Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli - Ravel & Rachmaninov - Piano Concerts (2000)

A milestone of high-testosterone piano and personal favorite of Miles Davis who was turned on to it by his then bandmate and pianist Bill Evans.
Michelangeli bangs on them keys with a merciless energy unleashing cascades of fire-breathing crystal which hypnotically parade their magnetism on the air molecules tapping your eardrum.
The jazz-influenced, ultra-sophisticated Ravel piece is a magnificent late work of two electrifying outer movements sandwiching a heartbreakingly tragic, sublimely beautiful slow movement. Michelangeli's performance cannot and has never been bettered.
The Rachmaninov fourth is given a savagely powerful treatment that renders most of its schmaltz elements sterile and magnifies every gothic nuance. The customary Rachmaninov `orgasm' or `climax' is unleashed with the force of a volcanic eruption nearly pulverizing the listener. Needless to say, it hasn't taken 42 years to prove that something amazing happened here, and that no one can even remotely come close to matching this performance--people knew it back then, and they were right.