I heard him many times, 15 or so. His presence and playing were totally different from any other pianist I ever heard. His live playing had enormous concentration. His Debussy preludes and Images were like musical Faberge eggs. He produced a sound of liquid gold. Hearing him play Gaspard de la Nuit was a torrent of fear.
@@Piratebreadstick Yes he was a great one for his cancellations! I was fortunate to hear him on several occasions when he felt able to turn up and perform, and wow, did he perform!!
Exquisite stuff from a truly great pianist. I always enjoy it when you shine a light on artists who have been gone too long for beginners to know much about. It warms the hearts of us old geezers who grew up listening to them.
Yes to all the commentary. Saw him at Carnegie Hall in the 60s. That event changed my life. He was one of a kind and somehow greatly misunderstood IMO. I would add the Brahms 4 Ballades, the Bach-Busoni Chaconne as a few superlative recordings to the list.
Speaking of Kleiber and ABM: Kleiber and Michelangeli had performed Beethoven's Fifth Piano Concerto together, a triumph. A short time later, this was to be repeated for the disc. But then the harmony between the two was suddenly gone. Michelangeli had risen from his piano stool to explain a certain way of playing to Kleiber in the score. But Kleiber took offence at the ‘stupid face’ of the piano virtuoso, packed his things without a word and left. The recording was cancelled. Others say, Michelangeli had rightly objected to the passage and thus caught the fussy conductor in a lapse...
I really love to hear him playing the Ravel Concerto. Michelangeli was an icy guy, but here he shows a good deal of vulnerabilty, that I think is something a bit unusual about him
Speaking of Rachmaninoff (and the greatest recordings EVER!!), Zoltan Kocsis’ 2nd Sonata/Preludes/Etudes disk on Philips is one of the best Rachmaninoff disks out there, and it might deserve a spot on this list because of its sheer musical quality.
Oh yes I remember that comment about the whip crack. Lordy, I agree with you. Who cares. That recording of second movement of the Ravel is especially incredible. You just float away listening to it.
Saw him do the Ravel with Celibidache in London's Festival Hall. The acoustics were so awful, every note of the simple tune in the 2nd movement was a 'double banger' as it bounced off the ceiling! The LSO opened with Sorcerer's Apprentice, and the 2nd half was Faure's Requiem! (It's in black and white on UA-cam)
One might also mention that the adagio in this particular Ravel was a strong influence on Miles Davis and Bill Evans as they prepared to record Kind of Blue.
Yes. Tremendous artist and let’s not be sniffy about greatness. Piano people here can corroborate but I believe he had something to do with the careers of Gulda and Argerich. And so on, but it wasn’t just the recordings, it was the teaching too
I heard him many times, 15 or so. His presence and playing were totally different from any other pianist I ever heard. His live playing had enormous concentration. His Debussy preludes and Images were like musical Faberge eggs. He produced a sound of liquid gold. Hearing him play Gaspard de la Nuit was a torrent of fear.
I'm so envious, I live in Australia, and he was due to play here in 1980 or around then, and of course, cancelled,
@@Piratebreadstick Yes he was a great one for his cancellations!
I was fortunate to hear him on several occasions when he felt able to turn up and perform, and wow, did he perform!!
What is even more amazing to me is that Michelangeli arrived late to the recording studio and did the whole thing without any retakes!
I read that too. It also means the conductor and orchestra had to follow him withouth retakes.
O My!
The way he paces the chords ending the first movement of the Rachmaninoff is just one of the examples on this disc of Michelangeli's mastery.
Exquisite stuff from a truly great pianist. I always enjoy it when you shine a light on artists who have been gone too long for beginners to know much about. It warms the hearts of us old geezers who grew up listening to them.
I purchased this disc on EMI about 30 years ago. It was instantly one of my favorites.
Indeed, Michelangeli is extraordinary regarding both recordings and live performances - gift of rare pianists.
It is difficult not to speak of this but in superlatives! Thank you !
Yes to all the commentary. Saw him at Carnegie Hall in the 60s. That event changed my life. He was one of a kind and somehow greatly misunderstood IMO. I would add the Brahms 4 Ballades, the Bach-Busoni Chaconne as a few superlative recordings to the list.
In The Bach Busoni, my memory may be failing, but he did things w the pedals in the middle to finale of this, I am sure you know what I mean!
Speaking of Kleiber and ABM: Kleiber and Michelangeli had performed Beethoven's Fifth Piano Concerto together, a triumph. A short time later, this was to be repeated for the disc. But then the harmony between the two was suddenly gone. Michelangeli had risen from his piano stool to explain a certain way of playing to Kleiber in the score. But Kleiber took offence at the ‘stupid face’ of the piano virtuoso, packed his things without a word and left. The recording was cancelled. Others say, Michelangeli had rightly objected to the passage and thus caught the fussy conductor in a lapse...
There was none of that nonsense in the Guilini/Michelangeli DG recording. An adventure in great music on vinyl...
A classic. Just marvellous
Great one ! Thanks for sharing
I really love to hear him playing the Ravel Concerto. Michelangeli was an icy guy, but here he shows a good deal of vulnerabilty, that I think is something a bit unusual about him
Speaking of Rachmaninoff (and the greatest recordings EVER!!), Zoltan Kocsis’ 2nd Sonata/Preludes/Etudes disk on Philips is one of the best Rachmaninoff disks out there, and it might deserve a spot on this list because of its sheer musical quality.
Good choice! Despite some weird interpretations, Michelangeli came closer than anyone else to that golden ideal: controlled sound and no mistakes.
Oh yes I remember that comment about the whip crack. Lordy, I agree with you. Who cares. That recording of second movement of the Ravel is especially incredible. You just float away listening to it.
Saw him do the Ravel with Celibidache in London's Festival Hall. The acoustics were so awful, every note of the simple tune in the 2nd movement was a 'double banger' as it bounced off the ceiling! The LSO opened with Sorcerer's Apprentice, and the 2nd half was Faure's Requiem! (It's in black and white on UA-cam)
One might also mention that the adagio in this particular Ravel was a strong influence on Miles Davis and Bill Evans as they prepared to record Kind of Blue.
In his autobiography, Miles credits Bill with introducing him to Michelangeli ( the recordings) , whose playing "I fell in love with".
Yes. Tremendous artist and let’s not be sniffy about greatness. Piano people here can corroborate but I believe he had something to do with the careers of Gulda and Argerich. And so on, but it wasn’t just the recordings, it was the teaching too