Mercurial Martha: Argerich back in the solo spotlight

By Mark Pullinger, 25 June 2020

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“an occasional smile and a half glance out into the auditorium, as if revelling in the solitude”

Reviewed at Laeiszhalle: Großer Saal, Hamburg on 25 June 2020

Beethoven, Violin Sonata no. 8 in G major, Op.30 no.3

Chopin, Piano Sonata no. 3 in B minor, Op.58

Franck, Violin Sonata in A major

Martha Argerich, Piano

Renaud Capuçon, Violin

Argerich, Maisky and the elixir of youth

Mark Pullinger, 6th February

Martha Argerich and Mischa Maisky's duo recital at Wigmore Hall turns into a trio... and offers the London audience a rare opportunity to hear the Argentinian pianist play solo.

****1

Sinning on a Sunday: Argerich, Mehta and the Vienna Philharmonic

Chanda VanderHart, 17th March

In the sacred golden temple that is the Musikverein, Martha Argerich plays Ravel's saucy Piano Concerto in G major, before the Philharmoniker and Zubin Mehta play Bruckner's Seventh Symphony.

****1

Stars, slapstick and soul: Martha Argerich joins the Rotterdam Phil

Eleanor Knight, 28th September

Soaring choral music precedes the arrival of Martha Argerich for a daredevil account of Shostakovich's First Piano Concerto with RPhO Principal Trumpet, Alex Elia.

*****

Argerich and Dutoit demonstrate that vitality is ageless

Edward Sava-Segal, 18th September

Martha Argerich returns to the Enescu Festival for one of the pillars of her repertory, Prokofiev's Third Piano Concerto, in a buoyant performance.

***11

Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester and Martha Argerich in Évian

David Karlin, 2nd July

Argerich shows her full artistry, while Europe's young musicians show impressive coordination and dynamics, if short of emotion in Beethoven 7.

****1

Clumsy Liszt, listless Berlioz from Barenboim and the Staatskapelle

Mark Pullinger, 7th March

Some conductors get better with age, ripening like fine wines, but age wearies others. Daniel Barenboim’s decline is difficult to bear.

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Mark Pullinger

Mark has been a Bachtrack editor since 2014. He is also an experienced critic, writing hundreds of reviews for the site, as well as a freelancer writing for other magazines and newspapers. He also writes programme notes and blogs on Substack. Mark has a particular passion for the operas of Verdi as well as Russian and French repertoire. Outside the concert hall and opera house, Mark enjoys cooking and travel and is probably at his happiest let loose in a French patisserie or a Viennese coffee house.

Mercurial Martha: Argerich springs a surprise in recital with Renaud Capuçon in Hamburg