Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (1920-1995)
Chopin 1955
Warsaw 1955
After a long break, Michelangeli's first appearance was in Warsaw as juror during the
5th Chopin Festival (22 February-21 March). He resigned in protest, as Vladimir Ashkenazy, who he believed should have won, finished second to Polish pianist Adam Harasiewicz (aged 23) by a small margin. The competition ran 21 February to 20 March 1955, and the prize was 30,000 zlotys. Competitors were accommodated in the Hotel Polonia, where 70 practice pianos were installed.
Vladimir Ashkenazy was born in 1937, in Gorky, Soviet Union (now Nizhny Novgorod, Russia). Composer Witold Lutosławski was also on the panel of judges.
Michelangeli insulted the panel in very harsh words, and left without signing the records. He had disagreed with the chairman Zbigniew Drzewiecki, who happened to be Harasiewicz's teacher. (Harasiewicz came later to study with ABM)
Warsaw 1955
'There was a great surprise when ABM spontaneously decided to perform himself
on his days off between his individual shifts [on the jury].' [Cord Garben, p.24]
Sunday 13 March, 1955: National Philharmonic Hall, Warsaw, Poland (recital rescheduled from 7th)
Bach/Busoni: Ciaccona, Chaconne from Violin Partita No.2 in D minor, BWV 1004
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No.3 in C major, Op.2 No.3
Scarlatti: Four Sonatas - K.27 in B minor, K.11 in C minor, K.9 in D minor, K.322 in A major
Schumann: Faschingsschwank aus Wien (Fantasiebilder), Op.26
Encores: Debussy: Hommage à Rameau (Images, Book I No.2 in G# minor); Chopin: Waltz in E-flat major, Op.posth (B.46); Brahms: Variations on a theme by Paganini, Op.35 [edited by Michelangeli]
(The Waltz in E flat, a posthumous work by Chopin, which had recently been discovered and published.)
27 March, 1955: Warsaw, Poland (the date was actually 27 February - see the section below)
Schumann: Piano Concerto in A minor, Op.54 (did he give an earlier performance on 27 February?)
– Witold Rowicki / Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra
'The fact that Michelangeli further agreed to perform two concerts there as well [as serving as juror] was shocking, and the fact that he actually gave them was stunning.'
ABM gave an interview to Życie Warszawy on 2 March 1955. 'You'd probably like to hear a bit about my impressions of Warsaw now? Well, I can't say much about that yet. I only know—but very, very thoroughly—the Polonia-Philharmonic section. I'm not talking about any minor excursions to Nowy Świat, Krakowskie, or MDM [= his hotel?], because that's not quite it yet. I'm just getting ready to explore your capital in detail. When will that be? After the Competition ends, of course.
- And what are your plans for the near future?
Very... busy. 22 concerts in 25 days. Where? In Germany and Switzerland. What will the programme of these concerts be? Among other things, it includes two Mozart concertos (the penultimate and last), the Schumann concerto, which I played in Warsaw, and Chopin's "Krakowiak."' [See below]
[Chciałby pan zapewne usłyszeć teraz coś niecoś o moich wrażeniach z Warszawy? Otóż na ten temat niewiele jeszcze mogę powiedzieć. Znam bowiem jedynie - ale już za to bardzo, bardzo dokładnie lonia - odcinek Polonia- Filharmonia. O jakichś tam niewielkich wypadzikach na Nowy Świat czy Krakowskie albo MDM nie mówię bo to jeszcze “nie to". Szykuję się dopiero na dokładne zwiedzenie waszej stolicy. Kiedy to nastąpi? Oczywiście po zakończeniu Konkursu.
A jakie pan ma plany na najbliższą przyszłość?
- Bardzo... robocze. 22 koncerty w ciągu 25 dni. Gdzie? W Niemczech i w Szwajcarii. Jaki będzie program tych koncertów? Między innymi obejmuje on 2 koncerty Mozarta (przedostatni i ostatni). Koncert Schumanna, który grałem w Warszawie, oraz „Krakowiaka" Chopina.]
Express Wieczorny, 15 March 1955
Next week will bring two musical surprises to Warsaw residents. The first is a concert by the Orkiestra Filharmonii Narodowej with the participation of the renowned Russian Jakub Żak, who this time will perform three piano concertos in one evening: Rachmaninoff's Concerto No. 4, the same composer's Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini, and Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major. Jakub Żak's performance will take place on Tuesday, the 22nd of this month, presumably at 7:00 PM in the National Philharmonic Hall. The second surprise is another performance by Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli. It will likely be a recital, the programme of which has not yet been determined. Arturo Benedetti is scheduled for Wednesday, the 23rd of this month, also at the National Philharmonic Hall.
