Michael Ponti
A longtime staple of the budget Vox label's catalog, pianist Michael Ponti specialized in unknown Romantic repertory. He also recorded mainstream works and was the first pianist to record the complete keyboard works of Scriabin, Tchaikovsky, and Rachmaninov.
Although he was born in Germany, died there, and was partly trained there, Ponti was American. He was born in Freiburg im Breisgau (the city commonly referred to as Freiburg), Germany, on October 29, 1937. His father was a U.S. diplomat. The family soon moved to the U.S., and his mother also took American citizenship. Ponti grew up in Washington, D.C., where he took piano lessons for ten years and, at age 11, played Bach's complete Well-Tempered Clavier from memory over four recitals. His teacher was Gilmour McDonald, who had studied with Leopold Godowsky. In 1955, Ponti returned to Germany for studies at the Hochschule für Musik in Frankfurt; he was taught by Erich Flinsch, formerly an assistant to Liszt's student Emil von Sauer, and he also took master classes from Artur Rubinstein and Robert Casadesus. Two major prizes in 1964 -- a first prize at the Busoni Competition in Italy and a prizewinner spot at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Belgium -- helped launch his career, which began with an appearance in Vienna playing Bartók's Piano Concerto No. 2 under conductor Wolfgang Sawallisch. Ponti's New York debut (at Alice Tully Hall in 1972) was a famous concert in which he played nine encores, some requested by the audience; the concert lasted almost until midnight.
Ponti became famous to financially challenged listeners for his LP recordings on the Vox label. They often featured obscure (or then-obscure) Romantic repertory by the likes of Hans Bronsart von Schellendorff, Sigismond Thalberg, and Henry Litolff. In the concert realm, Ponti appeared with ensembles, including the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Buenos Aires Philharmonic, and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. He toured not only in Europe but in Egypt, Japan, South America, southern Africa, and Australia. Ponti founded the Ponti-Zimansky-Polasek Trio in 1977 and appeared widely with that group as well. Ponti's career lasted well into the 2000s, and Vox reissued his Scriabin cycle in 2002. He was slowed by a stroke in the late '90s that damaged his right hand, but he continued to perform, playing left-hand piano repertory. Ponti's recording catalog comprised more than 80 items. He died in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, on October 17, 2022.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Ives: Songs
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Michael Ponti
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Aug 26, 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Romantic Piano Concerto, Vol. 1
Classical - Released by Vox Box on Jan 1, 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Complete Works for Piano & Orchestra
Michael Ponti, Prague Symphony Orchestra, Luxembourg Radio Orchestra, Richard Kapp, Louis De Froment
Classical - Released by Vox Box on Jan 1, 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Romantic Piano Concerto Anthology, Vol. 3
Classical - Released by Vox on Oct 28, 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Romantic Piano Concerto, Vol. 3
Classical - Released by Vox Box on Jan 1, 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rachmaninoff: Complete Piano Music — The VOX BOX Edition
Michael Ponti, Robert Leonardy
Classical - Released by Musical Concepts on Apr 5, 2011
4 étoiles Classica16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rheinberger: Piano Concerto, Op. 94 - Moszkowski: Piano Concerto, Op. 59
Michael Ponti, Berlin Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Hungarica, Volker Schmidt-Gertenbach, Hans Richard Stracke
Concertos - Released by Vox on Jan 1, 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Romantic Piano Concerto, Vol. 2
Classical - Released by Vox Box on Jan 1, 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
LISZT: 12 Etudes d'execution transcendante, S139/R2b
Classical - Released by Marco-Polo on Mar 5, 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Romantic Piano Concerto, Vol. 4
Classical - Released by Vox Box on Jan 1, 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rachmaninoff: Fantaisie tableaux, Suite No. 1, Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-Flat Minor & Suite No. 2 in C Major
Michael Ponti, Robert Leonardy
Classical - Released by Allegretto on Jan 1, 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Children's Album, Op. 39 (Menuetto Kids - Classical Music for Children)
Classical - Released by Menuetto Classics on Dec 16, 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann, Tchaikovsky & Rachmaninoff: Piano Works
Classical - Released by SWR Mediaservices GmbH on Apr 17, 2020
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Romantic Piano Concerto, Vol. 5
Classical - Released by Vox Box on Jan 1, 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Liszt: The Six Paganni Studies / Brahms: Variations on a Theme of Paganini
Classical - Released by Meridian Records on Sep 22, 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Romantic Piano Concertos, Vol. 21
Michael Ponti, Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, Westphalian Symphony Orchestra, Richard Kapp
Concertos - Released by Vox on Jan 1, 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Piano Masterpieces: Fireworks!
Classical - Released by Jube Classic on Feb 12, 2021
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Complete Solo Piano Music, Vol. 1
Classical - Released by Vox Box on Jan 1, 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Romantic Études for Piano
Classical - Released by Vox Box on Jan 1, 1996
Recommandé par Répertoire16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Scriabin: Complete Piano Sonatas
Classical - Released by Vox Box on Jan 1, 2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo