He has said things like this forever, sought to share the spotlight or point it wholly elsewhere. And his modesty, which he wraps in a jesting smile and a famous bonhomie, is at the heart of his pianism and personality alike. “So in the very, very best sense of the word, he kind of eradicates himself out of the picture.”Might that mean, though, that Ax is taken for granted? How many have had his ability, not unlike that of his late associate Bernard Haitink, to make music sound so simply right? As Ma put it, “He doesn’t go around saying, ‘And I did this.’” In fact, Ma recalled, when Ax told him that this article was happening, he said, “I don’t know why they’re doing this.”

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Persons: That’s Manny, ”, Pekka Salonen, Anders Hillborg, “, eradicates, Ax, Bernard Haitink, Ma Organizations: San Francisco Symphony