Brahms - Michelangeli, Ballade No 4 in B major

(Lugano, 1981) Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (January 5, 1920 June 12, 1995) was an Italian classical pianist. He has been regarded as among the most commanding and individual piano virtuosos of the 20th century, among names such as Horowitz and Richter. Along with Ferruccio Busoni, he is often considered the most important Italian pianist. Born in Brescia, Italy, he began music lessons at the age of three, initially with the violin, but quickly switched to the piano. At ten he entered the Milan Conservatory. In 1938, at age eighteen, he began his international career by entering the Ysaÿe International Festival in Brussels, Belgium, where he placed seventh (a brief account of this competition, at which Emil Gilels took first prize, is given by Arthur Rubinstein, who was one of the judges. According to Rubinstein, Michelangeli gave “an unsatisfactory performance, but already showed his impeccable technique“). A year later he earned first prize in the Geneva International Competit