Vladimir Ashkenazy has retired from public performance with immediate effect.
Vladimir Ashkenazy retires
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Ashkenazy went on tour with the newly formed Scottish Chamber Orchestra at the beginning of his conducting career when he was comparatively inexperienced, combining a piano concerto in the first half with a Schubert or Mendelssohn symphony in the second half. A friend related an experience where, due to a mix up, there was no grand piano in the small town in Canada where their tour took them so an upright had to do! The programme was a Mozart Concerto, directed from the keyboard. The orchestra almost got a fit of the giggles when during the tutti passages these discombobulated hands would appear over the upright giving cues to the winds and brass!
Afterwards, Ashkenazy related that he often played on good, bad and TERRIBLE pianos in the USSR as a young musician. He'd played the Brahms second Concerto on an upright with a colleague playing the Orchestral part on another upright! The SCO rated Ashkenazy EXTREMELY highly as did all the Orchestras he played with.
A truly great and humble musician.
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Originally posted by Petrushka View PostVladimir Ashkenazy has retired from public performance with immediate effect.
https://www.harrisonparrott.com/news...kenazy-retires
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I was privileged to be seated on stage and close to the piano at his UK debut for Mill Hill Music Club in 1963. He played the four Chopin Ballades and two sonatas from Beethoven's Op. 31. I thought his playing terrific, though at the same time I realised that I would never be able to play one millionth as well as that!
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Originally posted by richardfinegold View PostI wonder if he has a major Health Issue. This seems very abrupt for a workaholic like him
I first saw Ashkenazy with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic in the Victoria Hall, Hanley in 1977 (Mozart PC 17 & Rachmaninov Symphony No 2), when, as PG says he was inexperienced and learning the ropes in out of the way places. I saw him again while I happened to be in Berlin at the Philharmonie in 1990 and met him after the concert."The sound is the handwriting of the conductor" - Bernard Haitink
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He is 10 years my senior and as pianist and conductor always been there - maybe at 82, for whatever reason he maybe feels he can’t do it anymore -sad, but I hope his remaining years will be stress-free. I can’t really find the right words, but so many conductors and soloists that have been mainstays of my recorded music collection are now, either inactive or no longer with us.
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I saw him conduct Dvorak 9 late last year, and he looked well, and gave his usual joyous performance.
I love seeing him conduct, always a life affirming experience, but OTOH more opportunity for younger musicians must be a good thing.I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own.
I am not a number, I am a free man.
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Originally posted by BBMmk2 View PostI rather like his Rachmaninov piano music. His orchestral interpretations however, seem inconsistent imo.
I shall greatly miss never being able to see him in concert again, and, like others, I hope that his decision hasn't been spurred by health issues, and that he has a very long and very enjoyable retirement, during which the temptation to return to the platform occasionally will prove irresistible.[FONT=Comic Sans MS][I][B]Numquam Satis![/B][/I][/FONT]
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Originally posted by teamsaint View PostI saw him conduct Dvorak 9 late last year, and he looked well, and gave his usual joyous performance.
I love seeing him conduct, always a life affirming experience, but OTOH more opportunity for younger musicians must be a good thing.
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Originally posted by Pianoman View PostI read on another forum that he has issues with severe arthritis...
[FONT=Comic Sans MS][I][B]Numquam Satis![/B][/I][/FONT]
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