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The best of Argerich?

PaulMB

PaulMB

pfm Member
Just ordered the 1977 recording of Chopin's "Preludes," and the salesman commented that beautiful as they are, she was still "unripe" at the time and had not reached the peak of her technique. Since she, apparently, did not record these again, I'm wondering what anyone thinks is a great solo album by her in later years. Not too modern material, like Stockhausen, but music from, say, 1810 to 1900, Chopin, Brahms, etc. Grateful for any suggestions.
 
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interesting : https://www.washingtonpost.com/ente...7095b4-b104-11e6-be1c-8cec35b1ad25_story.html

She gave up on solo performance in the 1980s (she didn't like the loneliness) and has stuck almost entirely to chamber and concerto performance ever since. TBH, just about any recording of hers is self-recommending. A lot of her repertoire is post-1900.... C.20th greats like Ravel, Shostakovich, Bartok, Prokofiev are her mainstay. But great Mozart and Beethoven concertos too.

I'm particularly fond of her 1980s recording of Ravel's Concerto with Claudio Abbado and the LSO, and her Prokofiev 1st and 3rd, with Bartok's 3rd with her ex-husband Charles Dutoit and the Montreal Symphony from 1990s. And Tchaikovsky & Shostakovich Piano Trios with Mischa Maisky & Gidon Kremer.
There's a great Rachmaninov 3rd with Ricardo Chailly and Berlin RSO from 1980s which has rave reviews but I think she attacks it too much.
 
PaulMB said:
Just ordered the 1977 recording of Chopin's "Preludes," and the salesman commented that beautiful as they are, she was still "unripe" at the time and had not reached the peak of her technique.
Click to expand...

She had most certainly reached the peak of her technique by 1977.

Her solo Bach disc is perhaps her best solo effort. I prefer her in chamber repertoire, whether paired with Ivry Gitlis, or Mischa Maisky, or Nelson Freire, or her then husband Stephen Kovacevich. Her one off of the Kreutzer Sonata with Vadim Repin is also extremely fine.
 
alanbeeb said:
interesting : https://www.washingtonpost.com/ente...7095b4-b104-11e6-be1c-8cec35b1ad25_story.html

She gave up on solo performance in the 1980s (she didn't like the loneliness) and has stuck almost entirely to chamber and concerto performance ever since. TBH, just about any recording of hers is self-recommending. A lot of her repertoire is post-1900.... C.20th greats like Ravel, Shostakovich, Bartok, Prokofiev are her mainstay. But great Mozart and Beethoven concertos too.

I'm particularly fond of her 1980s recording of Ravel's Concerto with Claudio Abbado and the LSO, and her Prokofiev 1st and 3rd, with Bartok's 3rd with her ex-husband Charles Dutoit and the Montreal Symphony from 1990s. And Tchaikovsky & Shostakovich Piano Trios with Mischa Maisky & Gidon Kremer.
There's a great Rachmaninov 3rd with Ricardo Chailly and Berlin RSO from 1980s which has rave reviews but I think she attacks it too much.
Click to expand...
The 3rd is a classic. She takes flight on the recording. I think it’s sublime.
 
I have nearly all the Lugano sets - sometimes the enthusiasm and feedback from a concert recording just hits the spot if you're in the mood.

(And, as with Mitsuko Uchida, to a non-expert she can do no wrong.)
 
I've been dipping into that Lugano Festival boxed set..... out of 22CDs worth, there are only 2 pieces where Martha Argerich plays solo - Schumann's Kinderszenen (not one for me) but also a stupendous performance of Ravel's Gaspard de la Nuit - superb recording quality too. Same for Schumann's Piano Concerto.
 
Argerich is the only pianist that makes the Tchaikovsky Piano concerto No 1 work for me. She plays it like ballet music. She recorded it with Abbado in the early 70's, I think.
I have the Schumann G minor piano sonata from 1971. It's very hard to play but she can do what she likes, such is the ease with which she dismisses the difficulties.
 
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