Benedetti Michelangeli learned to play the violin at the age of three and would later study the instrument at the Venturi Institute in Brescia[5] before switching to piano under Dr. Paolo Chimeri, who accepted him into his class following an audition.

[7] At ten years old, Benedetti Michelangeli began his formal music education at the Milan Conservatory, where he graduated with honours at the age of 14.

In view of his family's attitude[8] Benedetti Michelangeli studied medicine for several years although he never set music aside and continued to play regularly.

A year later he won the first prize in the Geneva International Music Competition, where he was acclaimed as "a new Liszt" by pianist Alfred Cortot, a member of the judging panel, which was presided over by Ignacy Jan Paderewski.

[12] After a long break, his first appearance was in Warsaw during the 5th Chopin Festival, where he dropped out of the competition in protest as Vladimir Ashkenazy, who he believed should have won, finished second to Adam Harasiewicz by a small margin.

[13] In 1948 Michelangeli toured the United States for the first time, making his orchestral debut at Carnegie Hall in November, performing Schumann's Piano Concerto in A minor Op.

His concept of training students to become professional piano concertists[definition needed] was unorthodox but successful, and he taught for several years in Bozen, and from 1952 to 1964 in Arezzo (with a break caused by ill health between 1953 and 1955).

The courses eventually resulted in the foundation of the Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli International Piano Academy, which was to be organized by the city and provincial authorities in Arezzo, in cooperation with the 'Amici della Musica' Society.

He ran further courses in Moncalieri, Siena, and Lugano, and from 1967 he gave private tuitions at a Rabbi[clarification needed] in his Alpine villa in the province of Trento.

[15] As a composer, Benedetti Michelangeli arranged 19 Italian folk songs a cappella for the Coro della Società Alpinisti Tridentini and a men's chorus from Trento (Italy).

Benedetti Michelangeli's students included Maurizio Pollini, Martha Argerich, Ivan Moravec, Paul Stewart, Aldo Antognazzi, Vladimir Krpan, Lucia Passaglia[21] and Carlo Dominici.

[24] Teacher and commentator David Dubal argued that Benedetti Michelangeli was at his best when he performed the earlier works of Beethoven but seemed insecure with Chopin.

[25] Benedetti Michelangeli's highlights include the (authorized) live performances in London of Ravel's Gaspard de la nuit, Chopin's Mazurkas and Sonata No.

[33] Pianists appearing at the festival include Magaloff, Richter, Arrau, Pollini, Ashkenazy, Radu Lupu, Zimerman, Brendel, Martha Argerich, Evgeny Kissin, Grigory Sokolov, and instrumentalists, singers and conductors such as Mstislav Rostropovich, Mischa Maisky, Uto Ughi, Luciano Pavarotti, Riccardo Muti, Claudio Abbado, Gergiev, Giulini, Sawallisch, Solti, Maazel and Chung.