Maurizio Pollini
Artist ∙ Classical
When Maurizio Pollini won the International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 1960 at the age of 18, his playing left a deep impression on the chairman of the jury, Arthur Rubinstein. With an international career beckoning, Pollini retreated to hone his playing further under the guidance of Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli. Such perfectionism was typical of an artist renowned for his intellectual vitality and encyclopaedic range of repertoire.
Born in Milan in 1942, Pollini championed modern works by Boulez, Stockhausen, Nono, and Berio, while playing an astonishing breadth of music with a focus on Beethoven and Chopin. The first recordings to consolidate Pollini’s reputation, which helped to define the technical precision of his early career, were released in 1972: Chopin’s 24 Études (1832, 1835), and a coupling of Stravinsky’s Three Movements from Petrushka (1921) and Prokofiev’s Piano Sonata No. 7 (1942). The latter recording caused a sensation when it first appeared, and was subsequently paired on CD with a 1978 LP of Boulez’s Piano Sonata No. 2 (1947-48) and Webern’s Op. 27 Variations (1936).
Superb accounts of major works by Schumann (recorded in 1973), Schubert (recorded 1973), and late Beethoven (recorded 1976/77) reinforced Pollini’s powers of sustained concentration and architectural control. The meticulous perfection of his playing was delivered at a rather cool emotional temperature, and while, at times, this suited the music, as in his icily flawless Boulez, his expressive objectivity was often a matter of personal taste.
Pollini died in March 2024 at the age of 82.
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