Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (1920-1995)
War Years
The Italian Liszt
The outbreak of World War II (1939-1945) interrupted Michelangeli's career just as it had begun. Despite future Queen of Italy Maria José Savoia's efforts to excuse him from the army, Michelangeli was drafted. He joined the Italian airforce, and as soon as the war was over, returned to music.
'After returning from Geneva (1938), where he had undertaken a successful tour after winning the competition, he was invited to Rome, where he presented his concert to the minister and fascist official Alessandro Pavolini at the Quirinal Palace (the former residence of the Italian king), for which he received a watch and a party card as a gift, which he did not accept.
'Michelangeli's relationship with the fascist party is unclear; he often told his acquaintances that he was part of the resistance (the "Resistenza"), but no evidence has been found to date to confirm this fact. At the outbreak of World War II - at a time when all Italians capable of military service were recalled from abroad - Benedetto Michelangeli was in Paris, where he was to perform a concert for the Apostolic Nuncio Roncalli, the future Pope John XXIII, who was to ensure his timely return to Italy by the nunciature train - the papal embassy - without the planned concert being canceled. From this meeting, a close friendship was formed between the cardinal and the pianist, which lasted their entire lives.'
'The wedding of AMB and Giulinana Guidetti (20 September 1943) took place while they were being evacuated together to Count Martinenga's villa near Brescia. The reason was Michelangeli's hiding place and avoiding compulsory military service, which was introduced in September 1943 in the newly formed Italian Social Republic. Meetings with partisans also took place in the Count's residence, so in 1943 all the inhabitants of the villa were arrested and taken to the SS headquarters on Lake Iseo. Michelangeli was eventually saved from trial by the moderate fascist Innocente Dugnani (head of the province of Brescia). Benedetti Michelangeli himself never actively participated in the battles with the fascists, and it is speculated that this happened thanks to the intercession of the Piedmontese Princess Maria José di Savoia, the future Crown Princess of Italy and daughter of Elisabeth of Belgium, who summoned him to Rome and offered to organize a concert for him. During the war, the new married couple found themselves in a difficult situation, Michelangeli could not teach and only a limited number of concerts were organized, but thanks to Princess Maria José, he was able to play at the Accademia S. Cecilia in Rome in 1942. At this concert, the young Michelangeli played the Allegro by Tomeoni, Variations on a Theme by Paisiello, Sonata Op. 2 No. 3 and Sonata Op. 27 No. 2 by Beethoven, Berceuse Op. 57 by Chopin and Ballade No. 1 Op. 23, Ravel's Jeux d'eau and Debussy's L'isle joyeuse.'
The above from Czech diploma thesis by Katia Vendrame (Brno 2022), using GUIDETTI, Giuliana. Vita con Ciro & Cord Garben Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli: in bilico con un genio.
His Rome début, aged 19, was in February 1940, at the Teatro Adriano. His superbly elegant playing created 'the biggest musical sensation in Italy for quite some time' (The New York Times 11.2.1940). The lavish reviews clearly indicate that somehow, and mostly on his own, without guidance from a celebrated pedagogue (since age 13) Michelangeli had managed to acquire 'not only a piano technique like steel and mercury, but a musican insight that was at once idiosyncratic but effective, dark with pessimism yet capable of warming the heart'. (John Gillespie, quoting Richard Morrison)
'This is not just another child prodigy or more or less brilliant virtuoso, but the precocious blossoming of a complete artist of the first rank. In Italian music circles the new discovery is the vaunt and furor of the day. Advance reports had promised an unusual surprise, but few suspected a revelation of such magnitude.
'In Benedetti's readings, especially in the moderns, one often notes elaborately studied features of style, whose personal factors and occasional slight over-refinements offer some few debatable points. But these are small, indeed, in comparison with his consummate artistry as a whole. And they are quite forgotten in the spell of enchantment he weaves upon his listeners. Benedetti's re-creative and communicative faculties are among the most remarkable of his gifts.' The New York Times
In Rome Arturo Benedetti gave superbly elegant performances of two Scarlatti sonatas, a Bach-Busoni chaconne, the Brahms variations on a Paganini theme, several Chopin pieces and the Ravel "Jeux d'eau.” But especially in the Liszt E flat polonaise and First concerto (the latter with the Santa Cecilia Orchestra), the pianist achieved rare eloquence and aroused ovations such as are seldom heard here. In recital shortly after at the Casino Theatre of San Remo he is reported to have aroused like enthusiasm. The Rome critics chanted paeans of praise. Arturo is hailed as "the Italian Liszt" and one paper used the phrase exalting Michelangelo: "Michel più che mortal, angel divino." Certainly, his name is suggestive.
On Monday, the 29th of this month, (April) a concert by the young pianist Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli will take place at the Italian Cultural Institute, Vienna.
The 20-year-old artist, who received his master's degree at the age of 14 and has made his way through the world of music, will perform Beethoven's Sonata Op. 111, as well as works by Scarlatti, Brahms, Chopin, and Liszt.
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, a highly gifted pianist, multiple award-winner and now honored with the greatest acclaim by an expert circle at the Italian Cultural Institute, plays Scarlatti's short sonatas so fragrantly and elegantly that one must speak of a mastery. From here to Beethoven's Opus 111 is, of course, a great leap. And even if the spiritual depth still owes something to the joy of technical elegance: we were delighted to experience such a crystal-clear, delightfully unemotional Beethoven, with sharp contours, in a word, one sensed in this interpretation the strong, artistic power of the southerner. Neues Wiener Tagblatt , 1 May 1940
11 May 1940, Sala Blanca del Palazzo Pitti, Firenze/Florence
15 May, 1940: teatro Comunale di Bologna.
Sergio Failoni, direttore d’orchestra.
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (in sostituzione di E. Fischer).
18 May, 1940:
Weber, Euriante, Ouverture; Piccioli, Siciliana e Tarantella; Liszt, Concerto n. 1 per pianoforte e orchestra; Čajkovskij, Quinta sinfonia op. 61; Fritz Zaun, direttore d’orchestra.
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli.
