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Martha Argerich Plays Chopin: The Legendary 1965 Recording
: 's Best of 1999:Record-label politics prevented this awesome recording of Argentinean pianist Martha Argerich from being released for 34 years. The spitfire musician delivers a powerful set of Chopin's best-loved works that still sounds riveting today. Intense and gorgeous. --Jason Verlinde Amazon.com essential recording:How can it be that a recording by one of today's indisputably unequaled pianists performing some of her prime repertory--made fresh within months of her triumph in the 1965 Warsaw International Chopin Competition--could languish for decades in the ...
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Rachmaninoff: Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30 / Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor, Op. 23
: essential recording:This is madness in action. Martha Argerich's Rachmaninoff Third is the fastest and most physically exciting you'll ever hear. She's recorded live, and the balances are a little strange as a result. You can also tell that Riccardo Chailly and his orchestra are having a hell of time trying to keep up with her, while anticipating what she's about to do next--but so what? This is as close as you can come to an experience of spontaneous combustion, and ...
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Collection 1: The Solo Piano Recordings (Box)
:Album Description: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 ...
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Chopin: Piano Concertos nos. 1 & 2 / Dutoit, Argerich
: :Martha Argerich is one of our supreme pianists, and this disc shows her almost at her best. Every phrase is beautifully considered and executed, but there is still plenty of spontaneity in her playing. Alas for the flowers of youth. A couple of decades ago, Argerich played this music (on two separate Deutsche Grammophon recordings) with even more fervor and spontaneity, and the accompaniments were more incisive and more clearly recorded than these. As Chopin wrote these concertos so early in ...
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Prokofiev, Ravel: Piano Concertos, etc / Martha Argerich
from: Deutsche Grammophon
: essential recording:This is the original Prokofiev/Ravel concerto coupling as it appeared on LP; the Prokofiev has also been coupled with the Tchaikovsky First Concerto. I prefer this edition since superb performances of the Ravel are less common. The young (1967) Martha Argerich plays the Prokofiev for maximum brilliance but leavens the Ravel with the composer's ironic lyricism. It's very effective. The bonus is one of the greatest performances of the Ravel piano suite ever recorded, but it leaves me wondering ...
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Debut Recital / Martha Argerich
from: Deutsche Grammophon
: essential recording:Classical music people, critics in particular, have a reputation for being grumpy, and this disc illustrates why. It's called Martha Argerich Debut Recital. Now, what does this tell you about it? Nothing, that's what. And the title isn't even correct! Actually, there's more material here than appeared on her debut recital, not the least of which is a stunning Liszt Sonata in B minor, which is the major work on the disc. When one of the two or three ...
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J.S. Bach: Toccata, Partita, English Suite 2/ Martha Argerich
from: Deutsche Grammophon
: :A lot of pianophiles have been waiting for the reissue of this 1980 LP, Argerich's only Bach recording. She played the same Partita at her Carnegie Hall recital in the Spring of 2000, suggesting that she just doesn't play much Bach. These performances have the pianist's typical intensity of approach. Her fingers do the talking, with some dazzling clear articulation reminiscent of Glenn Gould on a good day, and she seldom blurs any of the textures. She also has a very ...
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Brahms, Prokofiev, Rachmaninov: Music for Two Pianos
from: EMI Classics
:Album Description:Brahms: Sonata for 2 pianos in F minor, Op. 34b Martha Argerich (piano) & Lilya Zilbertstein (piano) Variations on a theme by Haydn, Op. 56b for 2 Pianos Martha Argerich (piano) & Polina Leschenko (piano) Lutoslawski: Variations on a Theme of Paganini for 2 Pianos Martha Argerich (piano) & Giorgia Tomassi (piano) Prokofiev: Symphony No. 1 in D major, Op. 25 'Classical' Transcribed for two pianos by Rikuya Terashima Martha Argerich (piano) & Yefim Bronfman (piano) Rachmaninov: Suite No. 2 ...
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Prokofiev: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 3 / Bartok: Piano Concerto No. 3
from: EMI Classics
: :Martha Argerich first recorded the Prokofiev Third Concerto in the late '60s. Her fiery, hair-trigger playing, abetted by Claudio Abbado's incisive support with the Berlin Philharmonic in top form, set new standards for this warhorse. No one's come close to topping her extraordinary achievement, not even Argerich herself in this remake with Charles Dutoit and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. The recording quality, for one, is less well defined. Dutoit imparts less character to the orchestral tuttis than Abbado, and Argerich's fingerwork, ...
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Shostakovich/Tchaikovsky: Piano Trios
from: Deutsche Grammophon
: :Although these musicians have previously played together in duos, you aren't likely to hear the trio of Martha Argerich, Gidon Kremer, and Mischa Maisky every day. The friends have attempted to perform as a threesome for decades, but it took sheer luck, and a few 1998 dates in Japan, to find the acclaimed pianist, violinist, and cellist onstage together. Recorded as a tribute to Reinhard Paulsen, the late manager of Argerich and Kremer, this disc features two of chamber music's darkest ...
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