In May 1938, at the age of eighteen, Michelangeli began his international career by entering the
Ysaÿe International Festival in
Brussels,
Belgium, where he finished seventh. The outbreak of World War II interrupted Michelangeli's career just as it had begun. Despite future Queen of Italy
Maria José Savoia's efforts to exonerate him from the army, Michelangeli was drafted. He joined the Italian airforce, and as soon as the war was over, returned to music. 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. 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. 54 with the
New York Philharmonic and
Dimitri Mitropoulos. In January 1949 he made his solo debut at Carnegie Hall. Following his spell at Conservatorio in Bologna, Michelangeli's teaching activity continued in
Venice,
Berlin,
Geneva and
Budapest. His concept of training students to become professional piano concertists 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. Unfortunately, the project did not come to fruition. He ran further courses in
Moncalieri,
Siena, and
Lugano, and from 1967 he gave private tuitions at a Rabbi in his Alpine villa in the province of
Trento. In 1988, Michelangeli suffered a ruptured abdominal aneurysm during a concert in
Bordeaux. After more than seven hours of surgery, he overcame this health issue. A few months later, on 7 June 1989, he played Mozart concertos Nos.
20 and
25 with the
Symphony Orchestra of Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) conducted by Cord Garben. In 1990, he again recorded two Mozart concertos, KV. 415 and KV. 503 in
Bremen. Michelangeli's last public performance was held in Hamburg on 7 May 1993. and Carlo Dominici.
Sergiu Celibidache considered Benedetti Michelangeli a fellow conductor, and not merely a pianist: "Michelangeli makes colors; he is a conductor." Celibidache also described Michelangeli as one of the "greatest living artists". 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. He added that Benedetti Michelangeli was "demonic" in works such as the
Bach-
Busoni Chaconne and
Brahms's
Paganini Variations. Benedetti Michelangeli's highlights include the (authorized) live performances in London of
Ravel's
Gaspard de la nuit,
Chopin's
Mazurkas and
Sonata No. 2,
Schumann's
Carnaval, Op. 9 and
Faschingsschwank aus Wien, Op. 26 as well as various recordings of Beethoven's
Piano Concerto No. 5, Liszt's
Piano Concerto No. 1 and
Totentanz, Ravel's
Piano Concerto in G major, and the piano concertos of
Robert Schumann, and
Edvard Grieg. == Personal life ==