Italian Inspirations Alessio Bax

• Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750): Concerto in D Minor after Alessando Marcello, BWV 974:
• 1 Concerto in D Minor after Alessando Marcello, BWV 974: I. Andante Spiccato 02:27
• 2 Concerto in D Minor after Alessando Marcello, BWV 974: II. Adagio 03:34
• 3 Concerto in D Minor after Alessando Marcello, BWV 974: III. Presto 03:49
• Sergei Rachmaninov (1873 - 1943):
• 4 Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42: Theme 00:54
• 5 Variation I 00:44
• 6 Variation II 00:35
• 7 Variation III 00:32
• 8 Variations IV & V 01:13
• 9 Variation VI 00:19
• 10 Variation VII 00:23
• 11 Variation VIII 00:58
• 12 Variation IX 00:55
• 13 Variation X 00:32
• 14 Variation XI 00:22
• 15 Variation XII 00:35
• 16 Variation XIII 00:28
• 17 Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42: Intermezzo 01:13
• 18 Variation XIV 01:00
• 19 Variation XV 01:30
• 20 Variation XVI 00:31
• 21 Variation XVII 00:53
• 22 Variation XVIII 00:30
• 23 Variation XIX 00:23
• 24 Variation XX 00:50
• 25 Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42: Coda 01:44
• Luigi Dallapiccola (1904 - 1975): Quaderno musicale di Annalibera:
• 26 Quaderno musicale di Annalibera: I. Simbolo 02:36
• 27 Quaderno musicale di Annalibera: II. Accenti 00:30
• 28 Quaderno musicale di Annalibera: III. Contrapunctus primus 01:08
• 29 Quaderno musicale di Annalibera: IV. Linee 00:47
• 30 Quaderno musicale di Annalibera: V. Contrapunctus secondus 00:19
• 31 Quaderno musicale di Annalibera: VI. Fregi 01:23
• 32 Quaderno musicale di Annalibera: VII. Andantino amoroso e contrapunctus tertius 01:22
• 33 Quaderno musicale di Annalibera: VIII. Ritmi 01:10
• 34 Quaderno musicale di Annalibera: IX. Colore 01:11
• 35 Quaderno musicale di Annalibera: X. Ombre 01:47
• 36 Quaderno musicale di Annalibera: XI. Quartina 01:34
• Franz Liszt (1811 - 1886):
• 37 Deux Légendes, S. 175: I. St. François d'Assise - La prédication aux oiseaux 08:50
• 38 Années de pèlerinage II, S. 161: VII. Après une lecture du Dante - Fantasia quasi sonata 14:59
• Total Runtime 01:04:30

Info for Italian Inspirations

“Clearly among the most remarkable young pianists now before the public” (Gramophone), Alessio Bax releases Italian Inspirations, his eleventh recording for Signum Classics. A native of Bari, Italy, Bax expands his critically acclaimed discography with a creatively curated solo recital program themed to his homeland, combining J.S. Bach’s arrangement of an Alessandro Marcello oboe concerto, Rachmaninov’s Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Liszt’s Italian-inspired St. François d’Assise: La prédication aux oiseaux and Après une Lecture du Dante: Fantasia quasi Sonata, and Dallapiccola’s Quaderno musicale di Annalibera, a playful yet tender twelve-tone composition dedicated to the composer’s eight-year-old daughter, modeled after the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach.

“As an Italian pianist, I have to be very creative when trying to come up with an Italian program. There is almost a total dearth of Romantic piano music, most likely because of the prominence of opera during that period. It’s as if Italian composers only became seriously interested in the piano in the 20th century! “However, Italy has always had great music, and the starting point is that each of these pieces relates to Italy somehow. But what is really explored in depth are the much more subtle and meaningful similarities between the pieces. The most recent composer, Dallapiccola, was inspired by Bach, at the other chronological extreme of the program. The Liszt St. Francis and Dallapiccola have strange similarities in subtle gestures and even silences. There are Baroque connections between the Marcello and Rachmaninov, which also share a tonality. The Rachmaninov – his last work for solo piano, and one which I have lived with on and off and loved deeply for over 25 years – and the Dallapiccola are both very eloquent, introspective and personal sets of variations. The Dallapiccola, which is a rare jewel on its own, functions as a kind of “filter” for the rest of the program. Finally, the Dante sonata sums up all that is essential for humankind, the breadth of emotions, life experiences and reflection that are in all of us and in every work on this program.” (Alessio Bax)

Alessio Bax, piano

Alessio Bax
is praised for creating “a ravishing listening experience” with his lyrical playing, insightful interpretations, and dazzling facility. “His playing quivers with an almost hypnotic intensity,” says Gramophone magazine, leading to “an out-of-body experience” (Dallas Morning News). First Prize winner at the Leeds and Hamamatsu international piano competitions – and a 2009 Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient – he has appeared as soloist with over 100 orchestras, including the London and Royal Philharmonic orchestras, the Dallas and Houston symphonies, the NHK Symphony in Japan, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic with Yuri Temirkanov, and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra with Sir Simon Rattle.

