Martha Argerich – Chopin: 24 Préludes, Piano Sonata No. 2 (2002)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 01:01:24 minutes | 1,94 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Deutsche Grammophon (DG)
This classic 1977 release features a stunning interpretation of Chopin’s Préludes by pianist Martha Argerich, still considered a reference recording of the set by many critics. The programme also an equally impressive Piano Sonata No. 2, recorded in 1975.
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Martha Argerich – Beethoven: Symphony No. 6, “Pastoral” & Piano Sonata No. 17, “Tempest” (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:05:37 minutes | 1,05 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Warner Classics
Martha Argerich, one of the great performing musicians of our time, is also a generous mentor and colleague to younger pianists. Here, saluting Beethoven in his 250th anniversary year, she shares the keyboard with Greek pianist Theodosia Ntokou in a transcription of his Symphony No 6, the ‘Pastoral’, made by Selmar Bagge, a German organist and musicologist born in 1823. Completing the programme is Beethoven’s intense ‘Tempest’ Sonata, No 17 in D minor, op 31 No 2, performed by Theodosia Ntokou, who praises its “passion, intensity and fire”.
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Martha Argerich – Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 2 (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 29:59 minutes | 283 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Deutsche Grammophon (DG)
Martha Argerich (Eastern Catalan pronunciation: [‘mata ‘ik]; Spanish pronunciation: [‘mata axe’it]; born 5 June 1941) is an Argentine-Swiss classical concert pianist. She is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of all time.
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Martha Argerich – Brahms: Klavierquartett, Op.25 / Schumann: Fantasiestücke, Op.88 (2012)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 58:26 minutes | 1,09 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Deutsche Grammophon (DG)
Even after playing it in concert together the previous summer, Argerich, Kremer, Bashmet, and Maisky still spent five days in Berlin recording Brahms’ Piano Quartet in G minor. They spent a Saturday in late February 2003 tuning up and the next four days recording, one day for each movement. On top of that, they practiced every morning back in their hotels. And this is Martha Argerich, Gidon Kremer, Yuri Bashmet, and Mischa Maisky here: not only arguably the four greatest living virtuosos on their instruments, but friends who’ve been playing chamber music together for decades. How could they have spent six hours recording the opening Allegro? How could they have spent any less? Considering that Argerich, Kremer, Bashmet, and Maisky are also four of the most highly individualistic and idiosyncratic performers in the history of classical music, they probably took five-and-three-quarter hours just working the kinks out. But the results are absolutely worth it: despite all their arduous work, Argerich, Kremer, Bashmet, and Maisky play with unrelenting recklessness, taking musical, dramatic, and — most of all — emotional chances few other performers would dare take. Rhythms, tempos, dynamics, phrasing, form, and every note are all infused with their individual and collective technical and interpretive virtuosity. While their performance may be too exciting to listen to every day, it is nevertheless one of the two or three greatest performances of Brahms’ Piano Quartet in G minor ever recorded. Deutsche Grammophon’s sound is right there in the room with you.
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Martha Argerich & Mischa Maisky – Schubert & Schumann: Arpeggione Sonata & Fantasiestuck (1985) [Japan 2019]
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 53:18 minutes | Basic scans | 2,14 GB
or FLAC (converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/96 kHz | Basic scans included | 1,05 GB
Japanese SACD Reissue 2019 | Decca / Esoteric Company, Japan # ESSD-90201
Pianist Martha Argerich and cellist Mischa Maisky perform compositional works by Franz Schubert and Robert Schumann on this audiophile release. The reissue of classical music masterpieces by ESOTERIC has attracted a lot of attention, both for its uncompromising commitment to recreating the original master sound to improve sound quality. This series marks the first hybrid SACD release of historical recording selections that have been mainstays of the catalog since their initial release.
