Schumann Argerich

This recording is really good. Firstly, about the sound quality. Although this recording was made in 1984, the Deutsche-Grammophon sound is clear, full, and crisp. Now about the performance. This is the most extraordinary Kreisleriana I have ever heard. It's beautiful, tender, raw, wise - but none of these adjectives do it justice. It's best to just get it & listen. When this recording is on, I and everybody I'm with, even if we were busy doing something before, inevitably find ourselves just listening later on.

When pianist Martha Argerich and violinist Renaud Capuçon gave a recital at the 2022 Aix-en-Provence Easter Festival, their extraordinary rapport was evident to all present. Captured live, their programme included three major works for violin and piano, all in the key of A: Schumann’s Sonata No. 1 Op. 105, Beethoven’s Sonata No. 9 Op. 47, “Kreutzer”, and Franck’s Sonata.

As with previous issues in this outstanding series from Martha Argerich's Lugano Festival, the performers included here range from acknowledged masters such as cellist Mischa Maisky and pianist Stephen Kovacevich to near unknowns such as bassoonist Vincent Godel and clarinetist Corrado Giuffredi. Likewise, the repertoire ranges from the fairly well-known Schumann D minor Violin Sonata and Janácek Concertino to the virtually unknown Arensky Piano Quintet and Pletnev Fantasia elvetica. But no matter the performers or the repertoire, the results are superlative.

Warner Classics proudly brings you Martha Argerich's greatest recording highlights, complete with true jewels from her discrography!

This box set really is amazing value and would be well worth having at three times the price! Many people sing the praises of Martha Argerich to the skies, so that the superlatives start to seem a bit predictable almost, but here it has to be said that her performance of the Chopin concerto is a marvel.

The TDK DVD is designed as a showcase for Martha Argerich, recorded live at La Rogue d’Anthéon Piano Festival, but although she dazzles in the coupled Prokofiev, she is very much part of a team in the Beethoven Triple Concerto and indeed in the expressive slow movement it is the cellist Gautier Capuçon whose solo remains in the memory. Alexandre Rabinovitch-Barakovsky, his hair flying, energetically directs vital accounts of the outer movements, with a spontaneous accelerando at the very end of the work…the camera involves the listener compellingly inside the music-making.

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.

This box of Schumann's chamber works makes a superb package, and is often available at bargain price. It is a bit like one of Martha Argerich's box sets from Lugano, except that here she is present in a large number of the formations. All of the works where she features, including the Piano Quintet, the 2nd Violin Sonata and the Marchenbilder, are unmissable and full of passion and excitement, conveying a continuous sense of transport. Where she is not the pianist Alexandre Rabinovitch takes over at the keyboard and also gives us some superlative versions.

For over 40 years Martha Argerich's recordings on Deutsche Grammophon have remained in the catalog and many are still best sellers. This 8-CD collection presents re-issues of eight solo LP recitals made between 1960 and 1983. The recordings have been remastered and are presented in chronological order, as originally programmed, with the original LP cover art on the individual sleeves. In addition, a booklet with new program notes and rare photos is included with the set. These performances are essential listening and constitute some of the greatest recordings of solo piano music available. (Source: amazon.com)