ABM viewed from Estonia (1966)

'Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, an Italian considered one of the best pianists in the world, left an impression in music circles as a strange person. Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli often canceled announced concerts when he was not inspired. This happened in the USA and must have happened here too. A long-distance call he had made from Moscow to Italy lasted a full hour: he gave a lecture by telephone to the music school of his name. In hotels in Moscow and Leningrad, he insisted on having a piano in his room. There he practised day and night. In Leningrad, he wanted to play the piano all night at the next day's concert venue — the Philharmonic Hall. But the cleaner locked the piano and the front door of the building when he left. In search of a way out, the Italian "prisoner" had to climb through a basement window into the yard and from there over a high iron gate into the street. The stubborn pianist who had come to the hotel had to be persuaded almost all night to give the announced concert. The pianist has listened to only one man among many — our piano tuner, who in a peculiar way "tuned" the rebellious strings of Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli.' 

From an Estonian newspaper, Noorte Hääl, 30 December 1966

The context of the article relates to Peeter Vares. The writer of the article states: I caught up with the young man at the Hotel "Astoria". Peeter Vares studied at Tallinn Secondary School No. 2, from where he went to Moscow to study Italian and English at the Institute of Foreign Languages. Alongside his studies, he worked as a temporary translator for the USSR Ministry of Culture.

At the end of last year, a letter unexpectedly arrived from him in which he announced: «I work at the Ministry of Culture of the USSR. In the meantime, I was in Italy for about a year... Tonight, i.e. on November 29, I will travel to Africa for two months. I will take a Soviet pop group there. If this interests any newspaper or magazine, I am willing to send any articles or descriptions of the situation. I will be in Congo (Brazzaville) until December 12. From Congo we will travel to the Republic of Chad, the Central African Republic, Cameroon, Nigeria, Togo and Dahomey.»

In Africa, Peeter Vares was mainly a French translator (and also the leader of a pop group) in addition to English. It turned out that after graduating from the institute, he also learned French on his own. Thus, he became a translator for the USSR Ministry of Culture in three languages, and was even promoted to deputy head of the translators' bureau. P. Vares told many interesting stories about his work as a translator for international masters of art. Below are some excerpts...

Arturo Benedetti Michelangelist, üheks maailma parimaks pianistiks peetud itaallasest, jäänud muusikaringkondadele mulje kui kummalisest inimesest. Sageli jätvat Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli väljakuulutatud kontserdid ära, kui tal inspiratsiooni ei ole. Nii juhtus USA-s ja pidi juhtuma meilgi. Moskvast Itaaliasse tellitud kaugekõne kestis tal tervelt tund aega: ta pidanud telefoni teel loengu omanimelisele muusikakoolile. Moskva ja Leningradi hotellides nõudnud ta, et tema numbritoas oleks klaver. Seal harjutanud ta päevad ja ööd. Leningradis tahtnud ta järgmise päeva kontserdipaigas — filharmoonia saalis terve öö klaverTT mängida. Kuid koristaja lukustanud lahkudes klaveri ja hoone välisukse. Itaallasest «vangil» tuli väljapääsu otsides ronida läbi keldriakna õue ja sealt üle kõrge raudvärava tänavale. Hotellis tulnud jonnivat pianisti peaaegu terve öö veenda, et ta väljakuulutatud kontserdi ikka annaks. Pianist võtnud kuulda ainult üht meest paljude hulgast — meie klaverihäälestajat, kes «häälestanudki» omapärasel viisil Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli mässavad hingekeeled. * * *