Pianist, clarinetist perform in Union Theater season finale

Virtuosi Emanuel Ax, piano, and Richard Stoltzman, clarinet, will close the Wisconsin Union Theater’s 83rd Concert Series season with a performance of pieces by Schumann, Brahms, and contemporary composers William Thomas McKinley and Yehudi Wyner. This season’s grand finale is at 8 p.m., Thursday, April 10.

Renowned for his poetic temperament, virtuosity and the exceptional breadth of his performing activity, Ax is a long-time favorite of Madison audiences. He won the first Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition at age 25, as well as numerous other international competitions and awards since then. Having performed at the Union Theater more than a half-dozen times, Ax has consistently been received with accolades, enthusiasm and affection.

Says the Los Angeles Times, “Even the coughing stopped during Emanuel Ax’s transcendent performance…a quality of attention rare in any concert at any time seemed to take over the audience…and that mood of deep listening prevailed throughout…this kind of rapport marked every part of this extraordinary performance.”

Performing with Ax is clarinetist Stoltzman, who the Washington Post describes as “an artist of indescribable genius,” the Boston Globe terms “the world’s most phenomenal clarinetist” and the San Francisco Chronicle claims is “a national treasure and should be so declared.”

A three-time Grammy Award winner, Stoltzman appears with the world’s major orchestras and has recorded more than 50 albums. A unique performer and another Union Theater audience favorite, he is renowned for his playful stage presence as well as a singular tone. Critic Mary Kunz of the Buffalo News marvels at his ability to produce a “warm, burnished sound, like antique wood” as well as metallic and vibrato sounds. “His technique is tremendous,” she says, “…some listeners jumped up when he finished.”

Known also as a superb, Cordon Bleu-trained pastry chef, Stoltzman’s ability to affect an audience was discovered at a young age. When in elementary school, he played a tune to the PTA meeting. “Afterwards,” he told the Orlando Sentinel, “I ran into a lady who was standing out in the hallway, and she had tears in her eyes. She said how much the music had moved her. I was kind of shocked…but it came to me years later than this showed the power of music. If you play these dots on a page with certain truthfulness and honesty, music can have unknown effects on people. I have tried to hold onto that.”

The concert is sponsored by the Wisconsin Union Directorate with additional support from WERN, 88.7 FM. Tickets are $30 for the general public, $28 for Union members (or seven or more vouchers at $27 each), $14 for UW–Madison students (or five or more vouchers for $10 each). For more information, call the box office at (608) 262-2201.