Ashkenazy, 85 today
OrchestrasWarmest birthday greetings to a unique conductor and pianist, now retired in Switzerland.
His favourite joke?
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All the best for this great maestro. If the people from Decca read me . It would be great and it’s their duty to reedit in 180g his Prokofiev concertos box with Previn; like they did for the Rachmaninov ones few years ago.
I often return to some of his recordings conducting the Cleveland Orchestra. In particular, the 5 Beethoven piano concertos (at the keyboard), Strauss’ Aus Italian (plus Don Juan) and Also Sprach and Brahms’ 1st and 4th symphonies.
Long may he continue!
This item sent me to my archives, and there it is: a programme from 1972, autographed to a teenage stage-door habitué by Vladimir Ashkenazy and Itzhak Perlman.
They played the Franck sonata and, even had Decca not recorded it, that performance remains in my memory.
He is, in many ways, the pianist of my lifetime.
All best wishes for a joyous birthday, and many more years!
The Franck Sonata that Perlman and Ashkenazy recorded for Decca is still my preferred way to hear the piece, ranking in my mind with the 78s from Francescatti/ Casadesus, which I prefer to Thibaud/Cortot.
Ditto for the Brahms Horn Trio with Tuckwell that filled out the LP. Also not to be missed are the Prokofiev Sonatas that Perlman and Ashkenazy recorded for RCA Victor.
It is not given to every fine musician to set the standards for such heavily performed and recorded repertoire.
I turned pages for Ashkenazy when he performed the Franck Sonata with Perlman in Iceland in 1970. Quite the experience for a young musician.
I love his Rachmaninov and Chopin recordings especially, but he is a great all-round musician. Happy birthday and a long and happy retirement.
For me, he’s a far better pianist than a conductor, though even there he has had his moments. His approach on the podium is sometimes much too generalised and bland, seemingly without any interpretive point. Like a traffic conductor at a junction, he manages the entrances and dynamics of flow efficiently. A dull Beethoven 9, a pointless Brahms can’t remember which one (that says it all). Much though I admire his pianism, I cannot help feeling that (a) I wasted a good few hours listening to his conducting efforts, and (b) he was at least partially responsible for giving other instrumentalists the impression they could follow his path to the podium. What is wrong with being a specialist? Let instrumentalists play, let conductors conduct and never the twain shall meet.
That said, he’s a very affable chap, always ready with a cheery hello and bon mot when I have met him – sometimes even at his own expense – for that I admire him
Listen to his incredible early Decca Sibelius symphonies with the Philharmonia (80s).
They don’t get any better today – especially for the same label.
Yes, those remain one of his high points on the podium, I have long enjoyed them and often return to them. They hold their own in the company of Berglund’s three cycles, Segerstam, Rattle, etc.
Couldn’t agree more.
Unique pianist,yes.Unique conductor?…nah…
Such a wonderful musician and a beautiful pianist. The fact is, he is a very fine human being, gracious and gifted with humor and a generous spirit. I had a brief, pleasant encounter with him in an elevator in NYC in the late 1970s. My sister and I carried two large bouquets of daffodils to be left in his hotel room. Management told us that he was delighted and surprised. It was winter and daffodils have a deep meaning to Russians emerging from winter into early spring.
The fact is that he juggled family life and led an exemplary pattern of behavior amongst some others of his musical generation who led shall we say, a more problematic pattern. Happy Birthday!
Ah, that was enchanting as it was to see a small child lingering by the piano. Many years more, of music and good health, Maestro.
Mr. Vladimir Ashenazy retired abruptly on January 19, 2020, just before COVID devastated the world. I often wondered if he knew what was to come. I hope the maestro is well and enjoying his 85th birthday.
I knew his name long ago, but it wasn’t until I became a fan of Japanese pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii (aka Nobu) that I saw Mr. Ashkenazy in performance (as a conductor) many times. I am not knowledgeable enough to comment on his musicianship, but I reckon him as an all-time pianist great.
I am especially touched by the maestro’s appreciation for Nobu. It was Ashkenazy who challenged Nobu (born blind) to the impossible feat of performing Prokofiev’s piano concerto no. 3 (in the U.K. in 2012). In 2016, when Ashkenazy invited Nobu to debut in the Sydney Opera House, the maestro personally selected the grand piano for their performance of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3.
