[ Sony Classics / 23 CD Box Set ]
Release Date: Monday 20 August 2018
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 Ax's famed Chopin ("all the relaxed fluency and tonal elegance of a master pianist" " - Gramophone), Beethoven ("Ax is a first-rate Beethoven player" - Gramophone), Brahms ("Deeply felt and exuberant" - New York Times), Schubert ("a diligent and responsive Schubertian" - BBC Music Magazine) and many other classic recordings. 6 LPs appear for the first time on CD in this edition, remastered from the original analog masters using 24 bit / 192 kHz technology. The set comes with facsimiles LP-sleeves and -labels plus booklet with full discographical notes.