An Evening with Emanuel Ax

In this program, the Charleston Symphony will perform two pieces that were written by Johannes Brahms 25 years apart: Symphony No. 3, written at age 50, and Piano Concerto No.1, composed in 1858 at just 25 years old.

Brahms was himself a virtuoso on the piano, and his pieces for the instrument, such as his First Piano Concerto, are known to reflect his superb skill. Not to be missed on this performance is one of the world’s greatest living pianists, Emanuel Ax, who returns to perform with the CSO for the first time since 2011.

Brahms’s significant talent for orchestration is demonstrated in the complex and expressive Third Symphony. The work traverses and celebrates the delicacy of quietness balanced with energetic intensity. Much-admired conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto, the music director of the North Carolina Symphony, will debut with the CSO at this concert. Prieto was described by The Times (London) as “a dynamic presence on the podium” in 2023.

MORE ON THE MUSIC & ARTISTS:

• You can listen to a recording of Emanuel Ax performing Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on CD or your favorite streaming service HERE. 
• Among his many accomplishments and accolades, Ax is a Grammy-winning artist, known for his collaborations with cellist Yo-Yo Ma and violinist Isaac Stern. He also contributed to an International Emmy Award-winning BBC documentary commemorating the Holocaust.
• “Prieto was a dynamic presence on the podium, conducting with vigor and tremendous enthusiasm.” —The Times, London, August 2023, of the conductor’s BBC Proms performance.
• In 2023, Prieto made his hugely successful BBC Proms debut at Royal Albert Hall and, in 2024, at the Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Musical America recognized him as the 2019 Conductor of the Year.
• “I say without exaggerating that this work surpasses his first two symphonies; if not, perhaps, in grandeur and powerful conception—then certainly in—beauty,” Antonín Dvořák said of Brahms’s Third Symphony.

PROGRAM

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Symphony No. 3 in F Major, Op. 90

INTERMISSION

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 15

ARTISTS

Carlos Miguel Prieto, Conductor
Emanuel Ax, Piano