Mo. Ashkenazy has a special place in the hearts of many music lovers in Japan, and all over the world.
This man “gave me” the war sonatas of Prokofiev when I was a teenager. At seventy myself, it is a gift I will treasure always. Happy birthday!
Contrarian view: A pianist myself, I just never responded to him. Find him pedestrian and predictable. But for me (also trained in conducting) he does something special at the podium, especially in his later years and especially with the “nonstandard” repertoire. His Walton 1st from about 20 years ago is perhaps the finest ever — a piece exceedingly hard to pull off, especially in the final few minutes of the first movement, where he gets incredible power and rhythmic intensity out of the band. I think it was nearly the same year he did a Borodin CD with the Second sounding like it never has, for me — confining Ansermet to the has-been pile. Again, it’s just the sheer power and precision of it all. Probably not a surprise to some that my liking this sound corresponds with my education — final teaching being a pupil of Karajan’s. It’s the sound I hear in my mind….and in his too, apparently. At times, when the lightning strikes.
Interesting comment.
So many of his recordings remain reference versions, what an amazing musician. Actually, he just released some Bach suites quite recently, maybe he can find his way back into the studio to do more!
One the best pianists of our time, definitely not a good conductor, one of the nicest persons I have ever met. Happy birthday!
A really, really great pianist!! His return to Moscow Tchaikovsky 4 concert had me glued to the TV as a kid. And for his love of John Smedley knitwear, from Derbyshire.
Happiest birthday to my favorite pianist! Ashkenazy has an expressive style that, to me, is perfect. Expressive and natural phrasing, rubato is perfect – not too much (he doesn’t need to overdo it like some), especially playing Chopin! I could go on for days but I’m sure everyone reading this understands.
A complete artist, at home in any style, even I was not always convinced by decca sound engineers to capture his sound on piano. A lot of comments are not fair with his conducing skills. Of course, he never took radical approaches in the works he conducted , but his collaboration with a radiant Cleveland orchestra (thank you maestro Dohnanyi…) beautifully recorded by decca are a treat,the Strauss and Brahms cycle in particular . He conducted the RPO a lot, unfortunately an orchestra not at his best at the time.
I wish him a happy birthday and thank him for the long hours of happiness he brought to my ears and to the world.
I can’t think of a single recording by Ashkenazy either as pianist or conductor that makes me say “YES! This is the one.” But I also can’t think of a single recording of him as pianist or conductor that I don’t enjoy a great deal. I retain a soft spot for his Sibelius symphonies which (in some cases) were my first intro to these pieces.
A pity he jumped into conducting.
Many have left music to become a conductor.
He could maybe have done more chamber… but at some point he needed new horizons. I don’t think it ever was for ego, like it was for Barenboim…..
Sure you aren’t confusing him with Barenboim? I am happy that many still know his excellent Sibelius, but his Shostakovich should also be remembered as among the best, at least that I have heard. I imagine that he naturally identifies well with that composer, and it comes through. As for not sticking only with piano, how many times do you need to return to the same works before you want to venture into new realms? On piano, he sure didn’t miss much.
Great pianist. Not a natural comedian I fear! Happy birthday!
Happy Birthday, Maestro. A genius at the keyboard and one of the nicest and most humble musicians I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting.
I saw him in 1985 in Seattle, playing a sold-out recital in the old Opera House. Big-time event for our humble town.
Then in 1999 conducting the Czech Philharmonic in Prague. Pekka Kuusisto played the Tanayev Concert Suite and he conducted Rosenkavalier Suite and I don’t remember what else.
Great music making both times.
Yes everyone forgot he was music director of Czech Phil
A good collaboration documented mostly by canyon classic Japan. But I think it went apart I wish I knew why….
To me also- his prodigious pianistic abilities are more interesting than his conducting which can be a little uneven- although exemplary in the Russian/Nordic repertoire. But what a great musician & human being who has given so much inspiration to the world.
Happy Birthday, Mr. Ashkenazy!
Great LVB sonatas with Perlman, at their prime.
Many Happy Returns!!