Meet that distinguished dropout, Italy's Maurizio Pollini
In the early 1960s Maurizio Pollini of Milan, Italy, looked like the keyboard's most glamorous Cinderella since Van Cliburn of Kilgore, Texas, conquered Moscow. At 18, Pollini beat out a field of 78 to win the International Chopin Competition in Warsaw. He was promptly whisked off to recording studios in London, and the result—an LP of the Chopin Concerto No. 1—brought critical raves on both sides of the Atlantic. Concert bookings were thrust upon him.
For most young pianists, the glittering path that stretched before him would have been the sheerest fantasy fulfillment. But for Pollini,...
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