I will be forever fascinated with anything remotely associated with John Williams. As a Child of the ’80s, he built the framework to so many of the best big-screen experiences of my younger years that I could not imagine the development of the film industry without him. I was thrilled to explore Music by John Williams and saddened to learn afterward that he would soon be retiring from the music game.
So, when I learned that he participated in the documentary All the Music in the World as a long-time friend and collaborator of Emanuel “Manny” Ax, a celebrated virtuoso pianist who is still contending with stage fright after 50 years of performing, you might as well color me curious.
As the writer, director and producer, the most important role of multi-hyphenate filmmaker Joseph Levy is to bring the film’s viewing audience into Ax’s life of classical arts. As an award-winning musician, conductors compliment him, other orchestral performers compliment him and John Williams, naturally, compliments him, as well.
Ever humble, he refuses to call himself a maestro or a virtuoso, even though people in the know consider him so. Ax has toured the world performing with world-class orchestras, yet he still gets nervous before every single performance. Anxiety attacks, sporadic procrastinations and being afraid of forgetting his memorized music or making a mistake and not being able to continue his presentation are his greatest fears.
These revelations prove that even the greatest artist is merely human, encouraging me to watch more of this documentary. But will this theme merely claim to provide main-character energy for its overall storyline?
“It’s all daunting and terrifying.”
Peeking behind the scenes of a recording session as Ax and other musicians collaborate to turn well-known classical music into their own versions of elegance brought back feelings of nostalgia to my high-school days of learning music with my concert and marching bands (although I’ll be the first to admit I was nowhere close to being as talented as Mr. Ax). I never really felt stage fright — maybe my skills as a percussionist were never so great that I never feared failure and simply embraced the possibility — but I really did enjoy those concerts back in the day.
“I dream about the piano all the time, but it’s usually in very scary situations…”
Before watching All the Music in the World, I truly had no idea who Emanuel “Manny” Ax was, or know anything about his personal accomplishments, let alone his weaknesses. Watching this film, we learn that he was an only child, born in Lviv, Ukraine, growing up in a musical family. Manny recognizes and remembers specific pianos, has been performing with Yo-Yo Ma for the last 53 years and that John Williams wrote a piano concerto specifically for Manny to perform. So, what’s the deal with his frantic energy?
The first half of the film is more of a dedicated biopic than anything else, eventually wading into this very topic. 50 years of experience doesn’t take any of his worries away, as Manny acknowledges his worries and lives with them, but he simply cannot seem to contain them. I’m really unsure why he gets this way, as there’s no one thing that truly stresses him out the most and unfortunately, the filmmakers involved didn’t include any professionals to help discuss these issues or even give Manny tips to contain them, and that is the biggest weakness of this film, by far.
I wanted more exploration to the singular weakness of this superhuman musician and although it’s briefly discussed, the issues are merely pushed aside in order to complete his more pending on-screen pursuit with Williams, which is what initially attracted me to this project. Too bad I wanted a bit more from Joseph Levy, I guess…
The accomplishments and skills of Manny are definitely highlighted here as he’s an absolute perfectionist with a very special gift, recognized by many. He’s very much a collaborator with composers, other musicians, engineers and students, but this film is more about character definition, displaying thankfulness to a very long career rather than addressing a minor storyline that was hyped as a main attraction here. Instead, it barely has much presence in this presentation.
While the documentary looks gorgeous, more importantly the music and specifically its sound is crystal clear, crisply conveying Manny’s abilities for all to see and hear for generations to come. As Ax wonders aloud when he’ll stop performing concerts, he hints that John Williams’ concerto will most likely be Manny’s final “new” piece of music to learn and perform. Constantly learning new arrangements has been a longtime stressor in his life and reaching this milestone could finally bring some much-needed peace into his life.
When John Williams finally retires his baton and Emanuel “Manny” Ax stops touring with symphonic orchestras, the music industry will be forced to embrace new talents to take their place. It will be a sad day for people who have enjoyed their talents, but much like music in general, tastes will evolve and new stars will step into the spotlight.
“This is what happens when you’re nervous and absent-minded, to boot.”