What Emanuel Ax Can’t Live Without

My wife and I are big fans of Chinese food, and Sichuan cold noodles are my favorite dish. When we were attending Juilliard, which is where we met, there was an Empire Szechuan restaurant every two blocks in Manhattan and we used to go there all the time to eat these noodles. We still eat out in Chinatown or sometimes Queens, but I also make the noodles at home usingShorty Tang’s recipe. I use this chile crisp that my wife buys at the Upper West Side H-Mart.

Yuja Wang and myself are like the alpha and omega of concert pianists when it comes to clothing. She’s worn designs from every famous designer, and I wear the same thing at every performance. I bought this black suit at Brooks Brothers in 1991, and it’s the same suit I’ve been wearing ever since. I bought it right off the rack and only had the sleeves shortened and the pants cuffed. I only wear it for concerts, change out of it right away, and dry-clean it as needed. I’ve had to have the lining redone once, but other than that, no repairs have been needed. Maybe it’s made of chain mail! I’m afraid to change anything now because it’s become a good-luck thing. People might say, “Well, how wonderful it is that you can still fit into the same suit so many years later.” Sadly, that is only because I’ve always been fat.

I have to confess that I really like Kit Kats. I know I’m not supposed to have them — according to my mirror and scale, not my doctor — but I love the combination of chocolate and wafer. The crispy inside is hard to resist, even though I am trying. I also like theGerman Ritter Sport Waffelfor the same reason, but that can be hard to find here.

There are many musical performances that I admire, but if I had to pick one, it would be Verdi’sAida— specifically the recording featuring Leontyne Price and the great Canadian tenor John Vickers. This is a story of an Ethiopian princess who becomes a slave in Egypt, and she sings about never being able to return to her native land. Price is completely identified with the role in her performance, in both a musical and dramatic sense. I listen to it periodically, and when I close my eyes, I see her performance from when I saw her live as a kid. Every once in a while, if I’m feeling vulnerable, I will even get teary. I don’t actually conduct, but my dream would be to conduct this opera. I just deeply love the music.

I only use headphones while on the airplane, but I fly a lot. I use Bose headphones but not the latest ones. They’re quite old but really wonderful. I just can’t take the constant engine noise. It drives me crazy. So I leave them on for the entire flight, even when I’m not listening to anything or watching a video.

[Editor’s note: Ax’s headphones have been discontinued, so we’ve linked to the latest version.]

I’m not the most hi-fi guy in the world. I am listening more for performance, the way the artist shapes the music — similar to how an actor delivers lines — more than the sound quality. There are so many wonderful artists, and they all have their own way of shaping the drama of a piece to make it more surprising or peaceful, ethereal or hysterical. And I can hear that through an iPad speaker. It’s probably better on a nine-foot-tall hi-fi system, but I don’t need it. Some people are so focused on the quality of the sound, arguing over CD versus vinyl or tape and so forth, but I am not sensitive to that aspect of listening to music.

If I’m listening with others, I use this little Bose gadget. You feed it whatever you want in terms of downloads and so forth from the iPhone and it sounds wonderful. It has a little dock, but once it’s charged, you can move it from room to room. I also have a Bose Wave radio for CDs.

[Editor’s note: Ax’s speaker has been discontinued, so we’ve linked to the latest version.]

Let’s say I’m traveling and I’m giving a concert which includes a Beethoven sonata, some Chopin, some Corigliano, and so forth. I would need a separate suitcase for all that music. So it’s wonderful to put it all on an iPad Pro and be able to practice from that instead. I use an app developed byHenle, which is the German music publisher responsible for those famous blue covers. They have all the latest editions of everything. And I also useIMSLP, which is like Wikipedia for sheet music, and it has some very interesting stuff. For example, you can download a first-edition copy of a Beethoven sonata, and even though the music is the same, it’s fascinating to see how it was laid out. In those days, the longer side of the sheet ran horizontally, like a computer screen instead of a book. Sometimes there’s a little more distance between the notes, which makes it look easier to play than when it’s squeezed together.

Juilliard makes this cap that says “Juilliard Athletics, undefeated since 1905,” which is the year the school opened. We haven’t lost a game since because we’ve never played one. Although I’m sure there are people at Juilliard who are in good shape and could compete in sports, I’m not one of them. No one has ever asked me about it, but I’m always hoping it could happen someday.

I discovered Libby when a friend in the Berkshires mentioned it and it’s absolutely fabulous. I have a library card from the Lincoln Center branch of the New York Public Library, so I can get everything I’d want. Sometimes I have to wait, but I don’t mind placing a hold until it’s available. There’s always something else to read in the meantime. Everything from Alexandre Dumas to the latest Connor Fitzgerald thriller. I try to use that whenever possible but I will still occasionally break down and buy the Kindle version if need.

I have aSteinway Model C pianoat home [Ax is a longtimeSteinway artist], which is a bit unusual because the nine-foot-long one they use in concert halls is a Model D and the shorter seven-foot-long Model B is more appropriate for home use. I got it brand new in London in 1981 and it has a standard matte-black finish. It’s the one I’m comfortable with, but it’s not my favorite, which is probably a good thing. If the piano you practice on is your favorite, then you’d be disappointed every time you play in a concert hall. I was involved in picking the piano for Carnegie Hall, and I like it a lot. The pianos in the concert hall in Hamburg, which is where the German Steinway factory is located, are amazing. And they have beautiful pianos in Amsterdam and Berlin. But I’m not picky. The most important thing is that there’s one ready for me to practice on wherever I happen to be traveling on tour.

For two decades now, Yo-Yo Ma and I have talked about starting aCar Talkfor classical music, and that’s what I’m hoping this can be. We play a couple of silly games and talk about the parts of classical music that feel arcane but shouldn’t be, such as people feeling like they aren’t supposed to applaud between movements during a concert, to which my answer is, “Of course, you should applaud if you like!” I wanted this show to be about having a relaxed, fun time, discussing classical music with other artists and people who appreciate music. It’s mostly musician-oriented right now, but there are a couple of professional football players who play the piano. I’d like to get them on the show.