Michelangeli plays Schumann, Chopin, Debussy & Mompou

Readers who are familiar with Michelangeli's 1971 DG recording of Debussy's Images will be astonished at this highly mobile 1957 concert performance of 'Cloches à travers les feuilles', which... — Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 More…

Catalogue No: SBT2088
Label: Testament

Building a Library

September 2001

First Choice

Usually despatched in 4 - 5 working days

Chopin: Fantasia in F minor, Op. 49

Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (piano)

Schumann: Carnaval, Op. 9

Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (piano)

Mompou: Canción

Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (piano)

Debussy: Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fût (No. 2 from Images pour piano - Book 2)

Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (piano)

Debussy: Cloches à travers les feuilles (No. 1 from Images pour piano - Book 2)

Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (piano)

Debussy: Hommage à Rameau (No. 2 from Images pour piano - Book 1)

Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (piano)

Debussy: Reflets dans l'eau (No. 1 from Images pour piano - Book 1)

Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (piano)

Schumann: Faschingsschwank aus Wien, Op. 26

Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (piano)

Chopin: Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23

Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (piano)

Chopin: Waltz No. 17 in E flat major, Op. post., KKIVa:14, B 46

Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (piano)

Reviews
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Reviews

2010

Readers who are familiar with Michelangeli's 1971 DG recording of Debussy's Images will be astonished at this highly mobile 1957 concert performance of 'Cloches à travers les feuilles', which is almost a full minute faster than its stereo successor; or 'Reflets dans l'eau', which glides across the water's surface with such swiftness and ease that the more considered DG alternative – glorious though it is – sounds studied by comparison. 'Hommage à Rameau' is shaped with the utmost finesse and 'Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fût' coloured by exquisitely graded nuances. The performance of Schumann's Carnaval is a choice gallery of aural sculpture, whether in the minutely calculated responses of 'Pierrot', the teasing rubato of 'Coquette', the energy and attack of 'Papillons', the effortless flow of 'Chopin' or the ecstatic lingerings in 'Aveu'. Michelangeli's 'Eusebius' is tender but unsentimental, whereas his 'Florestan' has enough 'reflective' ingredients to suggest that the two characters are closer in spirit than we often think. Faschingsschwank aus Wien contrasts muscular assertiveness (the opening Allegro) with the most amazing control (in the 'Romanze'), while the 'Intermezzo' promotes a virtually orchestral range of dynamics. Michelangeli's Chopin has a rare nobility, the Fantasie especially which, at a rather faster tempo than usual, holds together as a narrative entity. Then there's the imposing First Ballade and the encores – a sunny posthumous E flat Waltz (a regular extra on Michelangeli's concert programmes) and Mompou's sad but tender 'Canción'.
This disc leaves you humbled by, and grateful for, some wonderful piano playing.
Michelangeli's art is both rare and elusive, his expressive vocabulary finely distilled and unlikely to impress those who listen only for technical mastery. So it's ironic that those who criticise Michelangeli for 'coldness' or 'aloofness' are often the very commentators who are so dazzled by his virtuosity that they can't hear beyond it.
Testament's transfers are superb.

Michelangeli plays Schumann, Chopin, Debussy & Mompou

2 CDs

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