Died at the age of 82 – Maurizio Pollini was “one of the great musicians of our time” – Culture

The Italian pianist and conductor was known far beyond his home country. Now La Scala in Milan is mourning the loss of its great artist.

Anyone who appreciates a Beethoven quartet is probably also able to follow contemporary music – Maurizio Pollini put together many of his concert evenings according to this motto.

Now the internationally known Italian pianist and conductor has died at the age of 82. The opera house in his hometown of Milan, the Teatro alla Scala, announced this on Saturday. The Scala mourns “one of the great musicians of our time”. Pollini also visited Germany a lot. His repertoire included the great classical piano works, but also a lot of contemporary music.

The architect’s son made his breakthrough at the age of 18 when he won the coveted Chopin Competition in Warsaw in 1960. The head of the jury at the time, the piano legend Arthur Rubinstein, praised: “This boy plays the piano better than any of us.” He got further polish from Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, another grandmaster. The Milanese built a world career on this foundation.

Critics described his style as unsentimental and intense, perfect and unique, clear and brilliant. Piano concertos, sonatas and ballads by Frédéric Chopin, Franz Schubert and Ludwig van Beethoven, solo or in an orchestra – this was one side of Pollini. Over the decades he expanded his program to include contemporary music: Luigi Nono, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Pierre Boulez.

Legend:

Maurizio Pollini also performed in Switzerland: he played two Beethoven sonatas at the Lucerne International Music Festival in the summer of 1976.

Keystone

Pollini also played in sports centers and factory halls. In 1976 he was even named “the best pianist in the world” in a critics’ survey. At the Scala, his home stage, he appeared no fewer than 168 times over the decades. He gave his last concert there in February last year.

Even if some critics sometimes lacked expressiveness and tension, Pollini always set new accents. Over the decades he has received numerous awards, including the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize and the Echo Klassik for his life’s work.