MMM | Michelangeli plays Ravel

16 MARCH 2025: Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli is still the embodiment of Maurice Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major.

To this day, the name Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli is inextricably linked with Maurice Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major. Michelangeli's articulation of the trill chains, for example, in such a way that the illusion is created as if one could glide from one note to the next on the keyboard as on a string instrument, is unrivalled to date.

At the same time, Michelangeli is a great mystery: he was notorious for his numerous refusals. The smallest discrepancies on the instrument, a slight change in the room climate from rehearsal to concert were enough to cause a performance to fall through.

His reputation as one of the greatest in his profession is undisputed. Pianist legend Krystian Zimerman remembers his artistic exchange with Michelangeli. As a magician of acoustics, he is a declared source of inspiration for Pierre-Laurent Aimard. Serge Celebidachi, the son of Sergiu Celibidache, provides insights into the special artistic friendship between the two perfectionists. While Marina Baranova goes in search of Michelangeli's grand piano in Bavaria, Cord Garben, Michelangeli's producer, recalls the not always easy collaboration. Jazz musician Stefano Bollani, an admirer of Michelangeli, shows how Ravel was inspired by jazz.

Duration 43 min / 52 min
Director Dag Freyer, Philipp Quiring
Producer Holger Preuße
Co-Producer Christopher Janssen
Production Company ZDF/Arte, sounding images