Performer: Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Naxos
Catalogue: 8111351
Release: 2008
Size: 254 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
Bach: Italian Concerto, BWV971
01. I. Allegro
02. II. Andante
03. III. Presto
Bach: Violin Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004
04. V. Ciaccona (Chaconne) [arr. F. Busoni for piano]
05. Tomeoni: Allegro in G Major
06. Galuppi: Presto in B-Flat Major
07. Scarlatti: Keyboard Sonata in D Major, K.96 / L.465 / P.210
08. Scarlatti: Keyboard Sonata in B Minor, K.27 / L.449 / P.83
09. Scarlatti: Keyboard Sonata in C Minor, K.11 / L.352 / P.67
10. Scarlatti: Keyboard Sonata in D Minor, K.9 / L.413 / P.65
Brahms: Variations on a theme by Paganini in A minor, Op. 35
11. Theme
12. Variation I
13. Variation II
14. Variation III
15. Variation IV
16. Variation V
17. Variation VI
18. Variation VII
19. Variation VIII
20. Variation X
21. Variation XI
22. Variation XII
23. Variation I
24. Variation II
25. Variation V
26. Variation VI
27. Variation VII
28. Variation VIII
29. Variation X
30. Variation XI
31. Variation XII
32. Variation XIII
33. Variation III
34. Variation IV
35. Variation XIII
36. Variation XIV
37. Granados: 12 Danzas españolas (Spanish Dances), Op. 37: No. 5, Andaluza [Playera]
38. Marescotti: Fantasque
Albéniz: Recuerdos de Viaje, Op. 71
39. No. 8, Rumores de la Caleta, Malagueña
40. Mompou: Canco i dansa No. 1
Michelangeli’s first recordings were made for HMV in Milan in 1939, following his win at the Geneva International Piano Competition.
In Granados’s Andaluza Michelangeli uses a soulful singing tone to great advantage, while his phenomenal virtuoso technique can be heard in Marescotti’s Fantasque, one of the test pieces for the Geneva Competition. These and the 1948 recordings of Bach, Galuppi and Brahms demonstrate that as a young man Michelangeli was already a consummate artist.
As a critic wrote about the recording of the Brahms Paganini Variations: “What a pianist! Technically, the playing is astonishing: interpretatively, here is a very great musician…altogether this is the most exciting piano performance and recording I have heard for many a long day.”
“Apollonian stance and awe-inspiring control….. The dynamic range reinforces the Lisztian patina of Michelangeli’s conception….[a] ravishing, multi-layered sound world.” Classics Today