When I wrote that this would be the end, YouTube, of all things, played the Chopin Ballade No. 1 by Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, who is perhaps not an exaggeration to say is the most outstanding pianist of all time.
I had spent (or rather, let time pass) my third year of high school listening to classical music on NHK FM every day, so there was no way I could miss his Japan tour performance at the Kyoto Kaikan Hall at the time...
I was already living in Osaka and still remember his performance that day clearly.
Anyway, everything was exceptional.
His sound was that of a super-duper genius.
It is indisputable that Pollini became the Pollini we know today because he studied so hard under him.
Anyone interested in classical music and the piano will feel as if lightning struck them when they see this live performance.
What's more, the conductor was Celibidache! And it was the London Symphony Orchestra.
(At one point, I thought Celibidache was the best conductor.)
That's what everyone thinks.
Ah, it's Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli.
There was no Michelangeli before Michelangeli, and there is no Michelangeli after Michelangeli (there was Pollini, but Michelangeli is a super-duper, off-the-scale performer who can't be compared to anyone else).
On that day, as I was leaving Kyoto Kaikan on my way home, I looked up at the Kyoto sky and saw a magnificent full moon.
The full moon told me that it was a miracle that I had heard Mr. Michelangeli at the Kyoto Kaikan.
I searched online to find out if he had played two encores, but I couldn't even find the program for the Kyoto Kaikan concert.
The internet is still a letdown.
It's not an exaggeration to say that he is the most outstanding pianist of all time, but even the titles of the few concerts he gave in Japan are unavailable.
I think they were "Joy of Man's Desiring" and "Moonlight Sonata".
Note: The theme of Godzilla is a rip-off of the second movement of this piece.
Well, it's such a great piece of music, so the composer was left with a strong impression of it.
