Martha Argerich is back in Lugano

Martha Argerich is back in Lugano

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norman lebrecht

December 30, 2020

For 15 years, the pianist presided in Lugano over one of the friendliest music festivals on earth, playing deep into the Alpine night.

Then a Swiss bank told her they were clean out of cash, so she moved her event to Hamburg.

Tomorrow, she’ll be back, playing out the year with a Beethoven concerto.

 

Comments

  • Nijinsky says:

    I love Martha Argerich. The closest I got to her ever was when she was playing with another man on stage, and their music was placed so that she could just whip it over (the page) while the guy lurking behind her who was supposed to have been doing that got more and more crinkled up, and the girl next to me (haven’t thought about her for ages, and will have to figure her out some more, with pencils erases and some table, I supposed, you know…..) and then what happened was I was told that whatever she said that made me think Martha needed some other page turner got me turned into the hall and yep sure enough…..

    We danced around for ours, and then……

  • Greg Bottini says:

    Martha Argerich is a treasure. Please stay safe, dear Martha.

  • Micaela Bonetti says:

    The concert, without live audience, will be broadcasted tomorrow 18.30 swiss-time, on http://www.osi.swiss, live from LAC in Lugano, as well as on Rete Due-radio.
    (Sad not to be able to be there as I live very close to Lugano…

    • JussiB says:

      Surprised to see the conductor for this concert is Ion Marin… Years ago I heard several prominent singers described him as “incompetent”, “worst conductor”, etc. Maybe he has improved?

      • BruceB says:

        It seems like every male conductor with pretty hair is described as incompetent/the worst, etc. I never noticed anything particularly terrible about him.

  • Andy says:

    Wonderful lady. I’m fortunate enough to have heard her live a handful of times. Magnificent every time, but one time in particular – Schumann Concerto in Oxford Town Hall – just defies description. There’s no way of explaining what happened there, what it sounded like or felt like. Not sure I’ll ever get over it. I suspect many others have had similar experiences.

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