Wednesday, 20 November 1940, Victoria Hall, Geneva, with Ernest Ansermet. 'The enthusiasm that this young artist provokes is fully justified at each of his appearances, as his admirable talent is always shown in all its perfection. For him, we can rightly use the description that Camille Mauclair attributes to the piano: "A white and black magic." For Benedetti's art is truly a magic. Magic of an absolutely unique pianistic touch, of an enveloping and warm softness, fluid, crystalline, but also a touch of exceptional firmness, deep, without violence and of impeccable clarity. Magic of an unrivalled technique, magic of colors, of sonorities and magic of lively, warm, expressive interpretation and yet always under the control of a mastery and a calm and absolute authority. The two works performed by the incomparable artist were those that could highlight his miraculous gifts. Liszt's Totentanz/ Danse Macabre, with its rhythmic power, its strong descriptive evocation, and Grieg's Concerto in A minor, a magnificent romantic outburst by Benedetti, enjoyed a just triumph. And to think that this piano magician, who is calm and sober before the acclamations that rise towards him, is only 20 years old! The program of this concert also included Haydn's Symphony in E flat, one of the best, and La Peri, a symphonic poem by Paul Dukas.'
Courrier de Genève, 21 November 1940
Pester LLoyd, 1 December 1940: Benedetti-Michelangeli also captivated the Budapest audience on his first evening (30 November). On December 5th, he will give his second piano recital. The new programme includes Bach—Busoni: Chaconne, Balakireff: Islamey, Chopin series, Debussy, Liszt.
The first recital:
It is impossible to describe the musical talent of the barely twenty-year-old young Italian pianist Arturo Benedetti-Michelangelo as anything other than a musical phenomenon. Those enthusiastic reports about his wonderful successes at the Florentine Maggio Musicale proved completely true yesterday evening at his first performance in Naples.
‘His psycho-physical characteristics alone predestine Arturo Benedetti-Michelangelo to be a master of the piano: a hand born to be a pianist, with extraordinary range and elasticity, a youthfully vigorous organism of controlled strength and, finally, a nervous system of astonishing endurance and discipline; These are excellent qualities that make our artist one of the most "astonishing" pianistic talents of our time.
One might think that, in possession of such a gift, we are confronted with a youthful "storm and stress" (Sturm und Drang), a romantic hothead, who plays with the youthful impetuosity of his twenties, revealing either the sensitive romantic or the self-important virtuoso—for which, incidentally, he certainly possesses the technical capabilities.
What is astonishing, beyond all else, is the unparalleled intellectual discipline of his performance, which is nothing but classically solid in the best sense of the word. mature in conception. Any obtrusive esprit de corps is avoided in order to allow the great breath, the expression of the phrase, to stand out all the more monumentally. The tempi are grasped with exemplary precision and executed with iron consistency. The motif of entire movements is presented before us with exemplary clarity, something we find entirely natural in a son of "Italian" soil, the home of his great namesake, Michelangelo. The parallels to the visual arts are particularly evident in this divinely gifted designer; the liveliness and clarity of the architecture, the organic structure of large, harmonious surfaces, are among the most striking features of his piano playing. This performance has style in the best sense of the word.
This specifically classical-Italian trait of his character in no way detracts from the universality of his comprehension, the comprehensive nature of which was already demonstrated by the compilation of Saturday's program. Anyone who can perform the late Baroque Sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti, the B-flat minor Scherzo of Chopin, the mighty C major Sonata Op. 2, full of Beethoven, or the Paganini Variations of Brahms with consistently consistent mastery, not only of the technical aspect, but also with this unprecedented intensity of intellectual habitus, is truly a universal artist. --* The evening's program was clearly designed to document the special versatility of the
phenomenal artist ad octilos
It was indeed a complete success; one didn't know what was more admirable about the performance: the sparkling fluency of the Scarlet Sonatas, which seemed to be thrown at me quite effortlessly, the classically captivated and yet highly expressive poise in the Beethoven Sonata (where the inner passages of the Adagio and the Scherzo, as well as the sparkling Finale, are highlighted as particular highlights), the somber, gloomy, and melancholic choral performances of the Beethoven Sonata, not to mention the mighty Paganini Variations by Brahms, the stupendous virtuosity of the minor works (Chopin Etudes, Polonaise by Liszt). It is almost unbelievable how a young man of barely 20 years of age was able to attain such a classical height of pianistic expression, which even made the performance of Chopin's Scherzo appear to us as a kind of classical music. In comparison, the fact that, for example, the tempi of the Chopin etudes were taken a little too quickly in youthful practice must be completely secondary in importance. The audience, who cheered ecstatically for the youthful phenomenon and demanded a whole series of encores from him, left the concert hall with the blissful feeling of having heard one of the greatest piano artists of our time. Indeed: when one listens to Arturo Benedetti-Michelangeli's playing, one can perhaps get an inkling of the feeling with which, about 100 years ago, contemporaries may have listened, breathlessly captivated, to the appearance of the young Liszt.
Dénes Bartha (1908–1993), the internationally renowned Hungarian music historian, worked as a music critic for Pester Lloyd, the German-language Budapest daily newspaper between 1939 and 1944
Second recital: The outstanding pianist began his concert today in the Redoute [= Vigadó, Budapest] with a charming little work by Tomeoni (18th century). From the very first bar, the listener is enchanted by the floating lightness and the subtlety of the nuances in Arturo Benedetti-Micheangeli's playing. The vivid voice leading is as clear as the beautifully rounded formal structure. His dazzling and unerring virtuosity knows no bounds, as was also demonstrated by the serious and balanced rendition of Bach-Busoni's Chaconne. With the elegant assurance of a grand seigneur, he commands the passages, the octaves, and the chords, letting the tones roar tempestuously without showing the slightest effort or fatigue. Listening to these passages, one has the impression that everything is far too easy for him and that he could play even the most difficult passages just as effortlessly, and with his characteristic superior calm, twice as fast. This sovereign mastery of technique, in this absolute perfection, would offer considerable aesthetic pleasure in itself. In addition to this astonishing virtuosity, there is also a high level of musical culture that lends value and significance to this pianist's interpretations. He also has a particularly fine sense of sound and expressive phrasing, which his Chopin playing demonstrated. The Berceuse was a delicate whisper, softly passing by like a gentle breath of the warm, fragrant spring breeze. The F minor Fantasy was sweeping and brilliant, and the C sharp minor Étude, which he performed as an encore, set a tempo record that will probably be difficult to surpass. On the piano, Benedetti-Michelangeli has a velvety touch, and he knows how to conjure tonal subtleties and nuances from the instrument that are rarely encountered.
