Watch: Martha Argerich returns to Carnegie Hall

Watch: Martha Argerich returns to Carnegie Hall

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norman lebrecht

October 23, 2017

She hadn’t played there for 10 years until Friday’s visit.

Did they know what they were missing?

Watch here.

 

Comments

  • Ungeheuer says:

    She consumed the Prok 3rd as appetizer. I am sure she ate dinner afterwards.

  • Miller says:

    Never understood the fascination with Argerich.

    • Jon H says:

      Trying to express everything exactly in words is impossible – and that’s why we should still try… She has been really good for decades, and so brings lifelong experience of this music to a still remarkable technique. She gives the impression she can play anything from Prokofiev to Mozart, and seems to have the sensibility for both and many things in between. And you get the feeling that she wouldn’t be there if she didn’t want to be, so if she’s there at all, the results in those couple days must meet her particular set of standards.

    • Bruce says:

      That’s OK. She’s doing just fine without you 🙂

  • Scott says:

    I never understood Argerich either–until Friday night. Her performance at Carnegie was electrifying. She and Pappano also did Laideronnette, impératrice des pagodes by Ravel as an encore.

  • herrera says:

    Perusing the Medici TV site and their “Replay” concerts, and holy moly, Medici is featuring no less than 5 concerts amounting to 7 hours of playing by Lucas Debargue, the young French pianist.

    Either Mr. Debargue has a stupendous agent, or he is the next Argerich 😉

  • Mark says:

    I was there, and it was a stupendous performance. Not just technically perfect, but full of indescribable magic. I couldn’t help thinking how dated Yuja Wang’s art is when compared to Argerich – I heard her play the same concerto (Prokofiev 3rd) and it’s something of a calling card for her. Wang is a clever crafts(wo)man, but Argerich is Queen Mab !

    • ANON says:

      There is no need to bash a younger artist in your gushing praise of your idol, Mark. I have a live recording of Wang playing this piece in Chicago that in my opinion remains unsurpassed in all the live recordings I’ve heard of this piece, including the one from Carnegie Hall this past Friday.

      Wang is going to play this same concerto this season with Petrenko in Israel and Berlin, for a total of 11(!) times. Let’s hope she can surpass herself in the DCH recording next year.

      • Mark says:

        That’s the problem, Anon – Wang isn’t much of an artist, just a piano-playing automaton with all the sartorial elegance of a 1970s Times Square working girl …

        • ANON says:

          Well, if Wang is a piano-playing automaton, then what is Argerich, with her forever rushing tempo and limited solo and concerto repertoire? A worn-out, less well-made piano-playing automaton, perhaps?

        • Cyril Blair says:

          And this comment tells us quite a bit about you, while saying nothing at all important about Wang.

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