I enjoyed these notes and remembrances of pianist Michael Ponti, an early champion of unsung composers (and still alive, I believe). I thought you might enjoy them, too, and my friend gave his okay to share them.
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Ponti was, along with Earl Wild and others, a hero of my youth.
And he always will be one of my personal heroes.
In the 70s and early 80s I went to any concert by him I could.
In one concert he played the whole "Hammerklavier" as an encore......Totally insane........
He had T-shirts to sell, on which you could read
"Ponti- Power" or "Ponti-Fex"...........
He is a somehow tragical person, who never had the chance to be [considered] one of the greatest -- though for me and others, he actually is.
I remember a 1978 WDR interview with him, and I also remember my conversation with him in 1996 after he played a concert with us.
Afterwards we drank a lot. He was very sad about the way his career had gone. As in the WDR interview, he said that he had no chance [had not had the right opportunities].
Vox told him: "We want the complete Rachmaninov solo piano works."
And he said "ok."
Vox told him then: "Next we want the complete Scriabin."
At this moment - he told me - he became nervous.
But he said "ok."
And then Vox said to him: "The first recording we want to do is the Henselt concerto."
Then he knew it would be a very tough time for him.
And he was willing to play any gig you could imagine. Take a summer holiday in Sylt, for example, 30 years ago.
The local Kurorchester wanted to play Brahms Piano concerto No.1.
Ponti appeared and played it on a little piano, a "Stutzflügel."
He had memorized over 50 concertos. In 1996 he played the Liszt 2nd Concerto with us.
During rehearsal he had only a small "Taschenpartitur", a very old one, his own.
But he did not need it. He knew all the markings and numbers by heart.
Kudos.
He was a 150% old school professional.
Even in rehearsal he made no mistakes.
He sat at the piano, making no unnecessary motions, and just played.
That demeanor is, of course, rather unlike some of our stars nowadays.
And he played beautifully and -- of course -- powerfully.
What a sound.
Ponti-Power!
He was often recorded unfaithfully, with bad Instruments and under bad circumstances.
He did his job all the time.
That said, I have a Rachmaninov and Prokofiev 3rd Concerto from the 90s that seems produced very well and that sounds very good.
It is played with great character, intensity and verve on a very good Steinway.
And the recording is state of the art.
This is Ponti at his best.
Sadly this CD is out of print.
Rach 3 with Ponti I have dreamed about for decades.
But it exists!
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Some of these anecdotes seem to suggest that Ponti wanted more opportunities to be heard in standard repertoire. (Which of course doesn't mean that he stinted on his preparations for Henselt et alia.)
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Ponti was, along with Earl Wild and others, a hero of my youth.
And he always will be one of my personal heroes.
In the 70s and early 80s I went to any concert by him I could.
In one concert he played the whole "Hammerklavier" as an encore......Totally insane........
He had T-shirts to sell, on which you could read
"Ponti- Power" or "Ponti-Fex"...........
He is a somehow tragical person, who never had the chance to be [considered] one of the greatest -- though for me and others, he actually is.
I remember a 1978 WDR interview with him, and I also remember my conversation with him in 1996 after he played a concert with us.
Afterwards we drank a lot. He was very sad about the way his career had gone. As in the WDR interview, he said that he had no chance [had not had the right opportunities].
Vox told him: "We want the complete Rachmaninov solo piano works."
And he said "ok."
Vox told him then: "Next we want the complete Scriabin."
At this moment - he told me - he became nervous.
But he said "ok."
And then Vox said to him: "The first recording we want to do is the Henselt concerto."
Then he knew it would be a very tough time for him.
And he was willing to play any gig you could imagine. Take a summer holiday in Sylt, for example, 30 years ago.
The local Kurorchester wanted to play Brahms Piano concerto No.1.
Ponti appeared and played it on a little piano, a "Stutzflügel."
He had memorized over 50 concertos. In 1996 he played the Liszt 2nd Concerto with us.
During rehearsal he had only a small "Taschenpartitur", a very old one, his own.
But he did not need it. He knew all the markings and numbers by heart.
Kudos.
He was a 150% old school professional.
Even in rehearsal he made no mistakes.
He sat at the piano, making no unnecessary motions, and just played.
That demeanor is, of course, rather unlike some of our stars nowadays.
And he played beautifully and -- of course -- powerfully.
What a sound.
Ponti-Power!
He was often recorded unfaithfully, with bad Instruments and under bad circumstances.
He did his job all the time.
That said, I have a Rachmaninov and Prokofiev 3rd Concerto from the 90s that seems produced very well and that sounds very good.
It is played with great character, intensity and verve on a very good Steinway.
And the recording is state of the art.
This is Ponti at his best.
Sadly this CD is out of print.
Rach 3 with Ponti I have dreamed about for decades.
But it exists!
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Some of these anecdotes seem to suggest that Ponti wanted more opportunities to be heard in standard repertoire. (Which of course doesn't mean that he stinted on his preparations for Henselt et alia.)