Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli
One of the most enigmatic performers of the 20th century, Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli was also one of the most compelling and, paradoxically, one of the least-heard pianists of his generation. Michelangeli was famous for having canceled nearly as many performances as he gave, and he committed little of his vast repertory to disc.
Michelangeli was born on January 5, 1920, in Orzinuovi, Italy. His father was a dedicated amateur musician who introduced young Benedetti to the art. After early studies on the violin, Michelangeli took up the piano, entering the Milan Conservatory at the age of ten.
In 1939 Michelangeli's concert career began in earnest after he claimed top honors at the International Piano Competition in Geneva. Of his triumphant performance at the competition, no less a luminary than the great Alfred Cortot exclaimed, "A new Liszt is born!" Service in the Italian Air Force during World War II interrupted Michelangeli's career; taking the stage again at war's end, however, he soon earned a place among the top performers of the day.
In 1960 Michelangeli performed Beethoven's "Emperor" Concerto in Vatican City for the Pope. A triumphant 1964 appearance in Moscow reportedly had the audience in an uproar, and in 1965 Michelangeli became one of the first Western artists to concertize extensively in Asia.
In the 1970s and 1980s he made fewer and fewer concert appearances, owing both to consistent health troubles and his growing aversion to public display. During a performance in Bordeaux in October 1988 he suffered an aortic aneurysm onstage; nevertheless, he resumed performing the following season. He gave his last public performance in 1990 and died five years later died from the chronic medical problems that had plagued him since childhood.
Michelangeli regarded the life of a concert pianist as one of labor. His own schedule included upwards of ten hours of practice a day; he suggested to his pupils that they cease practicing only when the pain in the fingers and shoulders became too great for them to continue. Michelangeli took his role as a mentor very seriously; he held various teaching positions in Italy and throughout Europe, and included Martha Argerich and Maurizio Pollini among his pupils.
To many Michelangeli's playing was the ideal blend of technique and uncanny musical depth. His subtlety, revealed in such masterly recordings as Brahms' Paganini Variations, is in restraint and detachment -- calculated to temper power and fury, not to replace it. His performances of Mozart, Haydn, and Scarlatti are particularly esteemed.
Michelangeli never wholly embraced life as a concert artist. He felt that to pour such adulation on a performer was a disgrace, and that it distracted the performer from the very essence of his duty. A deeply private man, Michelangeli had a tendency to distort the truth during interviews, making it difficult for musicologists and historians to build an accurate portrait of his life; he will likely remain a fascinating, little-understood man.
© TiVo
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Ravel: Concerto pour piano in G Major - Rachmaninoff: Concerto pour piano No. 4 in G Minor (Stereo Version)
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Philharmonia Orchestra, Ettore Gracis
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1959
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Chopin: 10 Mazurkas, Scherzo, Prélude Op.45, Ballade Op.23
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 28 Sep 2018
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli Vol.12 : Bach,Scarlatti,Galuppi
Classical - Released by Ermitage Records on 14 Aug 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
RAVEL: PIANO CONCERTO "CONCERTO POUR PIANO ET ORCHESTRE"; VALSES NOBLES ST SENTIMENTALES
Classical - Released by Nar Classical on 10 Jul 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli - Legendary Recordings
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 27 Feb 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli: French Piano Music
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 5 Jan 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Michelangeli: Essential Piano Works
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 10 Nov 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Debussy (The Last Recital, 1993) (Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, piano)
Classical - Released by Divox on 1 Jan 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Great Piano Performances: The Best of DG Originals
Martha Argerich, Wilhelm Kempff, Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 29 Mar 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Historical Beethoven feat Michelangeli
Classical - Released by Urania Records on 1 Sep 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
THE EARLY RECORDINGS: BACH - SCARLATTI - BEETHOVEN - GRIEG - GRANADOS - ALBÉNIZ
Classical - Released by Nar Classical on 13 Sep 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Art of Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 6 Jan 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
LISZT; GRANADOS; GRIEG; CHOPIN; ALBENIZ; SCARLATTI; BACH; TOMEONI
Classical - Released by Nar Classical on 10 Jul 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
BEETHOVEN: PIANO SONATA No. 3; CHOPIN: PIANO SONATA No.2; BRAHMS: VARIATIONS ON A THEME BY PAGANINI
Classical - Released by Nar Classical on 12 Apr 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Debussy: Images 1 & 2; Children's Corner
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 1971
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Enregistrements de jeunesse (Volume 1)
Classical - Released by Naxos on 18 Nov 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Piano Concertos, etc
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Mar 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Piano Maestro
Classical - Released by Classical Masters on 1 Jul 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Master Pianist Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 8 Aug 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Art of Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 11 Jul 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Debussy: Images, Preludes & Children's Corner
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 9 Sep 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo