Japan

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24 October, 1973: Dai Ichi Hall, Kyoto; 3 November: Festival Hall, Osaka

 

29 October, 1973: Bunkakaikan, Tokyo, Japan
·    Schumann: Faschingsschwank aus Wien (Fantasiebilder), Op.26

·    Chopin: Piano Sonata No.2 in B-flat minor, Op.35
·    Ravel: Valses nobles et sentimentales

·    Ravel: Gaspard de la Nuit

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(Personal note: I bought my copy of a 2CD set of this recital in Tower Records, Shibuya, Tokyo in April 2014)

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Japanese Wikipedia has this (unsourced): His first visit to Japan in 1965 shocked (presumably in a pleasant way) the Japanese music world. He has visited Japan several times since, but only this first visit performed as scheduled. His subsequent cancellations have been met with turmoil. During his second visit in 1973, he changed concert dates and venues due to poor conditions, and some performances were canceled. He returned the following year in 1974 to make up for the previous year's performances. 

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CD liner notes (from the Japanese)

'In the autumn of 1973, Michelangeli was scheduled to perform six concerts, including those in Kyoto and Osaka, with three different programmes, starting with a recital at the Tokyo Bunka Kaikan on October 15th and ending with a recital at the NHK Hall on November 21st. The invitation was from the Japan Cultural Foundation, with support from the Asahi Shimbun Company, Asahi Broadcasting Corporation, FM Tokyo, and FM Osaka.

I had planned to broadcast the first of these concerts on the 19th as part of the "TDK Original Concert" programme, which was then produced by FM Tokyo.

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'Michelangeli was rumoured to have been a nervous and difficult-to-please pianist, and was known for his habit of canceling concerts at the last minute, a reputation known as the "cancellation scientist." (1965, Yomiuri Shimbun). When the company first invited him, his manager, the late Takayanagi Masuo, apparently used this to his advantage to promote him, selling tons of tickets while saying, "He won't play (even if he comes to Japan) He won't play!" (Takayanagi would continue to brag about this for years to come.)

 

As expected, the opening recital in 1973 was canceled at the last minute. This meant I had to abandon my plan to broadcast it before NHK (NHK supposedly aired the 20th October recital at NHK Hall on their FM program on the 26th).

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'In the end, we were able to record the recital hosted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre on October 29th. The program was the same A-programme as the 20th. The broadcast date was delayed until December 21st, but it was only natural that everyone was grateful that it could be broadcast at all. However, on the day of the broadcast, the manager himself was obviously on edge, even to an outsider. He was standing in front of the stage, facing the one-point stereo set up.

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'Michelangeli's [the manager's ?] face turned pale when he saw the hanging microphone, and he asked that it be removed, because he didn't know what the Master would say if he saw something like that (meaning that he might get angry and call off the concert, saying it was an eyesore). He also harshly warned me that during practice, the master would alternate between playing the piano on stage and one in the wings, and that none of the staff should ever come face to face with the master during those sessions.

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'Fortunately, Michelangeli didn't say anything when he saw the microphone set up at the front of the stage. He continued to play the two pianos, silently going back and forth frequently between the stage and wings. It didn't seem like he had any particular intention of using his favorite piano. He must have had his own unique way of thinking. We, the staff, were also enjoying the game of hide-and-seek, laughing like bad boys running away from the scary teacher.

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'It was some time after the rehearsal that I panicked for a moment. For some reason, he also looked taken aback. Naturally, my manager hadn't introduced me to the maestro, so I belatedly exchanged a few greetings. Michelangeli then asked, somewhat hesitantly, "Are you the radio man? I've already finished the rehearsal, but is the mic test enough?" It turned out he was fully aware of the situation and was being considerate in his own way. Naturally, he wasn't averse to being recorded or anything.

 

'Even so, Michelangeli's performance that day was captivating beyond words (...)

The atmosphere was so intense it was almost overwhelming, and I felt as if I had been given a glimpse of the demonic sensations hidden behind this maestro's intelligent control, which left me speechless.'

(Music critic, former producer at FM Tokyo)
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April 5, 1974: Teatro Apollo, Lugano, Switzerland (Radio Broadcast | AAC256)
 

·    Haydn: Piano Concerto No.4 in G major, Hob.XVIII:4

·    Mozart: Piano Concerto No.15 in B-flat major, K.450

– Edmond de Stoutz / Züricher Kammerorchester

 

 

– Mozart also on Aura 2000-2

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Sunday, 19 May 1974, Municipal House – Smetana Hall, Prague

Ludwig van Beethoven: Egmont. Overture op. 84
Edvard Grieg: Concerto in A minor for piano and orchestra, op. 16
Bohuslav Martinů: Symphony No. 6 /Symphonic Fantasies/

Prague Symphony Orchestra – FOK; conductor Ladislav Slovák

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11 September 1974, Tel Aviv, Israel: Beethoven's Sonata Op.7 in E flat 'sounded strange because of irrelevant musical gestures and mannerisms which seemed to place the artist's empathy with the music in question.  Neither did the intensely emotional second movement, the Adagio which crowns the work, amount to anything spectacular.  The third movement, which has the sudden switch to the dark minore seemed to inspire Michelangeli's imagination. He gave a stunning performance of the four Ballades of Brahms. Although it may not have been to everyone's taste, there can be no doubt that only Michelangeli can play them as he did.'  The Jerusalem Post (16.9.74)

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October 16, 1974: Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Paris, France (Radio Broadcast | FLAC)
 

·    Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.5 in E-flat major, Op.73 (Emperor)

– Sergiu Celibidache / Orchestra of the French Radio

 

 

– Also on an Electrecord LP

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Angelo Fabbrini, Michelangeli's trusted piano technician, worked with him from 1975 to 1990, according to Gramophone. 

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In 1975 and 1976 Michelangeli limited his concert performances outside Italy, cancelling most concerts at the last minute and thus being criticized and accused of "snobbery", but Michelangeli had already told the journalist Silvio Bertoldi a few years earlier: "They say I want to be a star, that I don't keep my commitments, but the truth is that I only play when I feel good and there is no contract in the world that could force me to perform. If I don't feel good, I can't give the best of myself that I would really like to: the audience has a right to the best. If I don't play when I'm not feeling good, it's only out of respect for the audience. I'm not made of iron. I suffered years due to inflammation of the nerves in my right hand, which limited me for several years. I suffered from lung attacks, but when I had to, I played even with a fever. I played every day in Milan while my father was dying in Brescia. How can anyone call that “starry mannerisms”?” Since the pianist left Italy, he has escaped the media’s attention and no one knows where he is or how to contact him, as if he refuses to meet anyone. Silvio Bertoldi continues his essay on Michelangeli by quoting some of his sentences: “Playing is not just a profession, but a way of life, for which it is not enough to have willpower and natural talent. Above all, a great spirit of sacrifice is needed. Being a musician does not mean dressing up to dress up as a penguin and present yourself to an applauding audience, but it is something that goes beyond all that and requires continuous effort and monstrous work. Otherwise, one will not become a musician, but a well-inflated bubble for a few applauses that will last only a few seasons, a sparkler that will go out in the dark.”

Corriere della Sera, 20. 8. 1976; Katia Vendrame

 

Evidence of this artist’s behaviour can be found in the events at a concert in Paris in 1978: at this performance he played Ballades op. 10 by the German composer Johannes Brahms, which accompanied him in almost all concerts in those years, and Beethoven’s third sonata. Then, before he got to Andante spianato and grande Polonaise brillante by Fryderyk Chopin, he left the concert because he was cold.

Corriere della Sera, 13. 11. 1978; Katia Vendrame

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January 1975: Johannes Church, Thun, Switzerland (Studio Recordings | Stereo)
 

– EMI –

·    Schumann: Carnaval (Scènes Mignonnes sur Quatre Notes), Op.9

➢ ∞ | (1975-01-15to21) | ø | M

– Warner 0 825646 154883

– EMI Italiana 7243 5 67041 2

·    Schumann: Album for the Young, Op.68

o  37. Sailor’s Song

o  38. Wintertime I

o  39. Wintertime II

➢ ∞ | (1975-01-22to24) | ø | M

– Warner 0 825646 154883

– EMI Italiana 7243 5 67041 2

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January 1975: Johannes Church, Thun, Switzerland (Studio Recordings | Stereo)
 

– EMI –

·    Haydn: Piano Concerto No.11 in D major, Hob.XVIII:11

·    Haydn: Piano Concerto No.4 in G major, Hob.XVIII:4

– Edmond de Stoutz / Züricher Kammerorchester

➢ ∞ | (1975-01-22to24) | ø | M

– Warner 0 825646 154883

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March 17, 1975: Bern, Switzerland (Radio Broadcast | AAC192)
 

·    Beethoven: Piano Sonata No.12 in A-flat major, Op.26

·    Schubert: Piano Sonata No.4 in A minor, D.537 (Op.164)
 

·    Debussy: Hommage à Rameau (Images, Book I No.2)

·    Debussy: Reflets dans l’eau (Images, Book I No.1)

·    Debussy: Cloches à travers les feuilles (Images, Book II No.1)

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Since 1973, months and months of work had gone on to connect Kleiber and ABM for a recording of Beethoven's Emperor with the Berlon Radio SO.  The work took place in Sender Fries Berlin, Haus des Rundfunks, Masurenallee.   On 16 December 1975, Michelangeli joined the orchestra for a 2-5pm session; the final session ran from 2-5 in the 17th.  All rehearsals were recorded (producer Cord Garben), as was the piano test and the first movement with piano.  The team stayed at Berlin's Hotel Schweizer Hof. Late on the night before the recording was due to take place, Kleiber summoned Garben.  He made an astonishing demand: he wanted the contents of his pocket score, replete with red marking - towards an adventuresome, refreshing and new performance of the work - , to be entered in the players' parts overnight before 10:00am.  Garben was appalled but managed to get a team together.  When Michelangeli saw the score in the morning, his face darkened: this was nothing like what they had done two years earlier.  Very quickly there was no communication between the two.  AMB began consulting directly with the concertmasters Koji Toyoda and Hans Maile and principal cellist Georg Donderer.  This went on all day.  ettore Gracis had once told Kleiber that there was nothing conspiratorial, this was just how ABM worked. The second day finished miserably and then next morning. Garben learned that the conductor had checked out of his hotel overnight.  Two decades later, Kleiber admitted to Garben that rethink might have been at fault.​

Charles Barber, Corresponding with Carlos : a biography of Carlos Kleiber
 

​Thursday 29 May, 1975, Municipal House – Smetana Hall, Prague

Josef Boháč: Fragment for a large symphony orchestra
Robert Schumann: Concerto in A minor for piano and orchestra, Op. 54
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Concerto in B flat major for piano and orchestra, Ks 450
Leoš Janáček: Symfonietta

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Saturday, 31 May 1975, Rudolfinum – Dvořák Hall, Prague

Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata in A flat major, Op. 26
Franz Schubert: Sonata in A minor, Op. 164
Fryderyk Chopin: Sonata in B flat minor, Op. 35
Maurice Ravel: Gaspard de la nuit (Kašpar noci)

 

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June 11, 1975: Vienna, Austria (Radio Broadcast | FLAC)
 

– Vienna Festival –

·    Schumann: Piano Concerto in A minor, Op.54

– Moshe Atzmon / Vienna Symphony Orchestra

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Massive publicity, followed by massive cancellations, preceded a scheduled tour of North America in 1977, where he was to play in New York, Chicago, Toronto, Miami, Montreal, Dallas, Cleveland, Washington and Los Angeles. Though by then his duties to Michelangeli were already history, Leiser had no regrets. "He changed managers like he changed shirts. In spite of the obstacles I was faced with as his agent, it was a great experience and a privilege to have known him. He could be the devil incarnate at times, but he was also an angel: soft spoken, charming and generous. But it was always drama with him…" (John Bell Young)

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On Christmas Eve, 1976, the South African newspaper had an article on AMB which included this curious statement:

Daar is mense wat vertel dat Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli sy groot vernuf as pianis van die duiwel self ontvang het.

„Jy laat my musiek soveel mooier klink," het Maurice Ravel een keer gesê nadat hy na Michelangeli geluister het. Die pianis was toe maar vyftien jaar oud."