"Islamey" by Balakirev. This composition, which we had remembered as a not particularly entertaining or interesting work, was now unrecognizable. Benedetti-Michelangeli transformed it into a glittering (and also thunderous) firework of astonishing feats, playing them colorfully and charmingly, with a springy, idealistic rhythm, with fiery temperament, but above all with unparalleled pianistic bravura. Thunderous applause thanked the outstanding young artist.
1942
At the end of January 1942, at the height of the second World War, he was enlisted in the Third Medical Subdivision in Baggio, near Milan. Very little is known of his adventurous experiences during the war, the dubious reconstruction of which is entrusted to the testimonies written by several people very close to him. After 8 September 1943, to avoid the round-ups carried out by the Germans and the subsequent obligation to report for military service requested by the government of the Republic of Salò, he took refuge in Borgonato di Cortefranca, in Franciacorta, as a guest in the castle of the Berlucchi family. Here, on 20 of September, in the Church of San Vitale, he was married to Giuliana Guidetti, from whom he was to be legally separated, by deed of the Court of Brescia, on 10th March 1970.
During the following months he stayed with his wife in Sale Marasino, in the villa overlooking Lake Iseo belonging to the Martinengo family. He remained there until November 1944, when he was forced to evacuate following an air-raid which hit the building and, among other things, damaged the first “concert grand” that the Maestro had purchased with the earnings from his first concerts. He then moved on to Gussago, to the Togni residence, where he was found and arrested by the fascists and taken prisoner to Marone, also on Lake Iseo, to the headquarters of the SS. A few days later, thanks to the intervention of the head of the province of Brescia, Innocente Dugnani, he was transferred to the capital of the province, where he remained for some time, hidden in the loft of the Vittoria Hotel.
Despite the call-up and the war, with its tragic events and vicissitudes, Benedetti Michelangeli was able to continue to carry out a limited concert activity, thanks to the protection of the future queen, Princess Maria José, daughter of Queen Elisabeth the Queen Mother of Belgium, who had appreciated his talent at the time of the competition in Brussels. He played at the S. Cecilia Academy in Rome, La Scala in Milan, the “Maggio Musicale Fiorentino” (Florentine Music Festival) and held concerts in various cities throughout Italy and in Switzerland; he made his first appearance in Barcelona (1940) and in Berlin (1943).
In January 1942, 'this talented young man played a similar programme [to Accademia S. Cecilia in Rome in 1942., mentioned above] at the Teatro del Popolo in Milan. The following day, in a published newspaper article, music critic Franco Abbiati wrote how, after two years of not playing in Milan, the pianist had "literally grown considerably, all his insecurities had disappeared and he had improved his command of technical means. What we had considered free in his interpretations had been reduced to a few justified boldnesses; those poetic boldnesses, of a typically musical nature, which are readily admitted to those who have achieved this right and seriousness with their undoubtedly exceptional format". The concert featured works by Beethoven, Chopin, Ravel and Debussy, all of which the critic admires for their clarity of expression and "seductive variety" of colours. The concert ended with two encores in the form of Scarlatti sonatas. (Corriere della Sera. 11. 1. 1942, quoted by Katia Vendrame (Brno 2022)
1942 was also the year of the beginning of the collaboration between the conductor Sergio Celibidache and Benedetti Michelangeli: a collaboration that lasted the longest for the pianist, based on great mutual respect and friendship. In Milan, the two artists played Ravel's Concerto in G major together.
Katia Vendrame (Brno 2022)
During this period he also began to make recordings; his first 78 rpm, for “La Voce del Padrone”, came out in 1941 (see SUCCESS page). He was to continue his recording activity with His Master’s Voice and Telefunken until the late Fifties. When the war was over, he went back to teaching – he was assigned the chair of pianoforte at the Conservatory in Venice - and contributed decisively towards the revival of music in his city as Chairman of the “S. Cecilia“ Brescian Symphony Concert Society. He held the office until September 1947, when he was forced to resign due to the increasing concert engagements which took him to all four corners of the world: in 1946 he performed at the Royal Albert Hall in London, in 1948-49 he made the first of his numerous tours in the United States (the following tours were in 50, 67, 68, 70 and 71), in 1949 he played in South America and in 1951 in South Africa.
Un pianista di natura titanica
17 March 1942, Teatro Verdi, Trieste, Italy: Grieg Concerto with Alceo Galliera. "La deliziosa introduzione al «Segreto di Susanna» di Wolff-Ferrari, le smaglianti «Fontane di Roma» di Respighi, Io stupendo «Concerto per pianoforte» in la minore di Grieg; la maestosa Seconda Sinfonia di Brahms."
'The evening, thus passed with the utmost approval, then had a further rise in tone, reaching the clarion call of triumph [lo squillo del trionfo], at the centre of the programme, where the pianist Michelangeli performed Grieg's Piano Concerto and a whole series of unprogrammed pieces, including, alongside Scarlatti and Chopin's Etude on the Black Keys (Op.10/6), some Iberian dances by modern composers. Michelangell is today the favourite son of glory. The older generations love him, because they find in him the art of some unsurpassed master of times gone by; the young idolize him because he expresses the contemporary conquests of the art of the piano, for which he will certainly hold the Italian primacy in the world tomorrow. For he is a pianist of titanic nature. All the nervous energy of this young man converges on the keyboard. The two hands are now two steel levers that seem almost to cancel each other out, unleashing formidable sonorities, now a touch that passes to the string almost without the physical intermediary of percussion. A mixture of the refined and the wild is in his pianistic nature, and these two aspects alternate with each other, according to the inner musical needs perhaps the two poles of music itself, which to be truly inspired must possess the primitive ingenuity of creative inspiration and the knowing subtlety that enhances it. He played Grieg's Concerto with great poetry, much warmth, exquisite abandon, but he never allowed himself to be carried away by virtuosity, which, moreover, is not excessive in the composition and even less so for a performer of his strength. An essential factor of his charm is naturally his uplifting touch, which sings with a lightness that almost seems like a breath, or with a vigor that sounds like a metallic crack. Grieg is full of these antitheses in his Concerto, and Michelangelo knows how to rock delightfully on this swing of dynamism.'
