45 ( version for 2 pianos) Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov; Martha Argerich, Nicolas Economou. Martha Argerich is a beautiful genius. She is a colossal technician, a powerfully intuitive musician and an electrifying performer. Maurizio Pollini pf Philharmonia Orchestra / Paul Kletzki (Warner Classics), This disc is a classic. Chris Lee. A great exponent of the Austro-German repertoire, Kempff left a great recorded legacy that included two cycles of the Beethoven sonatas and concertos. A Career Spanning Over 72 Years. It will be broadcast live on BBC2 and Radio 3. Martha Argerich ( Spanish pronunciation: [mata axeit]; Eastern Catalan: [ik]; born 5 June 1941) is an Argentine classical concert pianist. Suddenly she was on the European concert circuit booked years ahead and acclaimed by audiences and critics alike. Nelson Freire and Riccardo Chailly offer interpretations that triumphantly fuse immediacy and insight, power and lyricism, and incandescent virtuosity that leaves few details unturned, yet always with the big picture in clear sight, Read more: Interview Nelson Freire at 75, He was never a headliner in the same way as Rachmaninov, Hofmann or Godowsky, but to many piano buffs Ignaz Friedman is up there with them in the top ten of the all-time greats from the so-called Golden Age. Have you read Piano Notes by Charles Rosen? Martha Argerich, (born June 5, 1941, Buenos Aires, Argentina), Argentine pianist known for her recordings and performances of chamber music, particularly of works by Olivier Messiaen, Sergey Prokofiev, and Sergey Rachmaninoff. His repertoire, unlike that of the other pianists mentioned above, was immense, extending through the Viennese classics and the Romantics to modernism and the Second Viennese School. Just last week at Carnegie Hall, as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra in a concert conducted by Charles Dutoit, Ms. Argerich vanquished the formidable challenges of Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 10 piano concertos you may not know. With a technique that, it is said, even Horowitz envied, his repertoire was equally astonishing, literally everything from A (Akimenko) to Z (Zelenski), though he played little Beethoven and even less Mozart. Jeremy Nicholas (Gramophone, November 2009), There are many delectable wonders and delights. Though she inspires cultlike devotion among ordinary concertgoers, her admirers include many of the world's most respected musicians. The public fell in love with Argerich calling her by her diminutive name Martita.But alongside the accolades, her personal life remained rocky. The Russian pianist was one of the greatest of the 20th century, often working with Rostropovich and Kogan. Born in 1987 in Beijing, in 2002 Yuja Wang won the Aspen Music Festivals concerto competition and began studies at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia with Gary Graffman. This German training made him a great interpreter of the core Romantic repertoire. For the time being, the encounter with UchidasDiabellis is just too dazzling, Read more: Classics reconsidered Mitsuko Uchida's account of Debussy's Etudes, Volodos has won the Instrumental category at the Gramophone Awards four times since 1999 (for 'Arcadi Volodos Live at Carnegie Hall', 'Volodos in Vienna', 'Volodos plays Mompou' and 'Volodos plays Brahms'). Its rare to come across music-making so unguardedly personal. I don't think his hands were particularly large. 1. Diminutive, with surprisingly small hands, it comes as a shock when she unleashes her full horse-power and those famous fingers dance over the keyboard. There are some chords in Horowitz's transcription of Rakozcy March that include elevenths. He performed and recorded with Arturo Toscanini (who became his father-in-law). Never, in my experience, has this ever astonishing Andantino sounded so profoundly and lucidly elegiac. Zimerman is the very model of a modern virtuoso. At 16, within the space of three weeks, she won both the Busoni and the Geneva International Piano Competitions. The support of friends helped Argerich get through tough times, including a cancer diagnosis in the 1990s. A night owl, she prefers to work late. As in her debut as a 7-year-old, Argerich played Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. This might suggest that Grosvenor is a kind of pianists pianist someone whose qualities appeal primarily to fellow professionals who will fully appreciate the skills and subtleties of his art. "The Nutcracker" Suite / Symphonic Dances, op. Perahias pacing is unerring throughout, and even if you tend to favour this movement slower, that one faster, the sense of narrative that he brings to these suites as a whole is utterly persuasive, Read more: The 50 best Johann Sebastian Bach recordings, Pires is not just an extraordinary pianist but also an extraordinary human being, for whom the message of music and all the arts matters far more than any individuals glory. Martha Argerich is an Argentine classical concert pianist. Indeed, the admiration of music lovers and record buyers is only reinforced by the knowledge that his fellow musicians recognise a unique and authentic talent. Tim Parry (Gramophone, February 2020), Benjamin Grosvenor pf Royal Scottish National Orchestra / Elim Chan, It's the kind of disc that makes you rethink these works and appreciate them all over again. In 1955 she went to Europe, where her teachers included Friedrich Gulda and Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli. ''Just before the surgery, I felt, 'This is dangerous.' Beset with inner demons and insecurities, she can be an erratic performer and has been famously prone to canceling concerts precipitously. Dr. Morton, speaking by telephone from California, said he had not realized until then how important those muscles were to a pianist. At the age of 80, Martha Argerich remainsan incomparable virtuoso, a performer marked byspecial charisma andnuanced, agiletechnique. 1 in C major.Argerich gained international prominence when she won the VII International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 1965, at age 24. We've chosen 50 of our favourite pianists for this list and could have easily chosen dozens more, yet we feel sure that there are enough life-changing recordings here to act as a good beginner's guide to the world of classical piano music. Her program tonight is also significant because, for the first time in 19 years, she is performing solo repertory in a major American concert venue. Alfred Brendel pf VPO / Sir Charles Mackerras, There is so much to admire throughout these two discs: his Mozart sonata is another treasure, and his soulful yet grand Bach/Busoni Chorale Prelude reminds us of repertoire from much earlier in his career, but for me perhaps the highlight is the Haydn a composer absolutely made for Brendels gifts (or should it be the other way round?). Daniel Barenboim. Martha Argerich, the enigmatic Argentine pianist, who celebrated her 80th birthday earlier this year, is one of those musicians. In music of an elusive rather than flamboyant challenge he is a master of simplicity, of music which, in Goethes words, proves that it is when working within limits that man creates his greatest work. In addition to recommending the experimental vaccine, which Ms. Argerich is taking, Dr. Morton explained that she would have to undergo surgery to remove cancerous tissue from her lungs. This image appears in the gallery:Martha Argerich: 11 stunning photos of the great pianist. Nowadays we might expect a wider dynamic range to allow greater power in the first movement's tuttis, but in all other respects the recording completely belies its age, with a near perfect balance between soloist and orchestra., Read more: Maurizio Pollini Interview (Gramophone, February 2002) . There will be plenty more to savour in years to come., Beatrice Rana has been making waves since her teens, notably at the 2013 Van Cliburn competition, where she won Silver Medal. Let me count the ways. Perhaps you cant have the vulnerability and the fantasy and sometimes white-hot tempest that are characteristic of her playing without needing to withdraw to gather herself for her next public performance. There was a recurrence in 1995. Martha Argerich (Piano) - Short Biography - Bach Cantatas Website He made a sensational US debut in 1955 and thereafter travelled frequently to the West, recording often in the US and UK.