 

There are those who say that Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli received his great talent as a pianist from the devil himself.

"You make my music sound so much more beautiful," Maurice Ravel once said after listening to Michelangeli. The pianist was only fifteen years old at the time."

As Ravel died in 1937, this would have been in 1935 if true.

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In 1977, after eleven years of silence in Italy, Michelangeli finally appeared in the Vatican, where he played a concert for the Red Cross. During his stay in the Vatican, he did not agree to any photoshoots or interviews, nor to recordings for the Italian media, exactly as he had decided in 1969. In the papal residence, in the Auditorium Pierluigi Nervi from 1971 (after the first acoustic tests in the hall he declared: "I have never found a hall that is so large and yet has good acoustics"), on a Steinway piano that he brought from Switzerland, Michelangeli played for seven thousand people, among others, Sonata No. 2 by Chopin and Ballade op. 10 by Brahms and the first book of Preludes by Debussy. 

Corriere della Sera, 29. 4. 1977

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April 29, 1977: Aula Nervi, Vatican City State (Radio Broadcast | FLAC)
 

·    Brahms: Four Ballades, Op.10

·    Chopin: Piano Sonata No.2 in B-flat minor, Op.35
 

·    Debussy: 12 Preludes (Book I)

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At the invitation of Deutsche Grammophon, Michelangeli returned to the recording studio in the late ‘70s. The project comprised a series of albums devoted to his core repertoire: music by Debussy, Chopin, Schubert, Beethoven and Brahms. His producer Cord Garben recalls with amusement the session for the Debussy Preludes. "He played the whole program and then asked for the corrections, which he made immediately. That was all! Preparation time in the studio took about three days, especially for mechanical adjustments on his two instruments. He could never decide which one to use. He had no interest in the editing procedure and authorized me to make the edits wherever I wanted them. Once he accepted the hall, he accepted the advice of his engineer." (John Bell Young)

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When recording Michelangeli was a stickler for privacy. Not only was the studio itself off limits to non-essential personnel, but so was the entire building. With the exception of his producer, an engineer, a technician, a personal assistant and a single record company representative, he refused to allow anyone to get near him. "Even attendance by DG’s chief executives was strictly forbidden," notes Garben.

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In 1975 he refused to give Deutsche Grammophon permission to issue his recording, with Carlos Kleiber, of the Emperor Concerto. Here Guilini fared better. "The approval of the Emperor [with Giulini]" says Garben, "took place in his jeep while driving over the mountains of Lugano."  Evidently this offered Michelangeli one way of speeding things up. "And he approved the Beethoven 3rd in his home on a cheap radio recorder," protests Garben, "while his expensive equipment stood only five meters away."

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On 1st August 1979 he went to live in Pura, in the rented villa that some time later he was to leave to another great pianist, Vladimir Ashkenazy.  He then moved to a house immersed in the shade of the chestnut groves, just a few hundred metres down the road from the previous house; here he spent the last years of his life, far from the hue and cry and the crowds, in almost Franciscan simplicity. The suffering caused by his precarious health was alleviated by the care and attention of Anne-MarieJosé Gros Dubois, who was also his faithful secretary.

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'The first time I was his guest from the 26th of May to 1st June 1975. The house where he lived and worked inspired calm and naturalness. The garden surrounding the house was truly an impeccable fragment of nature. There were trees and a lawn, without excessive intervention of man with his artificial “arrangements”. The house stood on a gentle slope, and so the windows of the Maestro’s study, situated on the ground floor, directly overlooked the garden. There were three pianos in the study. The Maestro gave me permission to try them. One of them was particularly beautiful in its sonorous fullness. Never before, or after, have I had the opportunity of finding an instrument of this kind, or the pleasure of playing it; not even in the concert halls in numerous countries where I have performed.' Lidia Kozubek

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His concert activities gradually diminished, but his fame had now taken on the proportions of a myth and each time he performed in public it was an event that made the headlines. In 1977 he held a recital in the Nervi hall in the Vatican (he was to return there ten years later) and in 81 he played at the Auditorium of the RSI (Italian Swiss Broadcasting Station).

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1977

On April 29, he held a concert in the Vatican in honor of Pope Paul VI, to benefit the Italian Red Cross, on the initiative of Vittoria Leone.

He has set some conditions: no interviews, unnumbered seats, and street clothes will be required.  Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, who had sworn never to set foot in Italy again, returns for a concert. He couldn't say no to the personal invitation extended to him by Mrs. Vittoria Leone from the Quirinale. The keyboard monk was seduced by the first citizen of the Republic.

Today, after a nine-year absence, Benedetti Michelangeli returns for a concert. Not exactly in his homeland, but in the Vatican. All proceeds will go entirely to the Red Cross. Paul VI has "graciously" granted permission to perform in the Sala Nerviana, which seats 6,912. The concert is scheduled for Friday, April 29, at 8:30 pm. The program: Brahms, Ballad Op. 10; Chopin, Sonata in B-flat minor Op. 35; Debussy, 12 Preludes. The news of Michelangeli's return, unanimously considered the world's number one pianist, has left Rome breathless. First, a frantic rush to book began, then adoring young music lovers stormed the box office. There are still a few tickets left (thirty, twenty, and ten thousand lire). A sold-out event is expected, with gross revenue exceeding €100 million, almost as if it were a Serie A match.

Meanwhile, the press office of the President of the Quirinale has announced the Maestro's conditions: a) Michelangeli will not grant interviews; b) his Roman hideout will not be revealed; e) the seats in the auditorium will not be numbered ("I hate having to face the same old hags who understand nothing about music but pretend to faint as soon as I touch the piano"); d) formal attire will be required, not evening wear. The man who embodies the myth of refined elegance on the keyboard has only two suits in his wardrobe, one winter, the other summer; he also owns a tailcoat (designed by Prandoni) that has followed him from concert to concert for eighteen years, and whose lining he has changed dozens of times. 

Teaching was his vocation: he taught in Bergamo, Arezzo, Bolzano, Merano. Of course, he didn't keep timetables, like the lowest of bureaucrats. He gave lessons when inspiration struck. At the Accademia Chigiana in Siena, the students waited patiently for him all day; The Maestro could arrive at any moment; today, tomorrow, or perhaps the day after. In the rarefied world Benedetti Michelangeli lives in, human reasons and needs are incomprehensible. No one has ever been able to understand whether his extreme reserve is due to shyness or hides a hint of amusement. A music critic, who had driven all the way to Val Camonica to listen to him, was dragged along at 200 miles an hour in his Ferrari, eyes wide open, to watch the sunrise over Lake Trasimeno.

 

Michelangeli lives in Brusino, on Lake Lugano. He is 58 years old. After 27 years of marriage, he separated from Giuliana Guidetti. Now he is often seen alone at lunch at Pestalotti, an alcohol-free restaurant where you can eat for 1,500 lire. He always wears his suit and black sweater, from which his pale, lunar face peeks out. His temples have turned gray, and two deep wrinkles line his cheeks at the corners of his mouth. But his charm remains intact. His personality remains an enigma. Someone calculated that in three months he could earn enough to last him a lifetime. But what does money matter to him? He has never given more than thirty concerts a year.

Now he plays sparingly, and more engagements are cancelled than honoured. His recordings are extremely rare, even though, ironically, millions of his pirated records flood the global market. At his rare concerts, there's always the danger of a clandestine microphone. His fee is the highest in the music industry, but the penalties he has to pay every time he doesn't show up are extremely high. And if he's not in a state of grace, he doesn't play. The same goes for his recordings. He's never recognized himself in a record. He's terrified of leaving behind a recorded performance of anything less than his best. One of his students says: when you live in a myth, one wrong note in public drives you to suicide. His life hasn't changed. His world has become even more rarefied, if that's possible. He plays at night; at dawn, people see him walking exhausted along the lakeside. These days, as he always does when a concert date approaches, he's entered a state of anguished exaltation. He doesn't speak, he doesn't see anyone, he eats just enough to survive. He spends his days locked in a room with his magical Steinway, but without touching a key. He mentally reviews the score and taps time with his foot. At night he paces for hours, unable to sleep. He sinks into abysses of neurosis, the neurosis of virtuosity. People from all over the world are expected to come to the Rome concert on April 29th. But the question everyone is asking is: will Michelangeli be on stage that night?