Il Piccolo di Trieste, 18.3.1942
15 April 1942
'Pianist Benedetti Michelangeli at Pro Cultura. Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli returned to Turin last night, for the fourth time in just over two years. And our fourth report is no different from the others, just as the interest, pleasure, and success of the new hearing were no different or less. Following step by step the evolution of a pianist who debuts with such a wealth of technique and sensitivity will be, in addition to a renewed enjoyment, the opportunity for important observations, not only for his biography, but also for questions of interpretation. He played the third of the three sonatas that Beethoven dedicated to Haydn [=Op. 2/3 in C major].
Among the variations Beethoven delighted in inventing on themes from Paisello's "Bella molinara,"[Six Variations on Molinara by Paisiello WoO70] the concert pianist chose not the witty, simple, and almost obvious ones from the Quartet, but the others on the languid phrase of the love-hungry young woman. These are exemplary in retaining eighteenth-century taste throughout and admitting a few livelier, more moving accents, for example, in the fourth variation. And even in fairness, Benedetti Michelangeli's interpretation was clear, measured, and entirely in keeping with the spirit of the pieces.
Fra le variazioni che Beethoven si compiacque di inventare su temi della Bella molinara di Paislello il concertista scelso non quelle argute del Quartetto, semplicette e quasi ovvie, ma le altre sulla languida frase della donnetta vogliosa d'amore, le quali son esemplari nel ritenere in ogni loro parte il gusto settecentesco e dell'ammettere un qualche più vivo accento toccante, per esemplo nella quarta variazione. E anche in onesto caso la lezione del Benedetti Michelangeli fu chiara, misurata, tutta adeguata allo spirito delle pagine.
'And we could also mention, if space permitted, the admirable performances of Chopin (of the Berceuse, exquisitely sung and paced, of the first Ballade in G minor, where the technical difficulties were brilliantly overcome, and the impetuosity, the burst of the "Presto con fuoco" rendered with just relation to the preceding passionate conclusion), of Ravel (jeux d'eau), of Debussy (L'ile joueuse), splendid in the rich palette, in the sparkle and in the opacity, in the suggestiveness of the harmony...'
Saturday, 16 May 1942, La Scala, Milan with conductor Willy Ferrero.
The concert was held on 12th or 13th April 1942 at the Teatro Grande, Brescia, with the “S. Cecilia” orchestra conducted by maestro Ferruccio Francesconi. The programme included Beethoven, Concerto op. 73; Grieg, Concerto op. 16, whilst the Maestro added an additional Scarlatti, Sonata; Chopin, Étude and Waltz; De Falla, Ritual Fire dance; Mompou, Cançion y Danza; Albéniz, Malagueña; Chopin, Mazurca.
9 June 1942, Teatro Comunale di Bologna:
Bach-Busoni, Ciaccona; Beethoven, Sonata op. 27 n. 2; Ravel, Giochi d’acqua; Debussy, L’isola gioiosa; Chopin, Mazurka, Ballata in sol minore; Liszt, Rapsodia n. 12
1943 Budapest
Late in 1942 Napi Hírek, (29 December) announces: Arturo Benedetti-Michelangeli, the world-famous Italian piano virtuoso, will arrive in Budapest next week. He will perform twice: on Friday 8 January, under the baton of János Ferencsik, he will play the Liszt Piano Concerto in E-flat major accompanied by the Hungarian State Orchestra, and then on Wednesday 13 January, he will give a solo piano recital. His programme will include 3 Scarlatti Sonatas, Beethoven's C minor sonat No. 32 Op.111- sonata and Schumann's Carnaval, as well as compositions by Martucci, Debussy, Albéniz and Chopin. [Albéniz, Recuerdos de Viaje, Op.71 – 6. Rumores de la Caleta (Malagueña) which he recorded in 1941?]
Pester Lloyd, 8 January 1943. The concert by the Italian piano artist Benedetti
Michelangeli, announced for Friday, had to be postponed because the outstanding pianist will not arrive in Budapest until Saturday due to current traffic difficulties. The concert will now be held on Monday, 11 January, as the artist will perform Liszt's E-flat major piano concerto with the accompaniment of the Budapest Orchestra conducted by Ferencsik. On Wednesday, 13th Benedetti Michelangeli will present a stand-alone piano concert, as originally planned. Both events will take place in the large Redoutensaal [Székesfővárosi Vigadó] Hall.
The orchestral concert also featured Sándor Veress's Symphony, Bartók's Divertimento & Ravel's Rhapsodie Espagnole. Veress was born 1907, 1 February in Kolozsvár / Cluj-Napoca / Klausenburg (formerly Austria-Hungary, nowadays Romania). He composed his Szimfónia in 1940, to celebrate the 2600th anniversary of the Japanese imperial dynasty. The score was published in Tokyo and the symphony premièred at the Tokyo Kabukiza Theatre on 7 December. The Hungarian première will take place on 10 October 1941 in the Budapest Vigadó, Ahn Eak-tai conducting the Metropolitan Orchestra.
Friday 15 January 1943 Vigadó, Budapest with conductor Endre Gaál?
Of the recital on 13th, Dénes Bartha wrote: 'When this uniquely gifted young Italian pianist visited our capital for the first time about two years ago [November/December 1940], we welcomed his first appearance in Budapest with particular emphasis as one of the greatest pianistic sensations of our time. No wonder that this time, too, a packed Redoutensaal chose to hear the playing of this pianist, who had matured into a master at a young age, with his restraint in purely emotional aspects. An almost incredible, almost uncanny assurance of all technical aspects, the meticulous purity of ornamentation and mesmerism (equally clear whether we are dealing with the harpsichord manners of Scarlatti or the pianoforte figuration of Chopin), an incredibly rich range of touch from the most delicate pianissimo to the steely forte in all conceivable gradations and timbres; paired with consummate intellectual discipline, with an absolute, selfless devotion to the musical work, and an inner and outer discipline reminiscent of Gieseking or Backhaus: these are the most striking characteristics of his absolutely perfect playing. Precisely for this reason, even among the particularly rich German portion of his programme (Bach—Beethoven—Schumann), the strict texture of Bach (Italian Concerto) and the weighty pathos of Beethoven (Sonata in C minor, Op. 111) must have appealed to him most, while Schumann's "Faschingswank" despite its astonishing technical perfection, left us a degree colder, no less than the poetic Chopin Berceuse, where the extraordinary refinement of touch and melismatics inevitably had to come at the expense of romantic emotional participation.
