Various Composers - Martha Argerich's Début Recital

Information

• Frédéric Chopin - Scherzo No. 3 in C sharp minor, Op. 39
• Johannes Brahms - 2 Rhapsodies, Op. 79
• Sergei Prokofiev - Toccata, Op. 11
• Maurice Ravel - Jeux d'eau
• Frédéric Chopin - Barcarolle in F sharp major, Op. 60
• Franz Liszt - Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6, S. 244
• Franz Liszt - Sonata in B minor, S. 178

Martha Argerich, piano

Date: 1961; 1972 / 1995

Label: Deutsche Grammophon

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Review

Here, on this richly filled CD, is a positive cornucopia of musical genius. Martha Argerich's 1961 disc remains among the most spectacular of all recorded debuts, an impression reinforced by an outsize addition and encore: her 1972 Liszt Sonata. True, there are occasional reminders of her pianism at its most fraught and capricious (Chopin's Barcarolle) as well as tiny scatterings or inaccuracies, yet her playing always blazes with a unique incandescence and character.

The Brahms Rhapsodies are as glowingly interior as they are fleet (try the B minor's central molto dolce expressivo). To think that Argerich, fearful of possible failure in such music, begged for last minute reassurance from Nelson Freire, her friend and frequent musical partner.

No more mercurial Chopin Scherzo exists on record and if its savagery becomes flighty and skittish (with the chorale's decorations sounding like manic bursts of laughter), Argerich's fine-toned fluency will make other, lesser pianists weep with envy. Ravel's Jeux d'eau is gloriously indolent and scintillating and the Prokofiev Toccata (a supreme example of his early iconoclasm) is spun off in a manner that understandably provoked Horowitz's awe and enthusiasm. Liszt's Sixth Hungarian Rhapsody is a marvel of wit and daring and the B minor Sonata is among the most dazzling ever perpetuated on disc. The recordings have worn remarkably well and the transfers have been expertly done.

— Bryce Morrison

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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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