Tchaikovsky: Martha Argerich

The box comprises all (live) recordings made by Martha Argerich at the Lugano Festival, from 2002 to the last edition in 2016, and released by EMI Classics and Warner Classics. An impressive collection of 22CDs without equivalent. It includes a variety of genres: some solo piano music, lots of music for piano duo and among them many arrangements, chamber works and concertos.

Wow! This is music making on a cosmic scale. You may hear some jaded critic offer up the following generic comment about this release: "These three players, gathered together for only the second time, naturally can't equal the subtle give and take of more established chamber ensembles." Bull. All three artists rank among the most inspirational and experienced chamber players of our time, and here they set the notes on fire in performances of shattering intensity, improvisational spontaneity, and (in the Tchaikovsky) Herculean grandeur. Argerich's performance of the concerto-like piano part of the Tchaikovsky Trio is especially impressive; she seems to know instinctively when to dominate the proceedings and when to let her partners take over; and the final "Theme and Variations"–a huge movement half an hour in length–seldom has sounded so cohesive and meaningful. As to the Shostakovich, well, what can I say? This is one of the most profoundly moving experiences in music, and how well this trio knows it! The three players find the perfect tempo for the third movement Passacaglia, then build the tragic finale as inexorably as fate itself.

Martha Argerich's reputation is secure. She will go down in history as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century, touching everything she does with a scorching genius. And of her all-too-few recordings, this is one of the most celebrated: live performances of two of the great warhorses of the piano concerto repertoire, here transformed into the sleekest, most finely honed of racehorses. Tantalisingly, her Rachmaninov Third had to wait 13 years before it was issued, but when it finally arrived no one was in any doubt that it had been worth the wait. Its epic 45-minute span emerges here as a single stream of consciousness, with the finale as brilliantly explosive as you'll ever hear it.

After the tremendously successful first Rendez-Vous with Martha Argerich, this second volume will certainly thrill music lovers from all around the world again. For this new edition, Martha Argerich partners with high-profile musical friends such as Sylvain Cambreling, Renaud Capuçon, Charles Dutoit, Gabriela Montero, Edgar Moreau, Akane Sakai and many others in new repertoire like Mendelssohn’ Second Piano Trio, or in stalwarts of her repertoire such as Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto, Beethoven’s ‘Kreutzer’ Sonata or Schumann’s Kinderszenen. In total: 6 CDs that will allow you to marvel at the art of Martha Argerich and her friends in state-of-the-art new recordings.

Legend of the piano Martha Argerich is releasing her first ever album partnering the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of its new musical director, Lahav Shani.

Since she won the seventh International Frederick Chopin Piano Competition in 1965 at the age of 24, this Argentine concert pianist has mostly avoided the limelight; she remains, however, one of the greatest interpreters of classical music.

That Martha Argerich is a powerhouse with heart is not a problem, it's a delight; that she can occasionally be rambunctious and a bit careless, on the other hand, can be a problem. On this recording, happily, the pluses are very much in evidence and the minuses nonexistent. She plays the Tchaikovsky with absolute abandon joined with a technical assuredness that is thrilling, and the fact that she gets through it almost error-free makes the breakneck experience all the more rewarding. The Schumann Concerto is hardly in the same league as the Tchaikovsky, but Argerich makes a superb case for it.