Martha Argerich cancels Italy tour due to health

Martha Argerich cancels Italy tour due to health

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norman lebrecht

February 14, 2017

She was due to play Torino, Genoa and Florence  with Lilya Zilberstein next week.

Here‘s the reason: Salta l’atteso tour italiano di Martha Argerich e Lilya Zilberstein: «L’Unione Musicale è spiacente di annunciare di essere stata informata ieri sera dalla signora Martha Argerich, a mezzo dell’agente che la rappresenta in Italia, che per un improvviso motivo di salute l’artista ha annullato l’intera tournée italiana, che prevedeva nel corrente mese di febbraio il concerto già programmato a Torino (17/2) oltre a quelli di Genova (Gog, 20/2) e Firenze (Amici della Musica 19/2), nonché altri impegni internazionali successivi».

Comments

  • Ungeheuer says:

    Oh Martha dear. The more things change the more they stay the same. (((-:

  • Jaybuyer says:

    But give her her due, she did clean up twice at the RFH in the last year or so: once at a love-in with schoolfriend Danny, playing Beethoven 1, and just recently, with St Petersburg, playing (yes, you’ve guessed it) Prokofiev 3. Perhaps she is busy learning a new piece?
    I could have earned a fortune at the bookies on her turning up for the latter AND England beating France and Wales at rugby.

    • Andy says:

      She still sells out every time she plays. I went to hear her play the Prokofiev in Oxford last month and the memory will last a lifetime. If she’s still happy doing it, and the public are desperate to hear her doing it, I don’t see a problem. She’s probably been playing the Schumann concert for about 65 years and I’d still sell a kidney to go and hear her play that live.

    • Marios says:

      She performed the Prokofiev 3rd with the Oxford Philharmonic in Oxford at the end of January too. It was simply sensational.

  • Pianofortissimo says:

    Martha Argerich uses to do it. Let’s hope it is her usual hypochondria behind it, not something real. We all love her.

  • Una says:

    Sending very best wishes for a speedy recovery to this wonderful but 76 year old lady. Having had cancer twice, she must be careful.

  • Ellingtonia says:

    Why are these selfish artists like Argerich indulged by sycophantic apologists. Just stop booking her and see if het “health” suddenly improves. Such behaviour would not be tolerated in most other professions.

    • ED says:

      Terrible suggestion. Surely the solution is quite simple for you – you could individually boycott her concerts. Just don’t deprive the rest of us of the chance to hear her. It’s difficult enough to get hold of tickets for her concerts, so it would certainly help if more people were put off.

      You ignore (or are ignorant of) the fact that her concerts almost always sells outs.. why would halls stop booking her? On the contrary, most are desperate to book her. Finally, on a more human level – the lady is 76 – give her a break.

      • Ellingtonia says:

        “the lady is 76 – give her a break”……………what the hell as her age got to do with anything, unacceptable behaviour is unacceptable behaviour at any age. The fact that she is indulged by the sycophantic, apologist classical fraternity is beyond belief. If she can’t be bothered to get off her arse and perform regularly, then simply pack it in. She has a “duty of care” to her audience and someone should remind her of that.

        • ED says:

          Well, we (or at least most of us) don’t live in a binary world. We know she’s 76 and we know there’s a chance she cancels. If you’re going to book for her concert, you have to live with that. I’m not being sycophantic, I’m just taking a matter-of-fact approach. Clearly, I’m her audience as I book tickets to see her as often as I can; I accept that she occasionally cancels (3 times for me, whereas I’ve seen her 15+ times), and if she does cancel, I live with it. I prefer that to not having a chance to see her at all. It sounds as if you should perhaps not be her audience (sounds like you probably already aren’t), in which case you of course have a right to an opinion, but as you don’t partake, why would you even care? Time to worry about something else?

        • Paul Moon says:

          So she is no allowed to be unwell, due to a “duty of care to her audience “. I don’t know which planet you are on. You come across as quite bitter. I guess you never took a day off work because you’ve never ever been ill? She’s had cancer twice and is 76. I heard her in January playing Prokofiev 3rd piano concerto. The best day of my life. Why don’t you leave her alone and find something else to bother your miniscule mind?

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