Read moreMartha Argerich, Mikhail Pletnev – Prokofiev – Cinderella; Ravel – Ma Mere l’Oye (2004) MCH SACD ISO
Martha Argerich, Mikhail Pletnev – Prokofiev – Cinderella; Ravel – Ma Mere l’Oye (2004)
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DST64 2.0 & 5.1 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 00:49:43 minutes | 3,49 GB
Genre: Classical | Scans included | Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Mikhail Pletnev has made a transcription for two pianos of excerpts from Prokofiev’s Cinderella ballet that is as colorful and rich as the orchestral original, particularly when performed by such amazing pianists as Pletnev and Martha Argerich. The transcription is based not on the orchestral score, but on Prokofiev’s own solo piano transcriptions, which means that this version, while obviously denser in textures than the solo piano version, is still transparent and clear in expression. Carefully chosen excerpts contrast moments of quiet lushness, as in the “Introduction” and “Winter,” with the Classicism of the Gavotte and the briskness of the Gallop. Pletnev’s Finale combines the ball’s waltz with the chiming of the clock, an ingenious use of the percussive capabilities of the piano, and the shimmering scales that transport the Prince and Cinderella to fairyland at the end of the ballet. Pletnev and Argerich quite effectively convey the ballet’s story and the complex sentiments of the characters and action that Prokofiev puts into the music, from the nattering energy of the “Quarrel” to the swirling waltz and ringing bells of the Finale. You can easily imagine the ballet being performed with this ensemble rather than a full orchestra. The inclusion of Ravel’s Mother Goose suite on the disc is a delightful bonus. Again, they wonderfully bring out the color and richness of the music that is hidden within its simple lines. This is a disc for fans of Cinderella as well as those of two piano music.
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Martha Argerich – Live From Concertgebouw 78-79: Schumann, Ravel (1999) [Japan 2011]
SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 51:16 minutes | Basic Covers | 2,06 GB
or FLAC(converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Basic Covers | 951 MB
This is the 3rd of a series of live performances given in the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam by Martha Argerich. The concerts date from 1978 & 1979 & offer the record collector the opportunity to compare & contrast Argerich the recitalist at that time with Argerich the accompanist now.
It is as important to forget the relatively low playing time of the present disc as it is to forget the occasional splatter of wrong notes. Freed from the studio, Argerich gives her imagination absolutely full rein. Her strong affinity with Schumann is evident throughout her account of the Fantasiestьcke, in which she demonstrates a near miraculous ability to capture the essence of each of the individual movements. What’s more, Schumann’s unpredictable mood shifts & extreme sense of fantasy seem to strike a chord with Argerich’s own persona: the sections of ‘Fabel’, for example, are unapologetically contrasted. Schumann’s ornamentation comes across as if improvised. Perhaps the greatest achievement of this performance is the last movement, in which Argerich paces Schumann’s cumulative, obsessive repetitions to perfection.
Argerich seems to elevate the stature of Ravel’s diminutive Sonatine. She accords the 2nd movement, ‘Mouvement de menuet’, an egg-shell delicacy: in fact throughout her lightened tone is entirely appropriate. But it is Gaspard that finds her at her most inspired. Perhaps what is most awe-inspiring about this is that no matter how tough the going gets pianistically (& it gets pretty tough), the texture is never over-burdened so that the level of detail that comes across is nothing short of revelatory. Argerich’s tonal variety is 1 of her strongest points, & nowhere is this better demonstrated than in ‘Le gibet’, that enormous test of keyboard control. Despite some obtrusive audience noise at the beginning of ‘Scarbo’, Argerich ensures that this is a jaw-dropping experience, right from the gestural sweep of the earlier passages. A salutary reminder of just what Argerich was capable of in her then-chosen guise as keyboard giant.
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Martha Argerich – Live form the Concertgebouw 1978 & 1979 (2011)
Classical | SACD ISO: DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 00:52:00 | 2,9 GB
Label: Warner Music (Japan) | Release Year: 2011
If you wonder why everyone’s so crazy about Martha Argerich, this disc should explain it. Recorded live in recital at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw in May 1978 and April 1979 — but released here for the first time — these performances reveal a pianist with a daredevil spirit and technique to burn. Surely Chopin’s C-sharp Minor Scherzo has never been fired off with such dizzying speed and indomitable power. Even the quieter sections — usually oases of nostalgic solace — have dramatic urgency, and her final dash to the finish line is an adrenaline rush that will leave you breathless. Argerich’s Bartók Sonata is a riot of pounding rhythms and bristling energy that makes the “Rite of Spring” seem well-behaved. But she’s no jackhammer, either. Prokofiev’s Seventh Sonata is just as impressive for its moments of lyrical intimacy as for its savage excitement. And Bach’s C Minor Partita is elegantly austere and poised in her oh-so-capable hands. Alberto Ginastera’s “Danzas Argentinas” — one of the pianist’s rare forays into music from her birthplace — are vibrantly colored, with a magically delicate rendering of the melancholy “Danza de la moza donoza.” An incendiary performance of one of Scarlatti’s most dazzling sonatas and a spry, shapely rendition of the Bourée from Bach’s A Minor English Suite make exquisite and exhilarating encores. Piano playing just doesn’t get any better than this.