Express Wieczorny, 14 March 1955
It's evening. Crowds of people in front of the Philharmonic building. In a few minutes, the long-awaited, highly anticipated recital by Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli will begin (13 March). The lucky ticket holders are struggling to get through. There's still a line of those hoping to buy tickets at the ticket office. "Have you been waiting long today?" "Not really, I came after lunch at two. When I want to be at the Competition, I always arrive at 5..." "What's that? Was it easier to get a ticket after the afternoon auditions began?" "No, you didn't understand. I'm talking about 5, but in the morning."
JÓZEF KAŃSKI in Trybuna Ludu (Warsaw) 17 March 1955, one of the largest newspapers in communist Poland, which circulated between 1948 and 1990:
' "The pen falls from my hand, for words cannot express such perfection," wrote a Warsaw critic several decades ago, impressed by the playing of the great Polish pianist Józef Hofmann (who was only 22 years old at the time). The same words come to mind today, after a concert by the Italian artist Arturo Michelangeli. Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, one of the stars in the firmament of contemporary music planning, was previously unknown to Polish music lovers, except for the few who happened to "catch" him on the radio or obtain some recordings.
'How does Arturo Michelangeli play? It's truly difficult to describe. Why? One could discuss at length the particularly brilliant passages he played—the incomparable cadenza in Schumann's A minor Concerto (?this cannot be the concert of 27th which is yet to take place), the extraordinary interpretation of the coda (ending) of the first movement of that Concerto, played "sempre stringendo e diminuendo sin al fine" (ever faster and ever quieter until the end), the fantastically colourful Allegro and Scherzino in Schumann's "Faschingschwank," the almost superhuman precision of Scarlatti's Sonatas, the titanic power of the ending of Bach's "Chaconne"—but all this will fail to give the reader any picture of Michelangeli's playing.
'Jerzy Broszkiewicz is absolutely right when he writes about the inappropriateness of concepts such as "performance" or "reproduction." An artist of Michelangeli's stature does not "recreate" a musical work, but, as it were, creates it anew. Michelangeli's playing is in fact "creative," revealing, to an extraordinary degree, allowing us to discern new, previously unsuspected values in works seemingly well-known and "played."
'Michelangeli's richness of sound is unparalleled—at times powerful and massive, at times light and airy. This allows the artist a colossal plasticity of polyphony, often unexpectedly bringing out voices and themes hidden in the thicket of sound.
'Special gratitude is due to Michelangeli for the fact that, despite his undoubted fatigue, probably caused not so much by the massive program of Sunday's recital, but by his still-poor health, he allowed himself, thanks to the universal and truly extraordinary enthusiasm of the audience, to be persuaded to perform a whole series of encores. Among them were three Sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti, which he plays in a completely unusual way. Among them was a Chopin piece unknown even to some Chopin enthusiasts, namely the posthumously published Waltz in E-flat major from his youth.' (JÓZEF KAŃSKI)
Express Wieczorny, 26 March 1955
Below is our correspondent's report, describing the stay in Krakow of the participants of the 5th International Fryderyk Chopin Competition. Thursday morning dawned overcast in Krakow, and the forenoon brought rain. This unfavourable weather doesn't faze any of the Grand Hotel's residents. At 10 a.m., we all board the coach and set off for Wawel. Two cars actually depart from the hotel: our coach and the Polskie Padio broadcast van, which constantly accompanies us on all our journeys. After a 10-minute drive, we arrive. From the castle's outer courtyard, we pass through a long, vaulted hall to the rooms where the "Veit Stoss" altar was placed after its renovation. [...]
The Chopin Competition participants, who are enjoying themselves in Krakow, are generating widespread interest. Yesterday, a long line of city residents lined up in front of the hotel. No pianist could pass without signing at least several dozen autographs. Everyone was asking about the Polish pianists, who, in the first group of Competition participants, traveled from Warsaw directly to Zakopane. In the evening, the pianists, who were enjoying themselves in Krakow, went to the Philharmonic. The hall hadn't accommodated such a large audience in a long time. Arturo Benedetti, Michelangeli, was playing. Before the recital began, the audience spotted Vladimir Ashkenazy, Fu-Tsung, and Bernard Ringeissen on the first-floor balcony. Applause erupted into an ovation. The young pianists rose and bowed in thanks for the warm welcome. Then came the recital. The program included Bach, Beethoven, Schumann, and Brahms, and finally, eight magnificent encores. The audience rises to their feet, applauding the great Italian artist. See also here
Życie Literackie, 3 April 1955
This 35-year-old pianist and teacher had been silent for the past two years, not giving concerts due to poor health; these performances in Warsaw and Krakow were his first since recovering from a serious illness. It must be stated immediately, however, that Benedetti Michelangeli is a true pianistic phenomenon. One comes face to face with a talent of this magnitude perhaps only once every 10 or 20 years. (...)