(Pester Lloyd 15.1.1943)
Wednesday, 27 January 1943. Teatro Adriano, 4pm, a recital which included Beethoven No.32 Op.111 and Igor Stravinsky's Danse Ruse (from Petrushka).
22 April 1943, Teatro Comunale di Bologna:
Franck, Sinfonia in re; Liviabella, Il vincitore, poema sinfonico; De Falla, Il cappello a tre punte; Schumann, Concerto per pianoforte e orchestra.
Alceo Galliera, direttore d’orchestra.
On 20 September 1943 Michelangeli married pianist Giulia Linda Guidetti, who was a pupil of his father. They lived in Bornato, near Brescia, Bolzano and Arezzo. They separated in 1970.
Sunday, 5 December 1943: Teatro La Fenice, Venice
Domenico Scarlatti, 3 Sonatas
Silvius Leopold Weiss Suite. pf. Si bemolle
Ludwig van Beethoven Sonata. pf. n. 32. op. 111. BiaB 741. Do min.
Johannes Brahms 28 Variazioni. pf. op. 35. B.W. XIII,147. La min. Sopra un tema di Paganini: Libro II
Sergej Rachmaninov Preludi: a. Sol b. Sol min.
Franz Liszt Pastorale. pf
Franz Liszt Rapsodia. pf (probably Hungarian Rhapsody No. 12 in C# minor)
With World War II underway, Michelangeli pursued yet another love, racing-car driving; for him it was a metaphor for control. His participation in the Mille Miglia auto race did not result in victory, as has often been reported. But the lightning quick reflexes and unruffled confidence required by racing translated into an approach to piano technique that outwitted risks and gave it its edge; the higher the stakes, the greater the control. Years later his friend and colleague, the ex-patriot Russian pianist Nikita Magaloff, would chide him for "driving his sportscar like a madman. It’s a wonder that he is still alive."
Michelangeli saw the war through the eyes of a pilot, a partisan and a prisoner. "I’m a pilot above all," he declared. "A pilot; then a doctor; and only then, maybe, a suonatore (player)." Michelangeli remained an independent spirit, resisting conformity and the mindless regimentation of the fascists. He quit the Italian air force to join the Resistance. Little is known about his eight months of incarceration by the Nazis, from whom he is reported to have escaped. But according to Roy McMullen in High Fidelity magazine, the pianist’s flight from his captors was made in "spectacular fashion." (John Bell Young)
'Having interrupted his concert activity between June 1944 and May 1945, and having escaped German roundups by hiding in friends' homes, he resumed performing in public on 26 June, 1945, at La Scala. In 1946, he made his debut in London, essentially resuming the thread that had been broken in 1939.
'The almost complete live recording of Liszt's First Piano Concerto (Geneva, 8 July 1939), the studio recordings of Grieg's Concerto op. 16 (9 February 1942) and Schumann's Concerto op. 54 (9 April 1942), as well as some works for solo piano, including André-François Marescotti's Fantasque (1941), Debussy's Reflets dans l'eau (1941), Beethoven's Sonata op. 2 no. 3 (1941), Chopin's Berceuse (1942), Domenico Scarlatti's Sonata K. 96 (1943), Bach's Italian Concerto (1943) are enough to give an idea of the characteristics of the young man.' (Piero Rattolino)
In an interview with Dominic Gill (Music & Musicians, June 1973), Michelangeli claimed that the famous English impresario Harold Holt (1885-1953), having heard one of his recordings, invited him to perform in England. As Michelangeli recalled it, he lived in England for two years after the war, and because he had refused to play with what he considered the "poor" English orchestras of that time, Holt brought over the best European orchestras and conductors for him to play with. If such performances took place, reviews are not listed in The Times (index); however, there is a review dated 16 December 1946 of Michelangeli and the London Symphony under Warwick Braithwaite performing Liszt 1 and Cesar Franck Symphonic Variations. (John Gillespie)
1946
First tour of Great Britain. In Trento, he meets the Pedrotti Brothers, founders of the SAT Choir, for whom, in the following years, he will harmonize 19 mountain songs.
'After the war, his engagements in Europe and overseas increased. In 1946, as a budding piano star, he presented himself in London, where he returned many times during his life. After appearances in Brussels and Zurich, he returned to a sold-out La Scala in Milan in November 1947, where he played with the Turin Symphony Orchestra and conductor Mario Rossi to perform Beethoven's Fifth Concerto. The piano part of the concert was a great success with the audience, and alongside Beethoven, Dallapiccola's two orchestral pieces were played, which literally provoked a "fight between the orchestra and the audience", who "whistled, screamed and generally made it impossible to listen to these musical innovations" during the performance.' (Corriere della Sera. 25. 11. 1942)
Katia Vendrame (Brno, 2022)
Vienna, May/June 1947
Michelangeli made his first appearance with the Ravel Concerto at the Edinburgh Festival in summer 1947 with the Scottish [National] Orchestra under Walter Süsskind. This was the inauguration of the Festival. "In 1947, after the devastation of World War II, the founding vision for the Edinburgh International Festival was to reunite people through great art. In that first year, people overcame the post-war darkness, division and austerity in a blooming of festival spirit. Over the past eight decades, that same vision has ignited an astonishing breadth of thrilling cultural experiences across the arts. As the first Festival approached in 1947, rations were still in place and the Minister for Fuel and Power banned floodlighting the castle at the inaugural International Festival. But the people of Edinburgh felt differently. They wanted visitors to appreciate their magnificent castle, floodlit at night. Hundreds of letters and telegrams poured in with generous offers to donate coal rations. The Minister had no choice but to relent."
