R.I.P. pianist Michael Ponti

Started by Scion7, October 21, 2022, 06:33:36 AM

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Scion7

October 21, 2022, 06:33:36 AM
He was 84.
Have several of his performances.
Excellent player.
When, a few months before his death, Rachmaninov lamented that he no longer had the "strength and fire" to compose, friends reminded him of the Symphonic Dances, so charged with fire and strength. "Yes," he admitted. "I don't know how that happened. That was probably my last flicker."

Scion7

#1
October 21, 2022, 06:52:50 AM
one of the many obscure composers he recorded
When, a few months before his death, Rachmaninov lamented that he no longer had the "strength and fire" to compose, friends reminded him of the Symphonic Dances, so charged with fire and strength. "Yes," he admitted. "I don't know how that happened. That was probably my last flicker."

Roasted Swan

#2
October 21, 2022, 07:02:45 AM
I have a great affection for Michael Ponti.  Not just for introducing me to any amount of unusual and forgotten repertoire but also for the sheer dynamism of his playing.  For sure he might not have been the most refined - or accurate - of players but there was a joy and abandon in his music making that chimes with what I want from music to this day.

pjme

#3
October 21, 2022, 10:21:08 AM
..... introducing me to any amount of unusual and forgotten repertoire..... :) :)

https://www.youtube.com/v/YAuYHGBriY0

vandermolen

#4
October 21, 2022, 11:05:38 AM
The Balakirev/Liapunov LP is an old favourite.
Sad News RIP
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

JBS

#5
October 21, 2022, 05:31:56 PM
Sad to hear.

I think his Scriabin is as good as any else's (and he recorded all of it).

Hollywood Beach Broadwalk

Scion7

#6
October 21, 2022, 06:35:57 PM
Yes, his ranks with any.
Too bad about his stroke(?) that rendered his arm partially immobile and side-lined his career.
When, a few months before his death, Rachmaninov lamented that he no longer had the "strength and fire" to compose, friends reminded him of the Symphonic Dances, so charged with fire and strength. "Yes," he admitted. "I don't know how that happened. That was probably my last flicker."

Cato

#7
October 21, 2022, 06:39:36 PM
Quote from: JBS on October 21, 2022, 05:31:56 PM
Sad to hear.

I think his Scriabin is as good as any else's (and he recorded all of it).


Oh my!  Michael Ponti was a god for us young classical music mavens looking for neglected composers, e.g. Medtner, Scharwenka, Moscheles.

I had all of his Scriabin recordings: his box with the 10 Sonatas was nuclear, especially the Ninth Sonata.

https://www.youtube.com/v/VXMQovVJDgg
"Meet Miss Ruth Sherwood, from Columbus, Ohio, the Middle of the Universe!"

- Brian Aherne introducing Rosalind Russell in  My Sister Eileen (1942)

Florestan

#8
October 21, 2022, 10:21:20 PM
Sad news indeed. May God rest him in peace.

He and Raymond Lewenthal were the undisputed champions of the Romantic revival of the last half of the 20 century.
Si un hombre nunca se contradice será porque nunca dice nada. —Miguel de Unamuno
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