When, in the Chaconne, the moment comes when the player reaches the peak of his interpretive possibilities, when—it would seem—nothing more shocking could be heard; Benedetti gives us an even more magnificent finale, a Bach that takes our breath away! After the Chaconne, the recital programme brought Beethoven's Sonata, Op. 2, No. 3. And here comes a new experience. I'm not talking about the extraordinarily logical construction, unappealing in its validity, I'm not talking about a completely different kind of sound, about the unforgettable Adagio, which captivated the listeners more than all the most spectacular allegros and prestos, but simply about the whole, about Beethoven, who, thanks to the Italian pianist's interpretation, showed us his great work once again in a new, magnificent light. (...)
His interpretation of Brahms's "Variations, Op. 35, on a Theme of Paganini" serves as an example. Benedetti omitted some of the Variations, emphasized others; he gave them greater weight, subordinating individual parts to the whole work, from which he created an exceptionally unified, logical, and constantly evolving whole. Here, too, we could most fully admire the richness of his tone. The piano ceased to be a piano—it became some mysterious instrument from which Benedetti extracted literally—whatever he wanted. And he wanted very much. Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli's recital is an event that, I believe, we will remember in 10 years with the same enthusiasm with which we welcomed the great artist to our concert halls. And if it happens that Benedetti, who rarely performs these days due to his health, decides to visit Poland again, we will consider it an exceptionally joyful musical event. • LUCJAN KYDRYŃSKI
.....
These musical performances were a great success and were admired by all listeners, although in early 1955 the pianist announced publicly that he would not be giving concerts for some time due to a serious lung disease and severe depression. (Cord Garben)
The success of these concerts was immediately reported to Giuliana Benedetti Michelangeli, who received a warm telegram, which read: “A wonderful and moving concert. Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli has blown everyone and everything away. Congratulations.”
Vivo successo in Polonia di A. Benedetti Michelangeli. Corriere della Sera, 2. 3. 1955.
ABM mentions (above) Chopin's Rondo à la Krakowiak in F major, Op. 14 is for piano and orchestra. It was written in 1828 and dedicated to Princess Anna Zofia Sapieha, whose mother, Izabela Czartoryska, was influential in shaping the burgeoning Romantic aesthetic in Poland, particularly through the Temple of [Polish] Memory in Puławy.
Życie Radomskie, 11 March 1955
Jerzy Broszkiewicz (1922 –1993) was a Polish prose writer, playwright, essayist, and publicist. He is best known for his dramas and young-adult literature. The young-adult literature usually took the form of historical or science-fiction novels. The dramas were performed in Poland and abroad, and his works were translated into at least 20 languages, with total print runs exceeding a million copies.
He wrote plays for theatre, radio, and television, as well as screenplays, essays, and critical writings on music and culture. His most acclaimed works include Kształt miłości (1950–51), a novelized biography of Frédéric Chopin, and Wielka, większa i największa (1960), a widely-read youth novel that was adapted into a feature film and was included in Polish school curricula during the People's Republic period.
"A true Michelangelo among pianists"
Each of these artists is a greatness in their own right, whether Kentner, Oborin, Levy, or others. But among them, the brilliant Italian pianist Benedetti Michelangeli, a true Michelangelo among pianists, shone with extraordinary brilliance. Polish reviewers simply lacked words to describe the greatness of this artist. Apart from his technique, which knows no difficulty (Michelangeli plays 26 piano concertos), reviewers unanimously praise his unique approach to performed masterpieces, where beauty takes centre stage and the evocativeness of his execution is something incredible. "It's about extracting the beauty enchanted in sounds, and this extraction manifests itself in an almost refined perfection."
Ale wśród nich zabłysnął blaskiem niecodziennym genialny artysta włoski, pianista Benedetto Michelangeli, który wśród pianistów jest prawdziwym Michałem Aniołem.
As mentioned, approximately 140 young pianists from around the world entered the competition. A distinctive feature of last year's competition was the relatively large number of young artists of color, Chinese, Japanese, and even representatives of Ceylon. The 80 pianists who entered the first qualifying round were the culmination of students from the world's best music schools and with the best professors. They underwent a rigorous selection process in Poland before being admitted to the Polonia Hotel in Warsaw, where the competitors were accommodated. The six Soviet representatives were selected from among the 300 best pianists of the young Soviet generation. The Polish team was also chosen after several rounds of selection and after attending special training camps, where the young pianists were given the opportunity to prepare in ideal conditions under the best guidance to meet the extremely high demands of the competition.
KAROL HŁAWICZKA
Wielkie święto Chopina ("The great celebration of Chopin')
Kalendarz Zwrotu 1956 (in Polish), p.93
POLISH CULTURAL AND EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA
Český Těšín, Gottwalda Street 18
Domenico Scarlatti (1685 - 1757)
The first Scarlatti sonata which ABM plays in his Warsaw recital is a favourite of mine
(B minor, K27) but here it is rushed and for the most part charmless. You need to go for example to Mikhail Pletnev (b.1957, Arkhangelsk) to hear a pianist digging deeply into it (with an equally superb technique). ABM's Scarlatti can often seem to me a form of a technical exercise, a Czerny for the fingers. In general, Pletnev's Scarlatti is for me hors concours - and yes, I have heard Horowitz.
