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Biography
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (5 January 1920& nbsp;– 12 June 1995) was an Italians|Italian Classical music|classical pianist .
Biography
Born in Brescia , Italy , he began music lessons at the age of three, initially with the violin , but quickly switched to the piano . At ten he entered the Milan Conservatory . In 1938, at age eighteen, he began his international career by entering the Ysa˙e International Festival in Brussels , Belgium , where he was placed seventh. (A brief account of this competition, at which Emil Gilels took first prize, is given by Arthur Rubinstein , who was one of the judges. According to Rubinstein, Michelangeli gave "an unsatisfactory performance, but already showed his impeccable technique.") A year later he earned first prize in the Geneva International Competition, where he was acclaimed as "a new Franz Liszt|Liszt " by pianist Alfred Cortot , a member of the judging panel, which was presided over by Ignacy Jan Paderewski .
The music critic Harold C. Schonberg wrote of Michelangeli:
His fingers can no more hit a wrong note or smudge a passage than a bullet can be veered off course once it has been fired...The puzzling part about Michelangeli is that in many pieces of the romantic repertoire he seems unsure of himself emotionally, and his otherwise direct playing is then laden with expressive devices that disturb the musical flow.cite book | last = Schonberg | first = Harold | title = The Great Pianists | publisher = Simon & Schuster | location = New York | year = 1987 | pages= 424–425 | isbn = 0-671-63837-8
On the other hand, the Romanian conductor Sergiu Celibidache always saw in Michelangeli a colleague, and not merely another competent pianist: “Michelangeli makes colors; he is a conductor."
The teacher and commentator David Dubal argued that he was best in the earlier works of Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven and seemed insecure in Frédéric Chopin|Chopin , but that he was "demonic" in such works as the Johann Sebastian Bach|Bach - Ferruccio Busoni|Busoni Chaconne and the Johannes Brahms|Brahms Paganini Variations .
His repertoire was strikingly small for a concert pianist of such stature. Owing to his obsessive perfectionism relatively few recordings were officially released during Michelangeli's lifetime, but these are augmented by numerous unauthorized recordings of live performances. Discographical highlights include the (authorized) live performances in London of Maurice Ravel|Ravel 's Gaspard de la nuit , Chopin's Piano Sonata No. 2 (Chopin)|Sonata No. 2 , Robert Schumann|Schumann 's Carnaval (Schumann)|Carnaval , Op. 9 and Faschingsschwank aus Wien , Op. 26 as well as various recordings of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 (Beethoven)|Piano Concerto No. 5 , Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 1 (Liszt)|Piano Concerto No. 1 and Totentanz (Liszt)|Totentanz , and the piano concertos of Piano Concerto (Schumann)|Robert Schumann and Piano Concerto (Grieg)|Edvard Grieg . In addition, his playing of Ravel's Piano Concerto (Ravel)|Piano Concerto in G and Gaspard de la nuit set standards for those works. His reading of Sergei Rachmaninoff|Rachmaninoff 's Piano Concerto No. 4 (Rachmaninoff)|Piano Concerto No. 4 is comparable to that of Rachmaninoff himself. His Claude Debussy|Debussy series for Deutsche Grammophon|DG is something of a benchmark, even if it is sometimes accused of being a little unatmospheric ("swimming in cool water," in Dubal's words). He is also credited with the rediscovery of some works of Catalan composer Federico Mompou .
As a composer, Michelangeli wrote 19 Folksongs a cappella for the SAT men's chorus from Trent (Italy). As a teacher, his pupils included such world-class artists as Martha Argerich , Ivan Moravec , and Maurizio Pollini .
On September 20, 1943 Michelangeli married Giuliana Guidetti, whom he had met in Brescia , and who had later been a pupil of his. She was a valued counselor and secretary to her husband. She lived quietly, sharing time together at their villa in Bornato , near Brescia, or in Bolzano or Arezzo , and almost never appeared in public together with her husband, so that hardly anybody knew that Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli was married.
From 1970 on, his secretary Marie-José Gros-Dubois, twenty years younger than he, was faithfully near his side.
Michelangeli reputedly did not enjoy giving concerts. His wife, Giuliana, was his agent. She organized concerts and dates for him, and also presided over his financial affairs. In a recent interview, she remembered that her husband could not believe that his concerts were worth so much money. After a concert, she reported that he gloomily said: "You see, so much applause, so much public. Then, in half an hour, you feel alone more than before."
Michelangeli was a great connoisseur of the mechanics of the piano, and he insisted that his concert instruments be in perfect condition. His last concert took place on 7 May 1993 in Hamburg , Germany . After an extended illness he died in Lugano , Switzerland .cite journal|title=Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli|url= http://web.infinito.it/utenti/g/giuseppe.angilella/abm/life.html |accessdate=30 March 2010|last=Michelangeli|first=Arturo Benedetti|authors=Giuseppe, Angilella
References
reflist
cite book|last=Dubal|first=David|title=The Art of the Piano|location=New York|publisher=Summit Books|year=1989|pages=180–181|isbn= 0-671-49238-1
cite book|last=Garben|first=Cord|title=Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli: Gratwanderungen mit einem Genie|location=Hamburg|publisher=Europaische Verlagsanstalt|year=2002
cite book|last=Richter|first=Sviatoslav|editor= Bruno Monsaingeon|title=Ecrits, conversations|publisher=Editions Van de Velde|year=1998|pages=260, 289, 310, 312|isbn= 2-85868-255-0
Garben Cord, "Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli. In bilico con un genio", Zecchini Editore , (2004), pag. 222 e illustrazioni, con discografia e videografia a cura di Stefano Biosa, CD allegato con inediti, ISBN 88-87203-24-5.
Rattalino Piero, "Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli. L'asceta", coll. Grandi Pianisti 4, Zecchini Editore , (2006), pag. 164, con discografia e videografia a cura di Stefano Biosa, ISBN 88-87203-41-5.
http://centromichelangeli.com/ Biography, articles and events
http://www.jacquesleiser.ch/page_art_fifty_1.htm Jacques Leiser & Ates Orga 'Fifty Years of Music with my Husband, Arturo Michelangeli', Clavier May/June 2002
Persondata | NAME = Michelangeli, Arturo Benedetti | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH = 5 January 1920 | PLACE OF BIRTH = Brescia , Lombardy , Italy | DATE OF DEATH = 12 June 1995 | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Michelangeli, Arturo Benedetti Category:1920 births Category:1995 deaths Category:People from Brescia Category:Italian classical pianists Category:Hypochondriacs Category:Milan Conservatory alumni
