COMPLETE RCA ALBUM COLLECTION

Emanuel Ax has been classed among the master pianists ever since his victory at the inaugural Arthur Rubinstein Competition in 1974. His long association with RCA began the very next year, with a spellbinding disc of Chopin and Liszt transcriptions (“virtuosity of the Michelangeli or Pollini class here”, wrote Gramophone). Over the next 12 years he released 23 albums on the label, spanning much of the great piano literature, and the complete set of his RCA recordings is now reissued by Sony Classical for the first time.With a 19th-century focus, the collection contains five CDs of Ax’s famed Chopin, five more of Beethoven, several of Brahms, Schubert and Mozart, and many other classic recordings.Playing Chopin, wrote Gramophone, Emanuel Ax shows “all the relaxed fluency and tonal elegance of a master pianist”. His performances on that LP, containing the Andante spianato and Grande Polonaise brillante and Fourth Scherzo, were “of a superlative distinction”. Remarkably, Ax was only 26 when he recorded this album, in 1975.“Deeply felt and exuberant” (New York Times) performances of the Brahms cello sonatas mark his longstanding association with Yo-Yo Ma, while Ax accompanies baritone Håkan Hagegård in Schubert’s Schwanengesang andDie schöne Müllerin. “Emanuel Ax is a diligent and responsive Schubertian,” wrote BBC Music Magazine of a “Trout” Quintet recording with the Guarneri Quartet.Ax’s “deeply insightful” (New York Times) interpretations of Beethoven’s “Appassionata” and “Les Adieux” sonatas are joined here by the “Waldstein” Sonata and “Eroica” Variations, as well as a complete set of concertos with André Previn and the RPO, and a Choral Fantasy with the New York Philharmonic. “Ax is a first-rate Beethoven player,” wrote Gramophone of his “Emperor” Concerto.Elsewhere, Ax’s virtuosity takes centre stage in a Ravel album including Gaspard de la nuit, while his commitment to chamber music is shown in Schumann, Dvořák and Brahms Piano Quintets with the Cleveland String Quartet, and a Weber and Schubert album with clarinettist Richard Stoltzman. Many fine concerto performances include four by Mozart, Brahms’s First with the Chicago Symphony, and both of Chopin’s concertos with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Eugene Ormandy.Of course, there are more of Ax’s legendary Chopin recordings as well, including the Second and Third Sonatas and the four Ballades. The Ballades, Gramophone wrote, are “a reminder of the awe-inspiring calibre of Emanuel Ax’s Chopin”.SET CONTENTSDISC 1Chopin: Piano Sonata No. 3, Op. 58Schubert-Liszt: Das Wandern   Schubert-Liszt: Der Müller und der Bach   Schubert-Liszt: Liebesbotschaft   Schubert-Liszt: Hark, Hark, the Lark   Liszt: Gnomenreigen   Liszt: Etude in A Minor after Paganini   DISC 2Chopin: Grande Polonaise brillante précédée d'un Andante spianato for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 22Chopin: Nocturne in B Major, Op. 62, No. 1   Chopin: Scherzo No. 4 in E Major, Op. 54 (1975 Recording)   Chopin: Polonaise-Fantaisie in A-Flat Major, Op. 61   DISC 3Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 21 in C Major, Op. 53 "Waldstein"   Beethoven: Variations and Fugue for Piano in E-flat Major, Op. 35 "Eroica Variations"   DISC 4Dvorák: Piano Quintet in A Major, Op. 81   Emanuel Ax, piano Cleveland QuartetDISC 5Ravel: Gaspard de la Nuit, M. 55   Ravel: Valses nobles et sentimentales, M. 61   Ravel: Ma mère l'oye (Piano four hands)   Emanuel Ax, piano · Yoko Nozaki, pianoDISC 6Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Minor   Emanuel Ax, piano The Philadelphia Orchestra Eugene Ormandy conductorChopin: Trois Nouvelles Études   Chopin: Scherzo No. 2 in B-Flat Minor, Op. 31   DISC 7Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 20, KV 466   Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 22 in E-Flat, K.482Emanuel Ax, piano Dallas Symphony Orchestra Eduardo Mata, conductorDISC 8 Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 23 in F Minor, Op. 57 "Appassionata"   Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 26 in E-Flat Major, Op. 81a "Les Adieux"   Beethoven: Polonaise in C, Op. 89   DISC 9Chopin: Piano Concerto No.1 in E MinorEmanuel Ax, piano The Philadelphia Orchestra Eugene Ormandy, conductorDISC 10Schumann: Humoreske, Op. 20   Schumann: Fantasiestücke, Op. 12   DISC 11Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 17 in G, K.543   Mozart: Piano concerto No. 18 in B-Flat, K.456Emanuel Ax piano The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra Pinchas Zukerman conductorDISC 12Weber: Grand Duo Concertant for Piano and Clarinet in E-Flat Major, J.204, Op. 48   Schubert: Sonata for Arpeggione and Piano in A Minor, D. 821   Emanuel Ax piano Richard Stoltzman clarinetDISC 13Brahms: Piano Quintet in F Minor, Op. 34   Emanuel Ax piano Cleveland QuartetDISC 14Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 15Emanuel Ax piano Chicago Symphony Orchestra James Levine conductorDISC 15Schubert: Quintet in A, D.667 "Trout"Mozart: Serenade in G Major, K. 525 "Eine kleine Nachtmusik"Emanuel Ax piano Guarneri QuartetDISC 16Schubert: Schwanengesang, D. 957   Håkan Hagegård baritone Emanuel Ax pianoDISC 17Brahms: Sonata for Cello and Piano No. 1, Op. 38 in E MinorBrahms: Sonata for Cello and Piano No. 2, Op. 99 in FEmanuel Ax piano Yo-Yo Ma celloDISC 18Chopin: Ballades   Chopin: Piano Sonata No. 2, Op. 35   DISC 19Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5, Opus 73 "Emperor" in E-Flat MajorBeethoven: Choral Fantasia in C Minor, Op. 80   Emanuel Ax pianoNew York Choral ArtistsJoseph Flummerfelt chorus masterNew York PhilharmonicZubin Mehta conductorDISC 20Beethoven: Piano Concerto No 1, Op. 15 in C MajorBeethoven: Piano Concerto No 2, Op. 19 in B Flat MajorEmanuel Ax piano Royal Philharmonic Orchestra André Previn conductorDISC 21Beethoven: Piano Concerto No 3, Op. 37 in C MinorBeethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major, Op 58Emanuel Ax pianoRoyal Philharmonic OrchestraAndré Previn conductorDISC 22Schumann: Piano Quartet in E-Flat, Op. 47   Schumann: Piano Quintet in E-Flat, Op. 44   Emanuel Ax piano Cleveland QuartetDISC 23Schubert: Die Schöne Müllerin, Op. 25, D. 795  Håkan Hagegård baritoneEmanuel Ax piano