 

Corrado Corradi, La Stampa 25.4.77

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1978

27-28 June 1978: Musikhalle, Hamburg, West Germany

Debussy: 12 Preludes (Book I)

Michelangeli recorded the first book of Debussy's Preludes for the first time in 1978 for Deutsche Grammophon with Cord Garben as producer: on this occasion he used two pianos: he played on one, and a wooden peg was installed in the other so that all the dampers did not touch the strings and the strings could vibrate freely. When playing Debussy, the effect of the so-called "Aeolian harp" was created: the strings of the second open piano vibrated freely due to acoustic resonance. Thanks to this effect, the interpretation in this recording achieves a rich sound, a drama that sometimes crumbles the form of the individual preludes. Probably to emphasize the resonance, Michelangeli gives space to pauses and breaths that invite the listener to listen to a distant, ineffable sound in the created silence (characteristic, for example, of Voiles or Le vent dans la plaine). Ce qu'a vu le vent

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October 26, 1978: Salle Pleyel, Paris, France (Radio Broadcast | FLAC)
 

·    Beethoven: Piano Sonata No.3 in C major, Op.2 No.3

·    Beethoven: Piano Sonata No.11 in B-flat major, Op.22
 

·    Brahms: Four Ballades, Op.10

 

 

– This recital was supposed to have ended with Chopin’s Andante Spianato & Grande Polonaise (Op.22), but Michelangeli didn’t play it because he was “too cold”! Beethoven Op.22 and Brahms also on Amadeus AMS 042-43, where it is labelled 1978-11-11.

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1979 Moves to Pura, near Lugano. Recorded live in Vienna Beethoven's Concertos Nos. 1, 3, and 5 for the DGG with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra conducted by Carlo Maria Giulini.

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 February 1, 1979: Musikverein, Vienna, Austria (TV Broadcast | Mp4697MB & DVD+R)
 

·    Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.3 in C minor, Op.37

·    Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.5 in E-flat major, Op.73 (Emperor)

– Carlo Maria Giulini / Wiener Symphoniker

 

 

– Op.37 in a Mp4 file, Op.73 on a DVD which was originally marked “November 1979: Berlin”. Also another copy of Op.73 on VHS, which was correctly marked.

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1 February, 1979: Musikverein, Vienna, Austria (Live Recording | Stereo)
 

– Deutsche Grammophon –

·    Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.3 in C minor, Op.37

·    Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.5 in E-flat major, Op.73 (Emperor)

– Carlo Maria Giulini / Wiener Symphoniker

– Deutsche Grammophon 469 820-2. Cadenzas: L. van Beethoven.

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'When in the mood for an Emperor concerto worthy of the handle, I often turn into ABM, live and characteristically imperious in Vienna. Richard Osborne found Michelangeli "all fluster and virtuoso glitter" at the time of LP issue (10/82) but I share the enthusiasm of Charlotte Gardner for the grip and definition of his phrasing as well as the sovereign personality of his immaculately conditioned instrument.'

(Peter Quantrill, Gramophone Awards issue, 2020)

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September 15, 1979: Tonhalle, Zurich, Switzerland (Audience Recording | AAC192)
 

·    Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.1 in C major, Op.15

·    Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.3 in C minor, Op.37

– Edmond de Stoutz / Zurich Chamber Orchestra

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– Also another copy of Op.15

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ABM#065. September 21, 1979: Musikverein, Vienna, Austria (TV Broadcast | Mp4710MB)
 

·    Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.1 in C major, Op.15

– Carlo Maria Giulini / Wiener Symphoniker

 

 

– Cadenzas: L. van Beethoven.

 

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ABM-C#020. September 21, 1979: Musikverein, Vienna, Austria (Live Recording | Stereo)
 

– Deutsche Grammophon –

·    Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.1 in C major, Op.15

– Carlo Maria Giulini / Wiener Symphoniker

 

 

– Deutsche Grammophon 469 820-2. Cadenzas: L. van Beethoven.​