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Martha Argerich (Great Pianists of the 20th Century)
Franz Liszt, Sergey Prokofiev, Sergey Rachmaninov
Martha Argerich (Great Pianists of the 20th Century)
Genre: Classical
 
  •  Track Listings (10) - Disc #1
  •  Track Listings (15) - Disc #2

An encounter with the searing artistry of Argentinean pianist Martha Argerich, as her fiercely loyal following attests, can resemble a conversion experience. Like her close friend Nelson Freire, Argerich takes a natural-s...  more »

     
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Amazon.com essential recording
An encounter with the searing artistry of Argentinean pianist Martha Argerich, as her fiercely loyal following attests, can resemble a conversion experience. Like her close friend Nelson Freire, Argerich takes a natural-sounding, unstudied virtuosity merely as her starting point, so that the most fearsome technical challenges emerge as thrillingly musical ones, as well. In Argerich's landmark account of the Ravel triptych Gaspard de la Nuit, for example, you're almost tempted to forget what an Everest these pieces represent to the most intrepid virtuoso, so gripping are the poetic conjurings. Unpredictability and magnetic presence define Argerich's style, but not at the price of distortion. There isn't a track of filler on this collection, which displays Argerich's range from the glistening, mirrored surfaces of Ravel's Sonatine to a Rachmaninoff Third pushed to the breaking point and back again (in the legendary live recording with Riccardo Chailly--an essential performance of the work), as well as her extraordinarily immediate, vital Bach. Quick tempos and imaginative finger weightings convey personality without pointing away from the music. And in the Liszt Piano Concerto No. 1, Argerich's visceral imagination can actually make the score sound better, richer in substance, than it is. One of the top-drawer collections in the entire Philips series, this set offers a portrait of an artist who will involve you in the passion of music making more deeply than you may have thought possible. --Thomas May

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CD Reviews

Once in a lifetime--if you're lucky
J. Anderson | 12/03/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Argerich is a biological sport, a flat-out stunning miracle. Her Bach on this CD is naked and powerful, the Rachmaninov upstages all other versions, the ferociously witty Prokofiev is all hers. Her Ravel is other-worldly--under her hands the piano surpasses itself in colors and textures. No one else can play legato--or anything else--like she does. Don't miss her recent CD of the Chopin concerti (Dutoit conducting)."
A little brandy, please...
J. Anderson | Monterey, CA USA | 09/20/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)

"The C Minor Paritita is beautifully played, sometimes I'm not sure who Argerich IS, but in the end, it's beautiful. I recently heard Angela Hewitt's Bach, incidentally, and it's surpassing. The Liszt is revolutionary, however much it really is a concerto one can do without. And this is one of the finest versions of the Prokofiev 3rd around! The third movement gets all of Argerich's natural rhythmic attention, that stupendous, measured propulsion that makes her art so dangerous! There is an earlier Ravel Concerto with Berlin and Abbado, not this one, with a more perceptively drawn second movement- I still have it on cassette! can't seem to find a CD edition of it- better than this one, but this one's easily the best around, without a doubt! Argerich's play with Ravel's ingenious rhythms is natural like walking, or spinning. The Gaspard is the finest recording in this collection, and worth twice the price of it! She's a pianist made for Ravel! I remember playing the Sonatine in college- marvelous piece with a memorable miniature for a second movement; Argerich knows the braveness of Ravel's kingdom, and now so does everybody else. There is nothing in these two discs to disappoint you. I listen to them often, and find I often want a brandy afterward -something to calm, and share the lingering."
From Bach to Rach - stunning value for money
Tsang Shek Yiu | Brisbane, Australia | 05/04/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Fans of Argerich should have already got most of the original recordings in this compilation set. The only question is, is this a representative compilation of Argerich's pianistic art, and can it serve as a good introduction to Argerich for those who are not familiar with her?When you think of it as a compilation set which excludes her chamber works, then it is as close to a "best of" as you can imagine, subject to the constraint of a 2-disc set. Her Rach 3 and Prokofiev 3 are without peer. Her Ravel and Liszt 1 are also among the best available. May be she's not known as a Bach specialist, but her Partita No.2 is music to my ears (don't miss DG's reissue of her all-Bach recording, if you haven't got it).This is not just a 5-star issue. It is a must have. No exaggeration, IT IS A MUST HAVE!"