Michelangeli; The Early Recordings 2 (1939-51)
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791)
Piano Concerto No. 15 in B flat major, K450 (1784) [25:58]
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
Piano Sonata in C major, Op.2 No. 3 (1795) [22:22]
Fryderyk CHOPIN (1810-1849)
Scherzo No.2 in B flat minor [9:03]
Berceuse in D flat major Op.57 [5:03]
Mazurka No.25 in B minor Op.33 No.4 [5:15]
Mazurka No.47 in A minor Op.68 No.2 [3:09]
Waltz No.9 in A flat Op.69 No.1 [3:28]
Arturo Michelangeli (piano)
Orchestra Sinfonica da Camera dell’Ente dei Pomeriggi Musicali di Milano/Ettore
Gracis
rec. c. 1939-43, except Concerto (1951), Milan
NAXOS 8.112052 [74:18]
The second volume in this series (see review of
Volume 1) offers the fruit of sessions made between 1939
and 1943 (or thereabouts) and 1951. Michelangeli essays a major sonata and concerto
and presents his idiosyncratic Chopinesque wares in these Italian inscriptions
that sound here about as good as we can reasonably hope.
Before his recordings of Mozart’s K415 and 418 Concertos with Franco Caracciolo
he had recorded K450 with Ettore Gracis in Milan in 1951. Assuming it was recorded
consecutively we might note in passing the relatively high number of takes for
the first side - four in all - which perhaps denoted an uncomfortable settling
in period. Thereafter things improved with either successful first or second
takes. Refinement and elegance mark out his playing, as well as a strongly textured
cadenza, a warmly phrased slow movement - not chilly - and an athletic, indeed
almost insouciantly buoyant finale. Yes, there is a degree of tonal micro-management,
and the recording quality, despite Ward Marston’s restorative work, was
not exactly vintage quality even for this date. However if you’ve not picked
up this performance in its other previous reincarnations - it was for example
on EMI 5 75230 2 - then now is a budget price opportunity to do so.
The Beethoven sonata performance is a truly remarkable example of the pianist’s
poised and technically astonishing control, and especially for a 21 year old
his maturity of vision. He brings a wealth of tonal colour and architectural
guile to bear, and his noble refinement in the Adagio is palpable, the chordal
weighting and pedalling of sovereign potential.
The Chopin sequence though is inconsistent. His rubati in the B flat minor Scherzo
are a touch mulish and though the second subject is pleasingly phrased the performance
as a whole somewhat lacks direction. The tone is beautiful but the playing surprisingly
undisciplined. An earlier recording of the D flat major Berceuse was not issued.
This one, made probably the following year, is notable for its delicate tracery.
The other side of this 78 contained the rather noisier B minor Mazurka in a stately
interpretation. Finally we have the A flat major Waltz, which hearkens back to
the Scherzo in its excessive metricality and too vertiginous a sense of contrast.
Nevertheless the young Michelangeli was a wizard, and this second volume in his ‘Early
Recordings’ series enshrines the seeds of his future greatness.
Jonathan Woolf