Michael Ponti was supposed to celebrate his 85th birthday next week, but unfortunately, he passed away recently after his years of contribution to the music industry as one of the most renowned pianists globally.
The tragic news was confirmed by his son, Maximilian Ponti, to the German Press Agency. He died in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany at the age of 84. (via Pianist Magazine)
As of this writing, his official cause of death remains a mystery.
According to Gramophone UK, the classical musician was born in Germany on October 1937 to a first Italian father who was born in Seattle, while her mother was a German native who later became an American citizen.
He was initially living with his mother on the West Coast until his father decided to join them a few years later. Ponti later began studying with Gilmour McDonald at the age of 10.
The musician was a genius in his field as he already presented all 48 Preludes and Fugues all from his memory in four recitals at Washington at the age of 11.
In total, he practiced piano for over a decade. His family later went back to Germany in 1955 where he studied at the Musikhochschule Frankfurt for six years.
His international career started skyrocketing after winning the Busoni Piano Competition in Italy on 1964. As his name gets popular at the time, he started performing in concerts like the 2nd Piano Concerto along with conductor Wolfgang Sawallisch.
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Michael Ponti's Career, Recordings
According to Naxos, the classical musician is notable for recording many songs of the "unknown romantic repertoire" on renowned recording companies like Vox and Candide.
He recorded many "concertos" throughout his career where he played several songs composed by some of the renowned composers at the time like Moritz Mszkowski, Hans Bronsart von Schellendorff, Mily Balakirev, Charles-Valentin Alkan, and more.
In addition to recording concertos, the internationally-renowned pianist was also known for embracing the music of Beethoven and Scarlatti.
Unfortunately, in the 1990s, Michael Ponti suffered from a stroke that hindered him from playing the piano. Although he underwent several rehabilitation treatments, he wasn't able to return to performing and recording again.
He gave his best by performing at concerts using his left hand.
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