During the 2013-14 season, Bax returns to the Dallas Symphony under Jaap van Zweden at Bravo! Vail and in Dallas, and to the UK’s Southbank Sinfonia, with whom he recorded a pair of Mozart piano concertos. He also appears with conductor Hannu Lintu in Finland, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra under Hans Graf, the Berkeley Symphony, the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra, and as concerto soloist at the Grant Park Music Festival in Chicago. He tours South America with violinist Joshua Bell, and returns to Lincoln Center for Chamber Music Society concerts, a Great Performers duo recital with pianist Lucille Chung, and a solo recital in a new Chamber Music Society series – in addition to solo recitals in Dallas and Tokyo. Bax and Chung also perform together in Washington, DC and in Hong Kong, Toronto, and on tour in Canada.

Among the highlights of Bax’s recent seasons were appearances with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic under Temirkanov, the Dallas Symphony under van Zweden, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in the UK; there were debuts at Washington’s Kennedy Center, New York’s Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the 92nd Street Y, plus performances with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. During the summer of 2013, Bax participated in nine different festivals, with return appearances in the Bravo! Vail, Bridgehampton, Lexington, and Bard music festivals, and his first residency with Bay Chamber Concerts in Maine as recipient of the 2013 Andrew Wolf Chamber Music Award. In 2013 Bax also received Lincoln Center’s Martin E. Segal Award, which recognizes young artists of exceptional accomplishment.

Fall marks the release of a duo disc with Lucille Chung, presenting Stravinsky’s original four-hand version of the ballet Petrouchka as well as music by Brahms and Piazzolla. His celebrated discography for Signum Classics includes Alessio Bax plays Mozart(Piano Concertos K. 491 and K. 595), Alessio Bax plays Brahms (Gramophone “Critic’s Choice”), Rachmaninov: Preludes and Melodies (American Record Guide “Critics’ Choice 2011”), and Bach Transcribed; and for Warner Classics, Baroque Reflections(Gramophone “Editor’s Choice”). He performed Beethoven’s “Hammerklavier” Sonata for maestro Daniel Barenboim in the PBS-TV documentary Barenboim on Beethoven: Masterclass, available as a DVD box set on the EMI label. His performances have been broadcast live on the BBC (UK); CBC (Canada); RAI (Italy); RTVE (Spain); NHK (Japan); WDR, NDR, and Bayerischer Rundfunk (Germany); American Public Media’s “Performance Today”; WQXR (New York); WGBH (Boston); WETA (Washington, DC); and Sirius-XM satellite radio, among many others.

Hailed by International Piano as “a pianist of refreshing depth,” Bax’s extensiveconcerto repertoire has led to performances with such esteemed conductors as Marin Alsop, Sergiu Commisiona, Vernon Handley, Pietari Inkinen, Jonathan Nott, Vasily Petrenko, Sir Simon Rattle, Yuri Temirkanov, and Jaap van Zweden. His international festival appearances include London’s International Piano Series (Queen Elizabeth Hall); the Verbier Festival in Switzerland; England’s Aldeburgh and Bath festivals; and the Ruhr Klavier-Festival, Beethovenfest Bonn, and Schloss Elmau in Germany. He has also appeared multiple times at such U.S. festivals as Bravo! Vail, Bard Music Festival, and Music@Menlo, and has given recitals in major music halls around the world, including Rome, Milan, Madrid, Mexico City, Paris, London, Tel Aviv, Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong, New York, and Washington, DC. An active chamber musician, Bax has collaborated with Emanuel Ax, Joshua Bell, Sol Gabetta, Steven Isserlis, and Jörg Widmann, among others.

Alessio Bax graduated with top honors at the record age of 14 from the conservatory of his hometown in Bari, Italy, where he studied with Angela Montemurro. He studied in France with François-Joël Thiollier and attended the Chigiana Academy in Siena under Joaquín Achúcarro. In 1994 he moved to Dallas to continue his studies with Achúcarro at SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts, and he is now on the teaching faculty there. He and his wife, pianist Lucille Chung, reside in New York City. Alessio Bax is a Steinway artist.

Booklet for Italian Inspirations