Sergei Prokofiev; Maurice Ravel - Piano Concertos (Martha Argerich)

Information

Composer: Sergei Prokofiev; Maurice Ravel

• Prokofiev - Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major, Op. 26
• Ravel - Piano Concerto in G major
• Ravel - Gaspard de la nuit

Martha Argerich, piano

Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

Claudio Abbado, conductor

Date: 1967; 1974 / 1995

Label: Deutsche Grammophon

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Review

There have been others to match the bustle and brilliance of Argerich's Prokofiev, her coloristic range, her drive, her flashiness, her straining at the leash. But I'm not sure I could name anyone who has so satisfyingly combined all those qualities, who has given us such a rocket-launched recapitulation in the first movement, such circus-routine vividness in the following variations (Prokofiev grew up in a Russia where 'circusization of the arts' was one of the 'in' concepts), or such monstrous, hyperbolic fairy-tale imagery in the finale, and all done with the most engaging reckless abandon.

The Ravel Concerto is another bundle of energy. I had forgotten how miraculous is the blend and interplay of piano and orchestra, and how ecstatically Argerich weaves around the cor anglais restatement in the slow movement.

Embarras de richesses indeed, now that DG have added Argerich's Gaspard to the original LP coupling. Here is a version of Ravel's devilish triptych which is unusually faithful to his subdued dynamic markings, quite apart from its breathtaking agility. The results ring poetically true at the same time as defying criticism in pianistic terms.

— Gramophone

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Sergei Prokofiev (27 April [O.S. 15 April] 1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor who is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century. He studied at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory where his teachers included Anatoly Lyadov and Nikolai Tcherepnin. His works include such widely heard pieces as Lieutenant Kijé, Romeo and Juliet, Peter and the Wolf, as well as seven completed operas, seven symphonies, eight ballets, five piano concertos, two violin concertos, a cello concerto, a symphony-concerto for cello and orchestra, and nine completed piano sonatas.

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Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy. Born to a music-loving family, Ravel attended the Paris Conservatoire. After leaving the conservatoire, he found his own way as a composer, developing a style of great clarity and incorporating elements of modernism, baroque, neoclassicism and, in his later works, jazz. Among his works to enter the repertoire are pieces for piano, chamber music, two piano concertos, ballet music, two operas and eight song cycles.

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Martha Argerich (born 5 June 1941) is an Argentine pianist. She studied with Friedrich Gulda, Stefan Askenase, Maria Curcio, and Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, among others. Argerich gained international prominence when she won the VII International Chopin Piano Competition in 1965. She made her first commercial recording in 1960 and has since recorded works by composers including Ginastera, Rachmaninoff and Schumann. Her aversion to the press and publicity has resulted in her remaining out of the limelight for most of her career. Nevertheless, she is widely recognized as one of the greatest pianists in history.

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