Maurizio Pollini Dies at 82; Here's All You Need to Know About the Celebrated Italian Pianist
Pollini's career blossomed with collaborations with renowned conductors like Riccardo Muti, Riccardo Chailly among others. He brought his artistry to the world stage with his first US tour in 1968.
Maurizio Pollini, a Grammy-winning Italian pianist who performed frequently at La Scala opera house in Milan, has died. He was 82. Pollini died on Saturday, La Scala said in a statement. The announcement didn't specify a cause of death, but Pollini had been forced to cancel a concert at the Salzburg Festival in 2022 because of heart problems. During a six-decades-long international career, Pollini's repertoire expanded beyond the standard classics. He embraced early 20th-century masterpieces by Igor Stravinsky, Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern and postwar modernists such as Karlheinz Stockhausen, Pierre Boulez and Luigi Nono. M Emmet Walsh, Blade Runner and Knives Out Actor, Dies at 88.
La Scala defined the pianist as "one of the great musicians of our time and a fundamental reference in the artistic life of the theatre for over 50 years". Pollini was considered a pianist with unique intellectual power, whose unrivalled technique and interpretive drive compelled listeners to think deeply. He was born in Milan on January 5, 1942, into a family of artists. His father, Gino Pollini, was a violinist and a leading rationalist architect. His mother, Renata Melotti, sang and played the piano, as did her brother, Fausto Melotti, who was also a pioneer of abstract sculpture. Carl Weathers, Known for His Role in Rocky, Passes Away at 76.
RIP Maurizio Pollini
"I grew up in a house with art and artists," Pollini said in an interview. Old works and modern works coexisted together as part of life." Pollini began giving concerts before his 10th birthday, performing Chopin's Etudes at age 14 and then winning the International Chopin Piano Competition at 18, as the youngest foreign pianist among 89 contestants. Arthur Rubinstein, president of the jury, reportedly said that the young pianist "already plays better than any of us". After his first international recognition, however, Pollini put his career on hold to study, explaining that performing right away would have been for him "a little premature". "I wanted to study, get to know the repertoire better, play the music of Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms," he said.
In the late 1960s, Pollini participated in improvised concerts in factories and programs for students and workers at La Scala, conducted by longtime friend Claudio Abbado. During his long international career, he collaborated with other famous conductors, including Riccardo Muti, Daniel Barenboim and Riccardo Chailly. Pollini performed his first American tour in 1968.
From the 1970s to the '90s, he made a series of recordings with the Deutsche Grammophon label, becoming a celebrated interpreter of classics like Beethoven, Schumann and Schubert. Pollini 's albums won several awards, including a Grammy in 2007 for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (without orchestra) for Chopin: Nocturnes. He is survived by his wife Marilisa, and his son Daniele, also an acclaimed pianist and conductor.