In 1951, the first qualifying rounds for candidates for the 5th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition began in Katowice. Thirty-five pianists entered; twenty were awarded Chopin scholarships. Training camps were planned in 1952 in Łagów Lubuski and in 1953 in Sopot. The idea was for the best Polish piano professors to work collectively to prepare young Chopin players for the Competition. The work was intensive, periodically monitored and evaluated by the entire teaching team.
The most talented and, unfortunately, unruly were Harasiewicz and Tchaikovsky, each in a different respect. Adam already possessed colossal technical facility and beautiful touches; it was more difficult for him to master and realise problems of form and structure.
In the summer of 1953, preparations for the Competition were still underway in Sopot.
The participants made enormous progress, and the collective work consisted essentially of finishing and polishing the competition repertoire.
77 participants represented 25 countries. For the first time, pianists from such exotic countries as China, Ceylon, South Africa, Ecuador, Iran, and Singapore performed. The Polish candidates enjoyed particular interest. Harasiewicz generated general sympathy. Before the first stage performance, a striking photo of Adam with a chimney sweep, who had visited him "for good luck," appeared in the press. And luck was indeed on his side. Equally outstanding was Vladimir Ashkenazi, a student of Professor Oborin, very young but gifted with extraordinary talent, maturity, and phenomenal technique. Unrivaled in the first and second rounds, he lowered his chances in the third round. A revelation of a different kind was Fu T'Sung, a pianist from Beijing, who had been studying with Professor Drzewiecki in Poland for a year.
In the third stage, concerts were performed with the National Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Z. Górzyński, M. Mierzejewski, and B. Wodiczko. This stage was decisive. Harasiewicz shone in his concert, while Aszkenazi wasn't as brilliant as before. This was the decisive factor in awarding priority to the Pole.
Jerzy Żurawlew, A więc konkurs : wspomnienia twórcy międzynarodowych konkursów Chopinowskich (1995), p.31ff. (with no mention of the controversy of ABM's participation)
Schumann w Warszawie
All the information in this section has generously been sent to me by Ди́на, Dina/ Diana (Siberia), who has also transcribed the extracts in English from Notes of a Moscow pianist.
On 27 February, 1955, the Schumann Concerto was performed in a packed hall of the Warsaw Philharmonic with conductor Witold Rowicki; the recording date is often mistakenly given as 27 March, 1955, but the concert with the orchestra in Warsaw was the only one and took place on 27 February.
ABM's performance immediately aroused admiration and warm recognition. The audience was delighted, critics and colleagues were deeply impressed, newspaper articles were full of articles and notes. But few people know that soon after this concert, Arturo Benedetti filed a complaint to the Minister of Culture and Art of Poland in connection with the unsatisfactory performance of the orchestra.
«Irritated and anxious about the orchestral part quality during the Competition participants’ performances in the finals, Benedetti-Michelangeli decided to lodge a complaint against Rowicki with Włodzimierz Sokorski, Minister of Culture and Art».
[See Bohdan Wodiczko’s Programming Policies at Warsaw Philharmonic (1955-1958). Toward the Warsaw Autumn, by Michał Klubiński, University of Warsaw in Musicology Today, vol.14 (December 2017)]
‘Music critics present at this concert – such as Lucjan Kydryński, Józef Kański and Jerzy Wojciechowski – noticed that the orchestra was clearly indisposed, and made evident
mistakes in the wind instrument parts. Irritated and anxious about the orchestral part quality during the Competition participants’ performances in the finals, Benedetti-Michelangeli decided to lodge a complaint against Rowicki with Włodzimierz Sokorski, Minister of Culture and Art. The later called Bohdan Wodiczko in Cracow several days later and asked him a direct question: “Could you lead the Philharmonic in Warsaw, sir?” Surprised at first, Wodiczko replied that Warsaw Philharmonic already had its director – Witold Rowicki – but when he heard about the orchestra’s blunders, he agreed to come to Warsaw for negotiations. Eventually, after a conversation in which Wiktor Weinbaum, Minister and Music Department Director, also took part, Wodiczko agreed to take up the posts of artistic director and principal conductor at Warsaw Philharmonic and was appointed to these positions as of 1st September 1955.’
Bohdan Wodiczko had been the first conductor of the Filharmonia Bałtycka in Gdańsk (1946-50). From 1951 he worked at the National Philharmonic in Kraków, and as a lecturer at Kraków's National Higher Music School from 1953. [In the years 2002-2013 Antoni Wit (1944- ) was the Managing and Artistic Director of Warsaw Philharmonic; and as of the 2024/2025 season, the Music & Artistic Director is Krzysztof Urbański (b.1982)]
Notes of a Moscow pianist
There is also an interesting reflection of what was happening at the
competition from one of its participants who reached the final. Dmitry
Paperno (1929-2020), a Soviet participant, took 6th place at the 5th
International Chopin Competition. Much later, he wrote a book (Notes
of a Moscow pianist [1998])
His memoirs are testimony both to admiration for Michelangeli and to
the modesty of the Italian pianist. Here are several fragments from the
book.
