Pollini, Maurizio

The son of architect Gino Pollini .

He studied with Carlo Lonati , then with Carlo Vidusso . Very young, in 1957 and 1958 , twice received the second prize of the International Competition of Performers in Geneva . After graduating from the Milan Conservatory , in the same 1960 he won the prestigious Chopin International Piano Competition . Arthur Rubinstein is rumored to be ^{[ who? ]} then exclaimed: “He is already playing better than any of us jury members!” and indeed the public has never been so unanimous in their sympathies, although the student at the Pollini Conservatory in Milan was only 18 years old. However, after winning the competition, the self-critical Pollini returned to class and, before embarking on an active concert, took lessons from Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli for several more years.

Since the mid-1960s, Maurizio Pollini has toured extensively throughout Europe, made his US debut in 1968, and toured Japan in 1974 .

With Pollini's work, listeners are familiar all over the world due to its unique 30-year-old creative alliance with Deutsche Grammophon .

Pollini’s repertoire is extremely diverse and extends from Bach (to the 300th anniversary of which in 1985 Pollini completely performed the first volume of “The Well-Tempered Clavier” ) to the radical avant-garde artists of the mid-20th century: he, in particular, is known for his interpretations of the works of Boulez , Nono , Berio , Stockhausen . Several times (within the framework of the Salzburg Festival in 1995 , in the 2000/2001 season at Carnegie Hall ...) Pollini presented concert cycles, whose programs were based on a contrasting interweaving of classical and contemporary compositions. Among other significant recordings and performances by Pollini are the performance of all Beethoven piano concerts with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Claudio Abbado ( 1987 ), all Beethoven piano sonatas (for the first time in the 1993/1994 season in Berlin and Munich ), a recording of Prokofiev ’s Seventh Sonata and fragments of “Parsley Stravinsky ( 1971 ).

Beethoven's concerts in Pollini's interpretation sparked unprecedented reaction - in 1976 authoritative music critics of the world ^{[ who? ]} as a result of the survey recognized the 34-year-old performer as the best pianist of our time (at least in terms of luck).

In 1996, Pollini received the Ernst Siemens Award .

In 2001, his recording of Beethoven's Variations on the Diabelli Theme received the Diapason d'or prize.

In 2002, on the occasion of the pianist's 60th birthday, Deutsche Grammophon released a special anniversary collection of recordings by Maurizio Pollini on 13 CDs.

In 2007, Pollini received a Grammy Award in the Performers (Without Orchestra) section for a record (on Deutsche Grammophon) by Chopin's Nocturnes.

Introduced into the Gramophone Magazine Hall of Fame ^[1] .

For a number of signs ^{[ who? ]} One can speak of Pollini as a pianist of the new, 21st century: for all his perfection, he never “loads” the listener, you can listen to his records many, many times, and this despite the fact that his playing is by no means superficial - it’s quite “authentic” "And even somewhat restrained, detached. Love for modern music allows Pollini from an unexpected point of view to look at old, it would seem so familiar, musical works; so, his new comprehension of Chopin cannot but surprise everyone ^{[ who? ]} music lovers. In any case, the merit of Maurizio Pollini in presenting the classical repertoire to a new generation of people is very great.

• Maurizio Pollini: biography, albums, concert review