowned residential workshop for talented young musicians, started by Hilary Behrens and the legendary Sandor Vegh.
In this master class, he works on the Robert Schumann’s Fantasiestücke, a group of three “Fantasy Pieces” originally written for clarinet and piano but later arranged for cello and piano by Schumann himself.
