Lots of Schumann, not much Argerich, plus some real oddities
Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 06/08/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"EMI has gotten into the pleasanat habit of issuing a 3-CD bargain box of Martha Argerich's summer music from Lugano, and they are caviar for chamber music lovers, mixing familiar and unfamiliar works in sterling live performances. It's hard to think of any comparable series meeting such high standards since the heyday of the Marlboro Festival under Rudolf Serkin in the Fifties and Sixties. This 2006 edition is no exception, my only disappointment being the absence of Argerich herself in so many works. She even gives up her place in the two-piano arrangement of Debussy's Nocturnes to her protege Sergio Tiempo (she has been a long-time devotee, if not addict, of two-piano arrangements that almost every other major pianist neglects).
The dominance here of works by Schumann reflects Ms. Argerich's personal fondness for him, and she appears in the Piano Quartet, which has enjoyed a wonderful, highly personal reading by Glenn Gould and the Juilliard Qt. (Sony), among others. This one displays every virtue of live musicmaking, with Argerich's fervent, spontaneous playing leading the way. Compared to earlier sets, the 2006 collection contains more rarities and less representation of great composers. The flugelhorn arrangement of Schumann's Fantasiestucke for clarinet sounds like a joke. The once unknown Tanayev Piano Quintet gets a committed reading that should help to boost its popularity. The Debbusy Nocturnes bring pleasure in the two-piano arrangement. You won't be prepared for Gulda's Concerto for Cello and Piano, which sounds like three-beer night at your local German jazz club. But it's worth a smile and a listen.
In the end, however, this installment might be best left to connoisseurs while newcomers to Argerich's summer festivities should begin with the earlier, more conventional editions.
Here's a listing of works and personnel, since Amazon doesn't supply one:
Martha Argerich / Renaud Capucon / Lida Chen / Gautier Capucon - Piano Quartet in Eb op.47 (Schumann).
Gautier Capucon / Gabriela Montero - Sonata for cello and piano No.2 in D op.58 (Mendelssohn).
Sergei Nakariakov / Martha Argerich - Fantasiestucke op.73 - version for flugelhorn and piano (Schumann).
Nicholas Angelich / Renaud Capucon / Gautier Capucon - Piano Trio in D minor op.63 (Schumann).
Lilya Zilberstein / Dora Schwarzberg / Lucy Hall / Nora Romanoff-Schwarzberg / Jorge Bosso - Piano Quintet in G minor op.30 (Taneyev).
Sergio Tiempo / Karin Lechner - Three Nocturnes : Nuages / Fetes (Debussy transcribed for two piano Ravel).
Alissa Margulis / Polina Leschenko - Sonata for violin and piano No.1 (Schnittke).
Gautier Capucon / Alexander Rabinovich-Barakovsky - Concerto for cello and windband (Gulda).
"
Track Listings (11) - Disc #1
