Sergei Rachmaninoff -Concerto no.4 op.40 II -Tempo- Benedetti Michelangeli(1957)

[moiAntonin]

I heard this recording when it came out in 1958. I thought then, and still do, that it was the best playing of rach I had ever heard. And yes, michelangeli was the greatest classical pianist of the 20th century and up to today. anyone who compares the clown Horowitz ,the show off Kissin or the flamboyant argerich with this man knows nothing about pianism. as for van cliburn, if he hadn't won a competition in russia during the cold war no one would ever have heard of him.

[arturon111]

@moiAntonin --- DO NOT AGREE AT ALL,.... Michelangeli was a good pianist,... not a great one, in my opinion, and certainly NOT a great musician,... Arrau was greater in EVERY aspect, i.e. technically, musically, artistically and spiritually,... I cannot think of 1 single piece that Michellangeli plays better than Arrau

[725piano]

@arturon111 I'm not sure which Michelangeli you've been listening but its obviously not the same one as the rest of us.. how can you possibly say Arrau is greater in EVERY aspect than ABM, there are some matters which are of opinion but as far as piano technique ABM was flawless, fact. Artistically speaking IMO I think ABM is a far more profound and intelligent pianist than Arrau but of course this is a matter of opinion.

[arturon111]

@725piano -The same ABM, granted he was a great pianist,...however, i diasgree with you, a great piano technique is not only playing flawless,...but how one plays the notes,...the cantabile, the touches, the colors, the legato, the speed, the clarity, the polyphony, etc,...and then there is the spiritual side of interpretation,...in my opinion Arrau was superior in all the above, especially in Beethoven,...if he missed a note here and there during his last performances is irrelevant

[725piano]

@arturon111 I'm perfectly aware of what is required to have a 'great' piano technique and I can assure you that Michelangeli is well in advance of any other pianist in recent memory. Right notes aren't everything granted but carefully listen and watch how michelangeli strikes the note, everything is extremely meticulous, every sound produced is cherished and considered. Michelangeli was a great lover of sound and so he spent much of his time carefully considering all possibilities.

[arturon111]

@725piano --- I guess it is just matter of taste/opinion. I am not that fond of ABM sound. It does NOT speak to me at all.... Arrau, is widely considered the WIZARD of sound in the piano because of his deep singing legato sound, never harsh and utmost clarity in shi polyphonic playing in all he plays from Bach to Debussy/Ravel. In Debussy for example he gets an ethereal sound, no other pianist can achieve... ABM, plays amazing, but never to the spiritual/artistic level of Arrau.

[TheZdp1]

fantastic

[Majik47]

This version is from 1941, and the recording is from 1958. Conductor: Ettore Gracis.

[CoolCurzon]

ABM's performance of the R4 is widely considered to be the greatest performance of piano music ever recorded. IMO, it is the musical equivalent of the Sistine Chapel. Everything about this performance is astonishing. The amazing virtuosity, the sublime artistic expression. No other pianist has ever reached the level ABM reached in this performance.

[demosj]

@CoolCurzon Are you aware that you typed IMO after "widely considered to be the greatest performance of piano music ever recorded"? Did Horowitz's recording of the Rach 3 with Mehta, Argerich's recording of the Schumann concerto, Cliburn's with Tchaikovsky, Kissin's Rach 2, Michelangeli's first Liszt concerto, all those suddenly ceased to exist?

Not to dispute this recording's greatness, but misleading people like that is wrong.

[arturon111]

@CoolCurzon -  Do not agree,...

[lilytoka]

Rachmaninoff ' melodies are so gorgeous! Wonderful and very sincere music with so much passion and emotion!i It comes from the heart and goes to heart ...

[dialecticon]

suffused with magic, didn't know ABM could get carried away by the melifluous romanticism of this concert. Yet it is his very calculated restraint that makes him so effective, and his icy-secure technique. Plus he must have worked quite a bit on adjusting the keyboard before making this recording!

[Andre1214]

What else can one say of such an amount of perfection and beauty?

[canimob]

Pure beauty.

[miliona1re]

1926 is the year when Rachmaninoff completed this concert.

[Stoneyridger]

This is the 1943 version I believe, not 1926.

[crimsontoxic]

In my opinion the most avantgarde-like concerto of Rachmaninov. Brilliantly performed here by the icy-cool Benedetti Michelangeli. Highly cerebral performance, primo stuff.

[klabm7]

Can't you hear Rachmaninoff from 4:59 to5:28.

[frederickfrederikfre]

I love this part