'The youngest in the jury were the beautiful Flora Guerra Vial (1920-1993, Chile; she had studied with Rosita Renard) and the strange, reserved Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli. All we knew about the latter was that he had received the seventh prize in Brussels in 1938, when Emil Gilels won first and Yakov Flier took third place.
The scores Michelangeli was giving out were frightening: ten, six, and even three points (“unsatisfactory” and “failure”). From the first stage of the competition he liked only a few performers, Ashkenazy best of all. [Page 86]
One evening I was sitting with Ashkenazy getting ready to listen to Michelangeli play the Schumann Concerto. The very first phrase made us prick up our ears and, as the Americans say, that was it. One did not want to miss one note of this magic. The music, long familiar, was now filled with a new sense of wisdom and kindness. He communicated the same impression with two Scarlatti sonatas as encores.
…
One could not merely say of his playing, “gorgeous sound, impeccable technique, touch,” and so on. Everything was brought to an almost unbelievable perfection. But even that was not the main thing.
Later, when Moscow musicians asked us what had moved us in Michelangeli’s playing, we could not find the right words. Humanity would be, perhaps, the closest, but it doesn’t get specific enough unless you listened to this amazing musician yourself. We went backstage afterward to express our delight and gratitude for his Schumann, only to be told by Michelangeli, “You haven’t heard Lipatti!” [Page 89]
After this official ending, all the participants who remained in Poland were entertained with a trip to old Krakow, one of Europe’s most beautiful cities. There Michelangeli repeated his Warsaw recital programme, although he had a temperature and the concert had to be delayed one hour…
Again, as in Warsaw, the audience was bewitched. After the concert, the ovation did not quieten down for about fifteen minutes. Suddenly, responding to the audience, he sat down at the piano and repeated as an encore Brahms’ Paganini Variations with the same degree of brilliance and perfection.
At this, Oborin finally admitted, “Yes, this young man can play the piano,” and from his lips such praise meant a lot. [Page 94]
(Lev Nikolayevich Oborin was a Soviet and Russian pianist, composer and pedagogue. He was the winner of the first International Chopin Piano in 1927).
At one point in his book, Paperno mentions that in the "green room" 'a big bottle of valerian tincture (a popular European sedative) sat on the table; we were told that it was empty by the end of each day". He also notes that at one point he and Askenazy ran into ABM in the corridor of the hotel. "What do you think about a Rachmaninoff's fourth concerto?" he asked us. I do not recall how Vova answered. as for me, at the time i took great interest in this music, and said so, to his obvious pleasure. Only several years later, when his amazing recording became available in Moscow, did I recall this conversation.
1955-56
18 September, 1955: Teatro La Fenice, Venice, Italy: Biennale Musica –
Franco Margola (1908-1992): Kinderkonzert n.1 per pianoforte e orchestra (1954)
– Franco Caracciolo / Unidentified orchestra
This is rare repertoire indeed, and there may even be reason (aside from the delightful musical merits) :Margola was born in the same village/town as Michelangeli - Orzinuovi, Brescia, on 30 October 1908.
Listen to the Kinderkonzert here with Ruggero Ruocco; and to Michelangeli here
In Radiocorriere (1.10.55), AMB described the work as 'carino e spiritoso'; 'it is not dodecaphonic, though Margola is [currently] writing a 12-tone sonata for me.' Michelangeli says he is also paying Rachmaninoff 's fourth concerto. 'I myself received the manuscript from Rachmaninov's widow in 1948 in New York. I had passed it on then, but only now for this occasion in Venice did I have the idea of presenting it to the public.' He mentions that he finds Mario Peragallo's (1910-1996) Piano Concerto very interesting (he had performed it a few years ago).
Benedetti Michelangeli acclaimed at La Fenice at the contemporary music festival.
To give everyone their due, as is right, it is right to acknowledge that Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli's presence crammed La Fenice with a crowd that doesn't usually happen with contemporary instrumental music. The desire to hear him again, after such a long hiatus, was even more poignant because of the widespread and unfounded rumour that he wouldn't be coming; and he was already here, ready for the concert in the Doge's Palace, enjoyed only by the History of Figurative Art conference attendees, and then for rehearsals with the theatre's orchestra, conducted by Maestro Franco Caracciolo. Which works would he perform? A legitimate curiosity, both given the precise chronological limits of the Festival and the varying moods at the announcement: "World Premiere." Some flock, some flee. On the other hand, it is well known that his repertoire has so far excluded works whose expression is not affectionate, and whose composition is in a certain sense, and against tradition, anti-pianistic.
One is entitled Kinderkonzert. Franco Margola, fifty-seven, declared: "Intending to write a piano work truly dedicated to the receptive possibilities of childhood, I had to abandon any insurrectionary ambitions and gather myself in absolute humility to find that expressive candour that would not have been permitted by my current musical language, which is atonal. Moreover, twelve-tone music, towards which I am orienting myself through a process of natural evolution, was even less suited to the interpretation of the world of children."
