MICHELANGELI
A few thoughts from
Dr David C F Wright
Arturo
Benedetto Michelangeli was born in Brescia
in 1920.
After Liszt and Rachmaninov he is arguably
the greatest pianist of all time. All
the recordings I have of his, including
broadcasts on various radio stations,
are unequalled for the accuracy of his
playing, the profound understanding
he has of all the music he plays, his
devotion to the composers intentions
and a wonderful sound.
Michelangeli insisted that sound was
a product of the mind. His playing and
his teaching was occupied with both
musical meaning and sound. But in his
teaching, he did not want to produce
clones. Each student was an individual
and he wanted them to think for themselves.
Teaching was always important to him.
He became a professor at a conservatory
in Bologna when he was only 19. Having
just won the Geneva Piano Competition
it was thought that he would want to
devote his time to performing. His students
include Martha Argerich, Maurizio Pollini,
Jörg Demus and Walter Klien. He
charged no fees for his lessons but
was very particular as to whom he taught.
He was also fussy about pianos. He was
one of the only pianists to travel with
his own two Steinways and a personal
technician. That did not guarantee that
he would play. He was always concerned
with the highest artistic standards.
Consequently he had a small repertoire,
playing in his lifetime what some jet-set
pianists would now play in a single
year. Quality rather than quantity was
his maxim. He was into uncompromising
quality, infinitesimal detail and observance
of analytical details. His main complaint
about other pianists was their failure
to recognise the relationships within
a composition. He said that they try
to realise a piece with the concept
of their own ideas. Because of this,
pianists lose a sense of proportion.
To Michelangeli every note was important,
everything has both a reason and purpose
and that had to be made clear. This
is perhaps why he did not follow an
earlier ambition to be a priest since
, within the Catholic church, there
were too many variations of doctrine
or 'grey areas'.
His point about performers bringing
their own concepts to a work is a vital
one. The performer’s responsibility
is to realise the composer's intentions
not one's own or that of the conductor.
As I have often said, as an example,
we do not want Karajan's Beethoven but
Beethoven's Beethoven.
Michelangeli's recordings of the Debussy
Preludes, the Grieg Piano Concerto,
the truly magnificent Rachmaninov Piano
Concerto no. 4 in G minor will never
be bettered
He had the appearance of a cadaver
and some have remarked that he was the
Paganini of the piano.
Copyright David C F Wright 1998
