Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli's Italian repertoire. I've compiling a list of most of the Italian pieces which ABM played, especially in his earlier years (using as a guide Antonio Armella, I concerti di Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli [December, 2025]). This is not a complete list. Please feel free to add a comment below. 'Michelangeli's transition from celebrity to myth occurred when, in 1964, he held concerts in Moscow and Leningrad. Russia - which had scattered a dense g

[Posted on the 5 January, the offical date of ABM's birth, though he once claimed it was in the first hour of the 6th!] I've recently seen that a new book on the pianist, I concerti di Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli by Antonio Armella was published in December 2025. It retails at around 33 Euros/ £28 on Amazon, where the blurb is: "This unique book reconstructs the concert life of one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century, the great Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, thro

Brahms’s Variations on a Theme by Paganini Farhan Malik talks us through the intricacies of this pyrotechnical masterpiece and seeks out the best versions on disc from 116 alternatives. Scroll down (using the link below) for a review of ABM No pianist of modern times has been more closely associated with the Paganini Variations than Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, with his five recorded versions spanning forty years... LINK

Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli & A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Stephen Sondheim)

Swiss Broadcast Edition Volume 11 - released MAY 2026 Label: Triston Master Recordings SCHOPPER Edition TMR-SE 0023 180 Gramm Pressing - release on sπecially manufactured LPs. It is a hand-numbered limited edition of 300 copies. Original Stereo Recording, November 2nd, 1972, Radio Bern.

The early years of Martha Argerich in Buenos Aires 1941-52; her lessons with Vincenzo Scaramuzza; friendship with Daniel Barenboim

The early years of Martha Argerich in Buenos Aires 1941-52; her lessons with Vincenzo Scaramuzza; friendship with Daniel Barenboim

I need to investigate this comment which I found on YouTube. David Dubal, comparing ABM’s Bach-Busoni Chaconne (in which, he says, “Bach counts for little: it is Michelangeli paying homage to Busoni, his great compatriot”) to the Paganini Variations, draws the parallel that “Brahms becomes merely the medium through which the two Italians commune, Paganini conveying to Michelangeli his dark and rarefied secrets of technique. Such playing has an element of mystery. For Michelan

"In character he was sad, melancholic. His greatest hate was of the adulation of his followers." (Noretta Conci, former student, assistant to and friend of ABM, speaking on BBC Radio 3 in June 1996) ​ Here are some of the more extravagant comments I’ve read online. Anyone who was lucky enough to attend this live concert can consider themselves among the luckiest people in the history of humanity. ​ Stratospheric, apocalyptic, indescribable. And to think that what we hear on

Born in Paris to a family of Japanese origin, Yoko Kono began playing the piano at the age of four. In 1940, she moved to Tokyo, where she studied under Kazuko Yasukawa. She continued her studies at the Paris Conservatory with Lucette Descaves and Joseph Benvenuti. She earned her piano diploma in 1951, winning the Premier Prix, and her chamber music diploma in 1952, receiving the Première Médaille. She then continued her studies in Germany at the Hochschule in Detmold with Ha

Pianist Béla Hartmann recently wrote with some memories of Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli. "I'm writing to share my recollection of the recital ABM gave at the Kongresssaal in Munich in 1986 [Armella dates this to 26 and 28 April 1985], including the 2nd book of Debussy Préludes. In my memory he was his usual morose self but played a large number of encores, all of them Chopin Mazurkas, all of them slow and sad. I don't remember how many but think it was around 5-7. I recall b

Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli's first performance of Grieg's piano concerto in his Turin début on 2 February 1940.

Sergiu Celibidache (1912-1996) See section at bottom of BUENOS AIRES page for biographical details 19 November, 1967: Konserthuset, Stockholm, Sweden Schumann: Piano Concerto in A minor, Op.54 – Sergiu Celibidache / Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra​​ Antonio Armella [p.206] states that, so far as he knows, this was the first collaboration with the Romanian conductor Celibidache and the first time ABM had performed in Sweden. The Yellow Tie (Romanian: Cravata Galbenă) is a bio

THE MASTER OF THE MASTER. Giovanni Anfossi and Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli Il maestro del maestro. Giovanni Anfossi e Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli For those who read Italian (not me). You can download an excerpt. I cannot attest the quality of the writing and research, but I'm attracted by the fact the author had access to archival material. Matteo Mainardi (author) published this book in January 2026 for Zecchini Editore LINK Giovanni Anfossi, a direct descendant of Pas

Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov (1891 – 10 March 1940) was a Russian and Soviet novelist and playwright. His novel The Master and Margarita, published posthumously, has been called one of the masterpieces of the 20th century. It was reputedly a favourite novel of Benedetti Michelangeli, but is this in fact true? The Master and Margarita (Russian: Мастер и Маргарита) was written between 1928 and 1940. A censored version, with several chapters cut by editors, was published posth

Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli had probably the smallest repertoire of any concert pianist before the public.

I've added a few more details to the relevant webpage. In 1939 (the year of its foundation) Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli won first prize in the Concours de Genève/Geneva International Music Competition, where he was acclaimed as "a new Liszt" by pianist Alfred Cortot, a member of the judging panel, which was presided over by Ignacy Jan Paderewski. (Martha Argerich would win in 1957.) The young man from Brescia was awarded 1000 Swiss francs, and an anonymous donor, bowled ov

13 May, 1990: Barbican Hall, London Beethoven: Piano Sonata No.11 in B-flat major, Op.22, No.32 in C minor, Op.111 Chopin: Scherzo No.1 in B minor, Op.20, Mazurka in B minor, Op.33 No.4, Andante Spianato & Grande Polonaise Brillante, Op.22 ​ David Murray in the Financial Times (14 March) talked of TWO Michelangelis. 'His Beethoven starter was the mild, piano-friendly little op. 22 Sonata in B-flat,not often heard in public, and scarcely ever like this. Within a few bars it

Of Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli's 1965 tour of Japan (March/April), Antonio Armella dryly observes that "Benedetti Michelangeli- naturally - did nothing to ingratiate himself with his Japanese sponsors/ per ingraziarsi i suoi sponsor giapponesi"! There was big reception at the Italian Embassy in Tokyo, to which Michelangeli had accepted an invitation. Jacques Leiser, trusted and loyal tuner CesareTallone and ABM were staying at the Hilton Hotel in Tokyo, which was located i

Students recall Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli during the Chopin Competition Echo Krakowskie, 26 March 1955 Participants of the Chopin Competition in Kraków Now we begin our journey through the castle, the oldest in Wawel [Royal Castle], the Rotunda of Felix and Adauctus, through a labyrinth of halls and cloisters, all the way to the Throne Room. The guides, who explain everything in Russian, French, German, and English, can't keep up with the dozens of questions. From the cas