In fact, this Kinderkonzert is a scherzo, with simple motifs, brief developments, a tiny cadence, a touch of the archaic in some passages, a slight grazletta, in the manner of—what more can I say?—Gounod's Funeral March of a Marionette. The delicacies of a Benedetti Michelangeli have made the pleasant phrases more elegant, lively, serious, and sometimes ironic.
La Stampa 20.9.1955
In September, ABM played in Berlin. 'If the festival began with an American flourish, it blossomed out in Italian style towards the end of September. A sensational triumph was achieved by the Italian pianist Arturo Benedetti-Michelangeli, who had been absent for some years from the Berlin concert stage. Whether he played Bach-Busoni, early Beethoven, Schumann’s “Faschingsschwank” or Brahms’s “Super” Variations on a theme by Paganini, one had the same impression of an inspired and _faultless mechanism, gleamingly perfect smoothness and speed, and a hypersensitive feeling for sonority that bordered on the bizarre and the morbid. The success of his somewhat uncanny concert was extraordinary.
30 December 1955, Teatro Argentino, Rome: Mozart K450 and Schumann with Fernando Previtali; also Francesco Antonio Bonporti (1672-1749), Concerto for strings in F major.
1956
25 April, 1956 Rome, Teatro Argentina
Schumann Faschingsschwank aus Wien, for piano op. 26
Schumann Carnaval, for piano op. 9
Chopin Fantaisie in F minor for piano, op. 49
Chopin Three Mazurkas
Chopin Ballade No. 1 in G minor for piano, Op. 23
Debussy Images (2nd series), for piano
Debussy L'isle joyeuse, for piano
16 May, 1956, Bologna, Italy
Schumann, Faschingsschwank aus Wien op. 26; Carnaval op. 9; Chopin, Fantasia op. 49; 3 mazurche; Ballata op. 23; Debussy, Images, II serie; L’isle joyeuse.
21 June, 1956: Lugano, Switzerland
Mozart: Piano Concerto No.15 in B-flat major, K.450
Schumann: Piano Concerto in A minor, Op.54
– Hermann Scherchen / Orchestra Radio Svizzera Italiana
11 July 1956, Baroque Theatre, Ludwigsburg Castle, nicknamed the "Versailles of Swabia", Baden-Württemberg, Germany (a CD is available)
Mozart, Symphony No. 32 in G major KV 318; Piano Concerto in B-flat major KV 450;
Trauermusik, KV 477; Piano Concerto in D minor KV 466
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, piano.
Symphony Orchestra of the South German Radio conducted by Antoine-Pierre de Bavier.
19 December 1956, Rome, Teatro Argentina
Orchestra of the National Academy of Santa Cecilia
conductor: Antonio Pedrotti, piano: Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli
Frescobaldi 4 pieces by Gerolamo Frescobaldi, transcription for orchestra: Toccata
Mozart Concerto No. 25 in C major for piano and orchestra K. 503
Rachmaninov Concerto No. 4 in G minor for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 40
1957
First tour of Czechoslovakia. He plays in Lebanon with Fernando Previtali. His father, Giuseppe Benedetti Michelangeli, dies.
In 1957 he made his debut in Prague and in 1964 in Moscow. Between the end of the Fifties and the early Sixties, he held concerts in Spain, Germany, Portugal, France, Austria and Switzerland. In 62 and in 66 he performed in the Vatican, first in the presence of Pope John XXIII, then of Pope Paul VI.
In England, he recorded Ravel's Concerto in G and Rachmaninoff's Concerto No. 4 for His Master's Voice, with the London Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Ettore Gracis. 7-8 & 10 March, 1957 in London (Abbey Road Studios - Studio No. 1).
Peter Andry, Inside the Recording Studio (2008), 41ff. gives an account of the recording process. 'Of all the great pianists whom I encountered, he was the most demanding and the most frustrating. It required nerves of steel on the part of Victor Olof and me to keep the show on the road. Nor were out anxieties eased by the presence of a conductor by the name of Ettore Gracis, who was brought alg by Michelangeli but who was unknown to any of us.' The piano had been taken apart and 'Michelangeli himself stood by, a menacing figure, dressed all in black and sucking his teeth (...). We had brought own piano from Switzerland at vast expense. With the piano came his ubiquitous Japanese tuner...' He spiked the hammer felts furiously to achieve the brightness of sound for which Michelangeli was famous. 'The rehearsals gave s some worrying moments. He was in a bad mood, constantly pacing round and round. He soon found some of the orchestral detail not to his liking. But the recordings were made and, in the event, our fears proved groundless. Gracis made a decent accompaniment and the magic of Michelangeli's playing convinced everyone in the studio that day that here indeed was music-making of the highest order.'