1948
He recorded the Bach-Busoni Ciaccona and the Brahms-Paganini Variations in London. He was a member of the jury at the Scheveningen (Netherlands) and Budapest piano competitions. He toured Great Britain again: at the Edinburgh Festival, he played the Bethoven Triple Concerto with Gioconda De Vito and Enrico Mainardi, accompanied by Furtwängler.
15 June 1948, Grosser Konzerthaus-Saal, Vienna (?). Haydn D major concerto, + Ravel; also Mario Peragallo, La Collina. Wiener Symphoniker under Antonio Pedrotti
10 September 1948, Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Scotland. Orchestra dell'Accademia di Santa Cecilia under Vittorio Gui (a great Rossini conductor). ABM played the Schumann Concerto (also Cenerentola overture and Brahms 3)
The Grand Finale in Edinburgh. Special report from the "Weltpresse" by Joe Lederer
Edinburg, September 15. The grand finale began with a roar: The Augusteo Orchestra from Rome, which first performed under the direction of the young Italian Carlo Zecchi, gave two magnificent concerts with Wilhelm Furtwängler conducting.
On the first evening, Dr. Furtwängler conducted Brahms's Second Symphony after Cherubini's "Anacreon" Overture. Beethoven's Triple Concerto for piano, violin, cello, and orchestra (Op 56), with the three Italian soloists, pianist Arturo Benedetti-Michelangeli, violinist Gioconda de Vito, and cellist Mainardi, was followed by the third Leonore Overture, this jewel that no other conductor makes sparkle as much as Furtwängler.
Die Weltpresse (15.9.48)
October 1948: Abbey Road Studios, London, England (Studio Recordings | Mono for EMI)
Brahms: Variations on a theme by Paganini, Op.35 [edited by Michelangeli]. DETAILS
Bach/Busoni: Chaconne from Violin Partita No.2 in D minor, BWV 1004
Debussy: Reflets dans l’eau (Images, Book I No.1)
Galuppi: Presto in B-flat major
Of the Brahms, Richard Osborne wrote in 2021: 'A yet-to-be-surpassed account of these variations of hair-raising difficulty'.
c.15 October 1948, Konzerthaus, Vienna
The first subscription concert of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra plunged into the music without the usual sonorous preface of an effective overture. Arturo Benedetti
Michelangeli sat down at the piano, Dr. Karl Böhm stepped to the conductor's podium, and
Schumann's Piano Concerto began. In the virtuoso hands of a modern piano master, for whom precision, objectivity, delicacy, and technical perfection are paramount, the Schumann concerto was transported from the romantic moonlit night into the bright day, and the blue flower of Romanticism was chemically polished (die blaue Blume
der Romantik chemisch geputzt).
Emil Sauer, as the last of the old Romantics, made this concerto rave and revel in emotion,
but the era of this poetic, broad-sounding, and exuberant Romanticism is
arguably over. The modern Romantic no longer lets his hair flutter, but wears it short and elegantly styled. In this modern Romanticism, Benedetti Michelangeli is a true master with perfect technique, polished passagework, and the finest blends of sound. His Schumann lives in a house furnished with tubular steel furniture and lit by concealed lamps, and the rapturous Romantic takes to the telephone and speaks here softly and precisely. Thus, in the playing of this interesting Italian pianist, old and new times, Romanticism and the present are present. After the Schumann Concerto, which was received with great acclaim, the virtuoso piano chemist played a piece by Scarlatti with dazzling music-box technique and a piece (Danza e Canzone) by Mompou with the finest nuances of sound and color. The second half of the concert belonged to Bruckner, whose Seventh Symphony was performed by Dr. Böhm. (Weltpresse 15.10.48)
30 October, 1948: Teatro Comunale di Bologna.
Bach-Busoni, Ciaccona; Scarlatti, Andante; Galuppi, Allegro; Beethoven, Sonata op. 111; Ravel, Valses nobles et sentimentales; Debussy, Images; Brahms, Variazioni su un tema di Paganini.
In 1948 Michelangeli toured the United States for the first time, making his orchestral debut at Carnegie Hall in November, performing Schumann's Piano Concerto in A minor Op. 54 with the New York Philharmonic and Dimitri Mitropoulos (21 November). He withdrew abruptly in the middle of this 1948-49 U.S. tour, lamenting what he perceived as his promoter’s desire for him “to act as if I were from Barnum’s circus.”
In November 1948, he left for the United States to begin his public performances: in New York's Carnegie Hall (18th), he played Schumann's Piano Concerto in A minor with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of the Greek conductor Dimitri Mitropoulos, a pupil of Ferruccio Busoni. The same evening Mitropoulos' transcription of Bach's Fantasia and Fugue in G minor, BWV542.
Michelangeli's interpretation of the Schumann concerto appears unusually freer and more impulsive than is usual in the pianist's recordings from later years. This may also be a reaction to the conductor, who supports such a freer and more brilliant interpretation in the orchestral parts. It was during these years that Michelangeli reached the highest levels in terms of technical ability and therefore virtuosity, and this recording of the Schumann concerto is proof of this. Musicologist Pietro Rattalino describes this performance as an "enormous explosion, very direct", (“esplosione terribile, direttissima”) both artists really burst forth with beautiful music, probably because at that time the pianist's depression and the heavy psychological pressure he felt before his performances had not yet begun to manifest themselves.'
Katia Vendrame (Brno 2022)
1949 was the centenary of the birth of Fryderyk Chopin. In Michelangeli's life, this year is characterized by concerts with Chopin's compositions in the programs, such as his Concerto No. 1, whose presentation was scheduled for May 14 and was to be played as part of the "Pomeriggi musicali" program in Milan at the "Teatro Nuovo" with conductor Carlo Zecchi.
The first piano concert was also part of the Chopin festival organized by the "Associazione Riunita dei Concerti" (Arc) association founded by pianist Enzo Calaco - a student of Busoni and teacher of Claudio Abbado.
