Penguin Guide Rosette Winners

“An indispensable and self-recommending disc. The lovely Miaskovsky could not be played with greater eloquence and the first Western recording of the Prokofiev (also from the 1950s) sounds as if it was made yesterday.” Gramophone Magazine

“…a glorious example of Russian romantic virtuosity”Gramophone, December 2004

Diapason d'Or, FFFF. de Télérama & Penguin Guide Awards

“In crude and subjective terms Michelangeli makes the spine tingle in a way no others can approach. How does he do it? This is the secret every pianist would love to know, and which no writer can ever pin down.
But it's possible to give some general indications.
It isn't a question of technique, at least not directly, because Ashkenazy, for example (on Decca) can match their most virtuoso feats; indirectly, yes, it's relevant, in that there are dimensions in Michelangeli's pianism which allow musical conceptions to materialise which might not dawn on others. Nor is it a question of structure, in the narrow sense of the awareness of overall proportions, judicious shaping of paragraphs, continuity of thought; but the way structure is projected and the way it's transmuted into emotional drama; these things are critical.
In one way or another most of the recordings in this section respond vividly to the excitement of Rachmaninov's dramatic climaxes; but with Michelangeli these climaxes seem to burst through the music of their own volition, as though an irresistible force of nature has been released. It's this crowning of a structure by release, rather than by extra pressure, which gives the performance a sense of exaltation and which more than anything else sets it on a different level. It enables him to be freer in many details, yet seem more inevitable as a whole.
The impact of all this would be negligible without a sympathetically attuned conductor and orchestra. Fortunately that's exactly what Michelangeli has. Michelangeli's Ravel is open to criticism, partly because many listeners feel uncomfortable with his persistent left-beforeright mannerism in the slow movement and with his unwarranted textual tinkerings (like changing the last note). But he's as finely attuned to this aloof idiom as to its temperamental opposite in the Rachmaninov.
And although the recording can't entirely belie its vintage, it does justice to one of the finest concerto records ever made.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“In the Rachmaninov, the heroic virtuosity of Michelangelo's playing banished any doubts that this composition was a poor shadow of its predecessors, while the cool demeanour and exquisite subtlety of the Ravel slow movement remains peerless.” BBC Music Magazine, January 2012

“Rodriguez offers some of the most commanding, strongly-etched, and thoroughly convincing interpretations this music has ever been given. If you missed the first volume (ÉLAN 82244) containing the Preludes Op. 32 and Sonata No. 1, pick it up together with the latest installment. Both offer Rachmaninov playing on the very highest level.” American Record Guide

“This is some Rachmaninov playing! Santiago Rodriguez is the real thing. For a moment one imagines that Rachmaninov himself is at the keyboard...wonderful authority and immaculate technical control...Outstanding in every way and well worth seeking out.” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition