Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Edmond de Stoutz - Haydn: Piano Concertos Nos. 4 & 11 (1988)

Brilliant!! ABM plays like a man on fire. The technique here is astounding. What tone! What touch! There is classical poise, yes, but also a masculine vitality. Any Dresden China in the room when this was recorded would have been shattered to smithereens with the first hammer blows of ABM's Steinway. These are not unlike his famous Beethoven concerto recordings with Giulini on DG. The G Major is also played with elan and dash. These are gutsy, hell-bent for leather performances - just the way they ought to be played.
The sound is extremely vivid and typical of EMI at the height of analogue era. The piano is a bit prominent in the mix, but I'm not complaining with playing like this.
Too bad this temperamental master didn't record more...this is a gem and a reminder that Michelangeli belongs in the pantheon alongside Horowitz, Richter, Gilels, Backhaus, Fischer et al.
Fire, power, precision, color - these are ABM's calling cards, and they are heard here in spades. Celibedache once called Michelangeli the 20th century's "greatest living artist." It's hard to argue with such a superlative after hearing these performances. I've never heard Haydn dispatched with more color...