Unfortunately, due to Michelangeli's indisposition, the concert was canceled at the last minute. The following day, the press commented on the pianist's act with a slight irony: "nevertheless, he will play tomorrow and Thursday in the same theater, which in a way proves that some of the artist's indispositions are serious". (Corriere della Sera. 15. 5. 1949)
Katia Vendrame (Brno 2022)
Friday 7 January 1949, Northrop Auditorium, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The 27-year-old pianist who has electrified Europe with his playing will be making his first Minneapolis appearance with the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, under Dimitri Mitropoulos. He is a direct descendant of the famous Italian artist and sculptor, Michelangelo [?]. He will play César Franck's Symphonic Variations and Liszt No. 1. The orchestra will play Berlioz's Roman Carnival and Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances. William Schuman's sprightly 8-minute "Circus Overture" will conclude. (Star Tribune, 2.1.49)
16 January, 1949: Los Angeles, California
Franck: Symphonic Variations for Piano & Orchestra
– Alfred Wallenstein / Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra
In January 1949 he made his solo debut at Carnegie Hall. Following his spell at Conservatorio in Bologna.
5 May 1949, Bologna
Weber, Il Franco cacciatore, [Der Freischütz] Ouverture; Petrassi, La follia di Orlando; Martin, Ballata per pianoforte e orchestra; Liszt, Concerto per pianoforte e orchestra n. 1.
Antonio Pedrotti, direttore d’orchestra.
17 & 21 June 1949
The renowned Italian pianist Arturo Benedetti-Michelangeli has confirmed his participation in the Vienna Music Festival. In a concert conducted by Karl Böhm on June 17 in the Great Concert Hall, he will perform Frank Martin's Ballade with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. The same concert will feature the premiere of the Second Symphony by the young Austrian composer Karl Schiske. Arturo Benedetti-Michelangeli will also give a Chopin evening on Tuesday, June 21, as part of the Konzerthaus Society's Chopin Cycle.
(Wiener Kurier, 25 April 1949)
His delicate, springy touch (in Chopin recital), his excellent use of the pedals, and the fine nuances of the sound effects extract an unusually rich range of tones from the keys and a sonorous, rich piano. His runs, trills, and fioriture sparkle like a cascade of glittering jewels, and no one asks whether some of these gems aren't Pierre de Strass. The legato playing, however, is not entirely perfect; the phrases sometimes become disorganized, and the performance is occasionally disconcerted by the occasional unfounded rubati and ritardandi. His interpretation is convincing where it can and should be objective: for example, in the finale of the B-flat minor sonata, which he chases across the keys like a hurricane with a ghostly eeriness, or in the F-minor Fantasy, which he structures coolly, clearly, and vividly. But when it comes to letting Chopin's wonderful expressive cantilenas, which are actually supposed to begin to sing from within themselves without any external, effective suggestion, flow forth, the objectivity and crystal clarity that Michelangeli is so famous for, become a disadvantage. Is it possible to play Chopin in any other way than subjectively and romantically? Is it conceivable to objectively interpret the "Berceuse" or the C-sharp minor Prelude like a fugue from the "Well-Tempered Clavier" or a didactic piece by Hindemith, without rewriting their inherent romanticism based on one's own subjective perception? Is this especially possible for a compatriot of Bellini, whose delicate, rapturous cantilenas made such a deep impression on Chopin? An interesting evening and a master pianist: but when it comes to Chopin, not our man.
Neues Österreich 29 June 1949
1949 Official pianist at the memorial ceremonies for Frédéric Chopin (first centenary of his death). Tour in Argentina. Member of the jury of the "Premio Busoni" piano competition in Bolzano, of which he is a co-founder.
Polish newspaper Gazeta Ludowa (18 June 1949) reports that the Polish Ambassador to Italy H.E. Adam Ostrowski , visited the mayor of Florence, Mario Fabiani to open an exhibition of Polish graphics organised in one of the rooms of the Palazzo Vecchio, and on the 14th he was present at the gala concert honouring Chopin in the Teatro Comunale, when the distinguished pianist Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli performed.
In the autumn of the "Chopin Year", Michelangeli was invited to become part of the jury of the first edition of the Busoni Competition in Bolzano, where his good friend and director of the Conservatory, Cesare Nordio, lived, who had helped organize it and played a significant role in its organization. Nordio worked as a pianist and teacher at the Bolzano Conservatory for about ten years. The final of the competition took place on September 23, 1949, when nine of the twelve finalists were Italian. The first prize was not awarded; the second, offered by the jury member Michelangeli himself, was awarded to “Lodovico Lessoni from Turin; the third to Rossana Orlandina from Pisa, the fourth to Alfredo Brendel from Graz and the fifth to Bela Siková from Budapest”. The jury, alongside Artur, included Nikita Magalov, Jacques de Fevrier, Egon Kornauth and Gino Tagliapietra, Busoni’s pupil.
Corriere della Sera. 24. 9. 1949,
1949-50 Teacher at the Venice Conservatory.
South America
Brazilian newspaper Correio Paulistana (16 March 1949) notes that Michelangeli will perform in the Teatro Municipal, Rio de Janeiro. But see below...
21 July, 1949: Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires, Argentina. A recording from a Radio Belgrano broadcast.
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No.3 in C major, Op.2 No.3
Chopin: Mazurka in A minor, Op.68 No.2, in B minor, Op.33 No.4
Chopin: Andante Spianato & Grande Polonaise Brillante, Op.22
Encores:
· Grieg: Lyric Piece in E major, Op.68 No.5 (Cradle Song)
· Galuppi: Sonata No.5 in C major
· Grieg: Lyric Piece in G minor, Op.47 No.5 (Melancholy)
Despite the poor quality of the recording, it is possible to hear the clear singing tone of the right hand in the Andante spianato e Grande Polacca brillante, which is combined with very calm playing with large breaths between individual long phrases, in contrast to the brilliant virtuoso parts, where the sound suddenly becomes very light.
Katia Vendrame
Enzo Valenti Ferro, 100 años de música en Buenos Aires : de 1890 a nuestros días has different dates. On 28 July, ABM began a series of five recitals at the Colón with 2 Scarlatti sonatas, Bach-Busoni Chaconne, Beethoven Sonata No. 3 in C, Debussy Images I and Brahms/Paganini.
19 August 1949. ABM was due to play Haydn Concerto Op. 21 and Mozart K466 for the Asociación de Amigos de la Música but he cancelled this and other engagements, as he had to undergo surgery. Diario da Noite (31 August 1949 ) announces that ABM has had to cancel his Brazil concert for Pro Arte in São Paulo on 9th September because of this emergency surgery (appendectomy); he will return to Italy.
