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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Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Essential Piano Music
Michael Ponti, Yuri Rozum, Peter Schmalfuss
Classical - Released by Menuetto Classics on 16/07/2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Complete Solo Piano Music, Vol. 2
Michael Ponti, Aaron Rosand, Luxembourg Radio Orchestra, Louis De Froment
Classical - Released by Vox Box on 1/01/1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Liapunow: Rhapsodie über Ukrainische Volksweisen - Klaiverkonzert
Westfälisches Sinfonieorchester, Siegfried Landau, Michael Ponti
Classical - Released by Adora on 29/01/2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Green Edition - Tchaikovsky: The Seasons No. 9-12 & Dumka "Russian Rustic Scene"
Michael Ponti, Peter Schmalfuss, Louis De Froment, Radio Luxembourg Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by GREEN COLLECTION by a.m. publishing house on 14/04/2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tschaikowsky: Die Jahreszeiten, Op. 37A - Doumka, Op. 59 - Chanson Triste, Op. 40 No. 2
Michael Ponti, Peter Schmalfuss
Miscellaneous - Released by Adora on 5/02/2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Balakirev, Lyapunov & Bronsart: Works for Piano & Orchestra
Michael Ponti, Westphalian Symphony Orchestra, Siegfried Landau, Richard Kapp
Concertos - Released by Vox on 1/01/2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Romantic Piano Concertos, Vol. 9
Michael Ponti, Philharmonia Hungarica, Othmar Maga
Concertos - Released by Vox on 1/01/1969
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Romantic Piano Concertos, Vol. 1
Michael Ponti, Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, Richard Kapp
Concertos - Released by Vox on 1/01/2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Litolff, Liszt, Felix Mendelssohn & Chopin: Works for Piano & Orchestra
Michael Ponti, Berlin Symphony Orchestra, Volker Schmidt-Gertenbach
Concertos - Released by Vox on 1/01/2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Green Edition - Tchaikovsky: 6 Pieces, Op. 21 Nos. 1-6 & the Seasons Nos. 1-8, Op. 37A
Classical - Released by GREEN COLLECTION by a.m. publishing house on 15/04/2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tschaikowsky: Ballettmusik und Klavierstücke, Vol. 2
Bamberger Symphoniker, Janos Furst, Michael Ponti
Classical - Released by Bella Musica Edition on 29/01/2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Berwald, Alkan, Czerny & Liszt: Works for Piano & Orchestra
Michael Ponti, South West German Chamber Orchestra, Pforzheim, Paul Angerer
Concertos - Released by Vox on 1/01/1980
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
D'Albert, Medtner & Goetz: Piano Concertos
Michael Ponti, Luxembourg Radio Orchestra, Pierre Cao
Concertos - Released by Vox on 1/01/2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Los Grandes de la Musica Clasica - Sergei Rachmaninov Vol. 2
Slovak RSO, Michael Ponti, Josef Bulva
Classical - Released by ClassicalPirosDigital on 4/06/2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hiller, R. Schumann & Reinecke: Works for Piano & Orchestra
Michael Ponti, Luxembourg Radio Orchestra, Louis De Froment, Pierre Cao
Concertos - Released by Vox on 1/01/2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Michael Ponti Plays Rubinstein, Alkan & Thalberg
Classical - Released by Doron Music on 2/06/2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
BRAHMS / LISZT: Handel - Bach Variations
Classical - Released by Marco-Polo on 31/12/1986
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Green Edition - Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 3 & the Seasons No. 1-8
Michael Ponti, Louis De Froment, Radio Luxembourg Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by GREEN COLLECTION by a.m. publishing house on 13/04/2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rubinstein: Klavierkonzert, Op. 70 - Klavierstücke
Philharmonia Hungarica, Othmar M. F. Maga, Michael Ponti
Miscellaneous - Released by Adora on 29/01/2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rimsky-Korsakov: Piano Concerto in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 30
Michael Ponti, Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, Hans Müller-Kray
Classical - Released by SWR Mediaservices GmbH on 3/04/2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Liszt & Brahms: Piano Variations
Classical - Released by SMOOTH CLASSICAL on 21/11/2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo