While the keyboardist herself continues to limit her public performances, great reissues featuring Martha Argerich's riveting live displays of solo piano virtuosity just keep coming out. Someone at the record label clearly... more » knows what she's doing. Argerich's two previous recital discs from Amsterdam's Concertgebouw chronicled her performing the unusual (Bach, believe it or not) and the predictable (Mozart and Beethoven). On this disc (recorded in 1978 and 1979 but still boasting superb sonics), Argerich is again in her element with electrifying readings of Schumann's Fantasiestücke and Ravel's Sonatine and Gaspard de la nuit. While Gaspard offers the clearest portrait of her prodigious technical skills, Argerich's Schumann is simply stunning. She throws caution to the wind and probes the work's emotional depths with all the intensity she can muster. Intense and lovely, this is incredible music-making and a must-have for piano lovers. --Jason Verlinde« less
While the keyboardist herself continues to limit her public performances, great reissues featuring Martha Argerich's riveting live displays of solo piano virtuosity just keep coming out. Someone at the record label clearly knows what she's doing. Argerich's two previous recital discs from Amsterdam's Concertgebouw chronicled her performing the unusual (Bach, believe it or not) and the predictable (Mozart and Beethoven). On this disc (recorded in 1978 and 1979 but still boasting superb sonics), Argerich is again in her element with electrifying readings of Schumann's Fantasiestücke and Ravel's Sonatine and Gaspard de la nuit. While Gaspard offers the clearest portrait of her prodigious technical skills, Argerich's Schumann is simply stunning. She throws caution to the wind and probes the work's emotional depths with all the intensity she can muster. Intense and lovely, this is incredible music-making and a must-have for piano lovers. --Jason Verlinde
M. A COMBRINK | Cape Town, South Africa | 06/22/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I bought this disc as a sad reminder that she probably won't be giving many more recitals, or recording much new repertoire, let alone ever tour the African continent, and becuase she is a great pianist I never heard live. I was completely bowled over. Most live recitals one listens to every now and again, but her unique Argerich combination of energy, craftsmanship and mercurial insight that reveals new splendours even in well-known works, is simply addicting. I LOVE this disc."
A free spirit.
Niya | USA | 10/23/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This live recording demonstrates that Argerich is one of the very few pianists who can actually breathe soul into the music she plays. While other pianists have no problem playing all the notes and giving a musically correct presentation of the works they play, Argerich actually makes the music come alive. When she plays, the music speaks directly and effectively to the audience. She's not an academic pianist who strives for political correctness or one who modifies her speech in order to offend the least. No, what she wants to say she says it with the utmost conviction and confidence. Her honesty and boldness is in her personality as well as in her playing. That is why her playing always provokes the strongest reactions - either love or hate. No matter what, she claims all the freedom that all true artists deserve and never permits herself to be imprisoned between bar lines. Hers is a free spirit, and to listen to Argerich is to embark on a journey that is fantastic and unforgettable."
Argerich at her most volatile
Alex Serrano | Perrysburg, Ohio United States | 05/12/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This in one of those rare cd's where the piano playing is so overwhelming that it actually becomes frightening. Argerich delivers these works with a sense of abandon that hits almost a level of carelessness (wrong notes are plenty) - but in this staggering display lies the merit of her playing and these live recordings. Most representative of this is her rendition of Ravel's Gaspard de la nuit - you might miss some coolness and spaciousness as Argerich seems to be rushing all over, but her virtuosity is such that somehow she is able to pull the work off and a deliver a cohesive, raw, virutosic, nerve wrecking performance. The Schumann is a little more controlled but still is mostly likely to be the most exciting performance this suite has received in any pianists hands. I doubt this disc will satisfy everyone - at points it seems there is too much of Argerich and too little of Schumann or Ravel - but as a well recorded document of an amazing pianist at her most volatile, comparisons will be scarcely available."
Amazing and beautiful
J. L. Wong | Pennsylvania | 04/19/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"My daughter and I just heard Martha Argerich play in Philadelphia in April, 2002. Instead of the listed Chopin, she chose to play Schumann. In the twenty years since this album was recorded, she has lost none of her technical ability or delicacy of feeling. What a range. What a musician..... I found myself wishing the patron would have either had the foresight to bring lozenges or the decency to leave the auditorium. Aside from that, this is a wonderful disc. Miss Argerich demonstrates that playing with speed and power are *not* the same as "banging on the keys". Buy it."
Track Listings (14) - Disc #1
![Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem [A German Requiem]](https://nationalbookswap.com/cd//m/23/8723/6058723.jpg)