Baldassare Galuppi (18 October 1706 – 3 January 1785) was a Venetian composer, born on the island of Burano in the Venetian Republic. He belonged to a generation of composers, including Johann Adolph Hasse, Giovanni Battista Sammartini, and C. P. E. Bach, whose works are emblematic of the prevailing galant music that developed in Europe throughout the 18th century. He achieved international success, spending periods of his career in Vienna, London and Saint Petersburg, but his main base remained Venice, where he held a succession of leading appointments. Michelangeli also had in his repertoire Galuppi: Presto in B-flat major.
La Sonata in do maggiore di Galuppi. Lì ha un timbro che non sembra un pianoforte, sembra uno strumento inventato da lui. Un suono che non esiste.
'Galuppi's Sonata in C major. It has a timbre that doesn't sound like a piano; it sounds like an instrument he invented. A sound that doesn't exist.' (Piero Rattalino)
Michelangeli's teaching activity continued in Venice, Berlin, Geneva and Budapest. His concept of training students to become professional piano concertists[definition needed] was unorthodox but successful, and he taught for several years in Bozen, and from 1952 to 1964 in Arezzo (with a break caused by ill health between 1953 and 1955). The courses eventually resulted in the foundation of the Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli International Piano Academy, which was to be organized by the city and provincial authorities in Arezzo, in cooperation with the 'Amici della Musica' Society. Unfortunately, the project did not come to fruition. He ran further courses in Moncalieri, Siena, and Lugano, and from 1967 he gave private tuitions at a Rabbi [clarification needed] in his Alpine villa in the province of Trento.
'We are in western Trentino, where the small Val di Rabbi branches off from the Val di Sole. Here, in a tiny hamlet surrounded by woods, is the Alpine hut that served as Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli's refuge for three decades. The great pianist's wife, visiting the Milan Trade Fair, came across building and pointed it out to him. He was immediately won over and decided to purchase it. He reserved the ground-floor rooms for his advanced training students, each equipped with a piano. On the first floor, he placed the common room, with its traditional stube and fireplace, while the bedrooms and his study were on the second. When the number of students increased—Americans, Slavs, and especially Japanese, a select group from whom he charged no compensation—he built another cabin next to the first, where his two Steinway grand pianos were housed in the larger room. The students stayed for extended periods, and he established a family atmosphere with them, a sense of community. He was a skilled cook, and in the evenings, he enjoyed cooking for everyone, then staying late to chat. His most intimate relationship was with Signora Gemma, the housekeeper who would care for him for three decades. A touching memory is one winter when Michelangeli, returning from a tour with two Japanese students, suggests to Gemma that they put up a Christmas tree for his children and those in the hamlet. He says he hadn't had one since he was little. And the Japanese girls take care of the decorations, making beautiful ones even just from candy and chocolate wrappers. He was an avid reader of "Topolino" (Mickey Mouse).'
(Alessandro Tamburini, Avvenire, June 12, 2025)
Alessandro Baricco on Galuppi
Michelangeli spalancava radure fra le note di Galuppi
Ss he's gone, Benedetto Michelangeli, in his own way, without warning. From what I understand, there's a one in a billion chance: but if he ends up in the same place where Debussy has been wintering for decades, you know what an encounter. Eternity won't be long enough for those two: they have a whole world of sounds to tell each other, their own stuff, the others have never understood a thing, it's a world that existed only in their ears. If they explain it to each other, just by looking into each other's eyes, you can bet, they won't even need a piano. A look and away.
It's not that I'm exactly a Benedetti Michelangeli fanatic, I couldn't say that, but by dint of reading, I was overcome by that irresistible nostalgia that until a minute before had objectively non-existent - that little bit of sadness that was enough to make me find myself "standing there looking for that record among the records, without finding it, of course, but with the precise sensation that if I hadn't found it I would have gone out and bought it, because if I didn't hear it I would have gone mad.
The record on which he played Galuppi, Galuppi's name was Baldassarre, and he was a Venetian composer, one of those who are almost forgotten now. Born and died in the eighteenth century. He wrote a lot of stuff, and among other things a lot of sonatas for stringed instruments. keyboard, and among the many, one, in C major: and it was the one Michelangeli played. Probably, if he hadn't played it, it would have disappeared into thin air long ago. But, God knows why, he had fished it out of the deck, and played it. And so no one will ever forget it. It starts like a Paradise: I remember that for sure. The beginning leaves you speechless. Reading it, it's music of an insane simplicity, there's absolutely nothing, the left hand playing a banal Alberti bass and the right stringing the notes one after the other, without doubling, just a few timid embellishments here and there, all in Andante tempo (the tempo of Paradiso, in fact). Reading it, you wouldn't give two cents for it. But you have to hear how he played it. He opened it wide. He even played it slower than it should have been, and what he did was let the light pass through. It's incredible what you can achieve if you're only capable of letting the light pass through. He did it with a piano, opening the notes, one by one, like the portholes of a schooner on the open sea. And it's also absurd, if you think about it, because the good Galuppi had never even seen a real piano, and yet with his Steinway, Benedetti Michelangeli took that artisanal detail and opened every note. I don't know how, perhaps he was fiddling with the pedal, perhaps it was just a touch. Of course, I've never heard that sound anywhere else. The fact is that in the end, it's no longer a artisanal detail, it's a clearing, a clearing, like a clearing carved out in the middle of the forest of the world. A salvation. There's something magical about it, I tried to believe, because I've been listening to it for years and searching for the right word to name the nuance of feeling that music conveys, and I've never succeeded. I challenge anyone to do so. I could be wrong, but in my opinion, that word doesn't exist: you can't even tell if it's more on the side of joy or pain. It's a strange thing, something you know but don't know. I mean, nostalgia has something to do with it, but it's not nostalgia. Wonder has something to do with it, but it's not wonder. The only thing you know is that it enchants you, yes, but you don't have a name for that feeling. And this is truly brilliant: playing something for which we haven't yet invented a name. Benedetti Michelangeli did many, but I'll remember him for that acrobatic feat there: in the absolute simplicity of a few elementary notes, saying a name that doesn't exist. Alessandro Baricco
La Stampa 14 June 1995