Peter Andry may have misremembered the tuner on this occasion. Diana (Siberia) has noted the British press of 1957 reporting that "Michelangeli has brought the instrument from Hamburg at a transit cost of around £300. Michelangeli brings his own tuner with him -a dynamic little man with the head of a sage. His name is Tallone."
Daily News, 25 February 1957
'There is also a recording of a rehearsal before a concert on 4 March 1957 in London, where you can hear a conversation between Michelangeli and his tuner Cesare Tallone. I have not read Peter Andry's book, but I assume that this fragment of memories about preparation for the recording may refer to a different period, and not to 1957. Or we can use the phrase attributed to Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II - "Recollections may vary".
(With Benedetti this happens almost always).'
'When he decided to record an album of music by Rachmaninoff and Ravel, he retreated to my villa on the island of San Giulio, on Lake Orta, to study. For a whole month he played day and night, forgetting to eat, sleeping, losing weight, and never speaking to anyone. I felt like I was witnessing the miraculous transformation of a human being into music. It seemed as if the melodies were penetrating his veins, becoming blood, the lifeblood of his existence. It was an incredible and exhilarating experience.'
Cesare Augusto Tallone, Fede e lavoro, memorie di un accordatore, Milano 1971
'Benedetti Michelangeli had the great merit of being the first to revive a work [Rachmaninoff 4] that no famous pianist had ever included in the repertoire and which, ten years after the composer's death, had been completely forgotten. Unfortunately, he did not perform Concerto No. 4 frequently and did not keep it in his repertoire for long.' (Piero Rattalino)
26 February 1957. In The Musical Times (April 1957), the gracious music critic and biographer of Schumann Joan Chissell wrote: 'When Michelangeli failed to turn up for his B.B.C. recital towards the end of February, there was wide-spread anxiety that his two appearances with the Philharmonia Orchestra under Sir Malcolm Sargent in the Festival Hall might also be cancelled. In the event, he called off his Schumann performance in the second of the two concerts, but made the effort to be there for Rachmaninov's Fourth Piano Concerto as promised on 26 February. This is not the familiar, ardently romantic Rachmaninov; there is bravura in plenty in the work, but the composer seems more bent on exploring new paths than on making his familiar frontal attack on the emotions in it. Since box-office considerations so often come first nowadays, it was hats off to Mr. Michelangeli for eschewing easy popularity in C minor or D minor; nevertheless, the work did not really give him the chance to warm up and show the best of himself as a musician. Of his phenomenal virtuosity, however, there was never any doubt at all. He has tremendous strength in fingers and wrists (even if his fortissimo is a little steely in quality) and has both under superfine control. There was also very much to admire in his lyrical, soft tone and his phrasing in the slow movement. We now greatly look forward to assessing his qualities as an interpreter in a more general recital programme. Sir Malcolm Sargent and the Philharmonia Orchestra completed the programme with Walton's exuberant Johannesburg Festival Overture, Delius's Brigg Fair and Dvořák's 'New World' Symphony.'
March 1957: BBC Studios, London, England (radio broadcast )
Schumann: Carnaval (Scènes Mignonnes sur Quatre Notes), Op.9
Schumann: Faschingsschwank aus Wien (Fantasiebilder), Op.26
Issued on Deutsche Grammophon 469 820-2. First broadcast on 11 May, 1957.
Royal Festival Hall (March, 1957)
A Testament CD of his 1957 Royal Festival Hall recital captures him in brilliant, charismatic performances of Schumann, Chopin, Debussy and Mompou. 'As he got older, Michelangeli reduced his repertoire, and this recital was of familiar works that he often played. Selections from Debussy’s Images are more sharply defined than in the [later] studio recording, and they certainly contain more of a sense of inspiration. In fact, Michelangeli was at the height of his powers for this concert and it is one of the best representations of him on disc as well as some of the most astonishing piano playing recorded live before an audience.' (Jonathan Summers)
4 March, 1957: Royal Festival Hall, London, England
Schumann: Faschingsschwank aus Wien (Fantasiebilder), Op.26
Schumann: Carnaval (Scènes Mignonnes sur Quatre Notes), Op.9
Debussy: Images (Book II)
2. Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fut
1. Cloches à travers les feuilles
Debussy: Images (Book I)
2. Hommage à Rameau
1. Reflets dans l’eau
Chopin: Fantasy in F minor, Op.49
Chopin: Ballade No.1 in G minor, Op.23
Encores: Mompou: Canción from Canción y Danza No.6; Chopin: Waltz in E-flat major, Op.posth (B.46)
'Readers who are familiar with Michelangeli's 1971 DG recording of Debussy's Images will be astonished at this highly mobile 1957 concert performance of 'Cloches à travers les feuilles', which is almost a full minute faster than its stereo successor; or 'Reflets dans l'eau', which glides across the water's surface with such swiftness and ease that the more considered DG alternative – glorious though it is – sounds studied by comparison. 'Hommage à Rameau' is shaped with the utmost finesse and 'Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fût' coloured by exquisitely graded nuances...
