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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Debussy: Images 1 & 2; Children's Corner
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Jan 1, 1971
The Qobuz Essential Discography24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Chopin: 10 Mazurkas
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Sep 28, 2018
The Qobuz Essential Discography24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.5 in E-Flat Major, Op. 73
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Wiener Symphoniker, Carlo Maria Giulini
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Jan 1, 1982
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Frédéric Chopin: Piano Sonata No. 2, Ballade, Valse & Fantaisie - Sergei Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 4
Classical - Released by Praga Digitals on Apr 1, 2014
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Busoni: Chaconne in D Minor (After Bach) - Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 3 [Live]
Classical - Released by Orfeo on Jul 20, 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Maurice Ravel: Gaspard de la nuit, Piano Concerto, Valses nobles et sentimentales - Claude Debussy: Children's Corner
Classical - Released by Praga Digitals on Oct 1, 2012
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli Plays Bach, Beethoven, Schumann & Brahms
Classical - Released by Praga Digitals on Dec 1, 2014
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 15 & 20 (Remastered 2023) (Live)
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Sinfonieorchester Des Südwestfunks, Antoine-Pierre de Bavier
Classical - Released by SWR Classic on Aug 11, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 "Emperor", Piano Sonata No. 32 - Claude Debussy: Images
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Prague Symphony Orchestra, Vaclav Smetacek
Classical - Released by Praga Digitals on Sep 1, 2013
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Ballades - Schubert & Beethoven : Sonatas
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Jan 1, 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Michelangeli: Piano Works (Live)
Classical - Released by Profil on Mar 15, 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 4 - Ravel: Piano Concerto in G Major
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on May 1, 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Debussy: Préludes (Book 2)
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Jan 1, 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn, Rachmaninov, Ravel: Piano Concertos
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on Sep 12, 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Art Of Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Jan 1, 2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 3
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Wiener Symphoniker, Carlo Maria Giulini
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Jun 22, 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Carnaval Op.9; Faschingsschwank aus Wien Op.26
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Jan 1, 1981
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Piano Concerto / Debussy: Images
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Orchestre de Paris, Daniel Barenboim
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Jan 1, 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 20 & 25 (Live)
NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Cord Garben, Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon GmbH, Hamburg on Jan 1, 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Piano Recital
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on Feb 2, 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Liszt, Grieg, Debussy, Ravel: Piano Works
Classical - Released by Urania Records on Mar 16, 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo