Two Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli’s QuotesSeptember 19th, 2008
Today, two quotes from the famous Italian Pianist Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli:
“La musica è un diritto, ma soltanto per colui che la merita!”
Understand: “Music is a right, but only for those who deserve it!”
“Essere un pianista e un musicista, non è una professione. È una filosofia, una concezione di vita che non può basarsi ne sulle buone intenzioni, ne sul talento naturale. Bisogna avere prima di tutto uno spirito di sacrificio inimmaginabile.”
“It is not a profession to be a pianist and musician. It is a philosophy, a conception of life that cannot be based on good intentions or natural talent. First and foremost there must be a spirit of sacrifice.”
Of course, all of this is incredibly true and a lot of pianists today tend to forget this truth. To forge a whole, a complete man, a complete artist and not put oneself forward but let works do the talking. Not content oneself with an intuition or a good feeling…
This is not simply a profession. A pianist eats piano, thinks piano, he can’t escape from music. It’s not a simple story of just hitting keys on the keyboard with a good feeling.