'This disc leaves you humbled by, and grateful for, some wonderful piano playing.
Michelangeli's art is both rare and elusive, his expressive vocabulary finely distilled and unlikely to impress those who listen only for technical mastery. So it's ironic that those who criticise Michelangeli for 'coldness' or 'aloofness' are often the very commentators who are so dazzled by his virtuosity that they can't hear beyond it.' Gramophone Guide
Czech researcher Katia Vendrame write: 'The city where Michelangeli received perhaps the worst criticism of his career was London, where Michelangeli arrived in 1957 with the Schumann repertoire. The recital at the Festival Hall had in the first part of the concert program Faschingschwank aus Wien and Carnaval by Robert Schumann, where, according to the critic for The Musical Times Joan Chissell "like many other virtuosi, he was
sometimes guilty of playing too quickly". Michelangeli's rapid interpretation of the Carnaval parts "Eusebius" and "Chopin" is compared to "a busy businessman rushing for the 8.15". But the commentary continues in a lighter vein: "It would be difficult to imagine a more splendidly imposing and spacious account of the opening of Carnaval, or a more scintillating and subtle […] reading of "Reconnaissance". His Ballade in G minor, which was one of his most popular interpretations in Italy, was not a success: “the G minor Ballade sounded too improvisatory because of Mr. Michelangeli’s capricious and wayward approach.” The ballade is played very loosely, beginning and ending in an unusually fast tempo with a sharper tone, which becomes dolce only when the theme is heard. In this interpretation, Michelangeli changes the tone and tempo according to the structure of the musical notation in a given measure, and thus loses unity: the whole piece seems to be interpreted in an improvised spirit.
The programme ended with pieces from Claude Debussy's Images, which according to Chissell were "the high spot of the evening. Not for a very long time will it be possible to forget the limpid texture and exquisite beauty and variety of tone which this pianist produced in these pieces."
The pianist presented the same programme in January of the previous year in Milan, whereon the contrary, Italian critics received his interpretations with extraordinary enthusiasm ("we never tire of applauding this great master of the keyboard", "excellent compositions", etc.).
At the end of February 1957, his relationship with English critics improved. Due to a slight tear of the tendon in his right hand, he did not arrive for the BBC recital at the Royal Festival Hall. (Corriere della Sera, 28. 2. 1957) However, he arrived in London to perform Rachmaninov's Concerto No. 4. Joan Chissell describes his interpretation as follows: "This is
not the familiar ardently romantic Rachmaninoff; there is bravura in plenty in the work, but the the composer seemed more bent on exploring new paths than on making his familiar frontal attack on the emotions in it. [...] Nevertheless, the work did not really give him the chance to warm up and show the best of himself as a musician. Of his phenomenal virtuosity, however, there was never doubt at all. He has tremendous strength in fingers and wrists (even if his fortissimo is a little steely in quality) and has both under superfine control. There was also very much to admire in his lyrical, soft tone and his phrasing in the slow movement.” Malcolm Sargent conducted the Philharmonia Orchestra."
Katia Vendrame
26 April, 1957, Teatro Petrarca, Arezzo
Orchestra of the National Academy of Santa Cecilia
conductor: Fernando Previtali, piano: Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli
Beethoven Leonore III, Overture in C major op. 72a
Beethoven Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 73, "Emperor"
Beethoven Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 55 "Eroica"
He is now 37 years old. He is lively and has a nervous disposition. But he is relentless with himself when studying. He studies mainly at night, so as not to be disturbed by street noise.
[Te mu 37 let. Vervní a nerv ozní. přes to ale pedanticky neúprosný k sobě. Studuje hlavně v noci, aby nebyl rušen pouličním halasem.]
Svět v Obrazech, červenec-prosinec 1957 (XIII/27-52) = Czechoslovakian paper, The World in Pictures, July-December 1957 (XIII/27-52)
Rachmaninoff, Concerto No. 4
Piano Concerto No. 4 in G minor, Op. 40 was completed by Sergei Rachmaninoff in 1926. The work exists in three versions. Following its unsuccessful premiere (1st version), the composer made cuts and other amendments before publishing it in 1928 (2nd version). With continued lack of success, he withdrew the work, eventually revising and republishing it in 1941 (3rd version, most generally performed today).Pianists Vladimir Ashkenazy, Leslie Howard and Yevgeny Sudbin, and biographer Max Harrison have argued that, as with his Second Piano Sonata, Rachmaninoff got everything about the Fourth Concerto right the first time. The musicologist Geoffrey Norris, in contrast, argued that Rachmaninoff did not go far enough in his revisions.In 2000 the Rachmaninoff Estate authorised Boosey & Hawkes, with the expert assistance of Robert Threlfall and Leslie Howard, to publish the uncut 1926 manuscript version of the Fourth Concerto. Ondine Records recorded the work with pianist Alexander Ghindin and the Helsinki Philharmonic under Vladimir Ashkenazy.