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Martha Argerich – Chopin: The Legendary 1965 Recording (1999) [Japan 2011]
SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 51:29 minutes | Basic Covers | 2,08 GB
or FLAC(converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | F/B Covers | 936 MB
How can it be that a recording by one of today’s indisputably unequaled pianists performing some of her prime repertory–made fresh within months of her triumph in the 1965 Warsaw International Chopin Competition–could languish for decades in the vaults before its official release? Chalk it up to the exclusivity clauses of rival recording companies and legal constraints from which not even Wotan with the help of Loge could extricate himself. Thankfully this belated EMI release – recorded in a few sessions at the Abbey Road studios – is finally available.
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Martha Argerich, Berliner Philharmoniker, Claudio Abbado – Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No.1 (1995,1999/2021)
DSD64 (.dsf) 1 bit/2,82 MHz | Time – 01:17:16 minutes | 3,04 GB
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:17:16 minutes | 1,1 GB
Souce: SACD-R | Artwork: Front Cover | Genre: Classical | © Deutsche Grammophon / Esoteric
Martha Argerich – Martha Argerich Performs Beethoven and Ravel (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 51:02 minutes | 821 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © 2023 Avanticlassic
Martha Argerich, the ageless Argentine, was approaching her 80th birthday when these live recordings were made in Israel in 2019, but it is hard to hear any diminution of her powers. Israel Philharmonic conductor Lahav Shani pushes her with quick tempos in the passagework of the Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major, Op. 19, and she interacts with him very closely here and in the first movement of the Ravel Piano Concerto in G major, where the blues aspect is deemphasized in favor of keeping things moving. Really, despite the presence of the star Argerich, this is Shani’s concert. By 2023, when this album was released, Shani was preparing to take the reins at the Munich Philharmonic and was generally accounted as one of the hottest young conductors on the scene. Those following his career may find this release useful in terms of understanding how he began to get people’s attention in the first place. His readings are original. The Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 2 in his hands is quite original, avoiding Haydn’s playfulness in favor of a drive and edge that points directly toward the middle-period Beethoven. The central movement of the Ravel is unusually contemplative, and the finale seems exuberant when it arrives. The live recording from the Charles Bronfman Auditorium in Tel Aviv is reasonably clear, and there is a certain electricity to the results; vigorous applause is retained at the end. An intriguing document from Argerich’s late career and Shani’s early one. – James Manheim
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Renaud Capuçon, Martha Argerich – Beethoven, Schumann, Franck (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 01:23:15 minutes | 836 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Deutsche Grammophon (DG)
French violinist Renaud Capuçon enjoys international renown as a soloist and chamber musician, is artistic director of several festivals, and is also known for his commitment to promoting and supporting younger artists and for commissioning compositions. Now he signed a contract with Deutsche Grammophon and the first album on the yellow label is not long in coming: a duo album with three of the most beautiful sonatas for violin and piano – accompanied by pianist Martha Argerich. The two are now a seasoned duo and have been playing on the stages of international festivals and concert halls for 20 years.
The concert heard here was recorded live in April 2022 at the Easter Festival in Aix-en-Provence. It was dedicated to American pianist Nicholas Angelich, a friend and colleague who had died just days before. The program includes three major works for violin and piano: Schumann’s Sonata No. 1, Op. 105, Beethoven’s Sonata No. 9, Op. 47 (“Kreutzer”), and Franck’s Sonata for Violin and Piano in A Major
“It’s a real live recording,” Capuçon says, “you rarely get something like this in the studio. Of course, it’s an honor for me to play these pieces with Martha, but at the same time it feels natural. She coaxes things out of me like no one else.”
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Martha Argerich, Daniel Barenboim – Mozart, Schubert & Stravinsky Piano Duos (Live) (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 01:15:25 minutes | 724 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Universal Music Group International
A magic moment in the history of classical music: Martha Argerich and Daniel Barenboim – both from Buenos Aires – team up for a duo recital at Berlin’s Philharmonie.
A reunion of the two classical superstars after more than 15 years.
THE concert highlight from Berlin’s fully packed Philharmonie on the occasion of the “Festtage der Berliner Staatsoper 2014”
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Daniel Barenboim, Martha Argerich, West-Eastern Divan Orchestra – Argerich – Barenboim – Mozart, Schumann, Beethoven, Ravel (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 01:42:16 minutes | 957 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Universal Music Group International
As the orchestra today inaugurates its summer performances, the digital record label Peral Music has released Live from Teatro Colón, an extraordinary new album that captures the reunion of legendary pianists Daniel Barenboim and Martha Argerich in their home city of Buenos Aires, in concert with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra.
La Nación hailed the occasion as “a masterly return – a memorable concert – the audience at the Teatro Colón cheered as rarely before.” The new album comprises Beethoven’s First Piano Concerto with Argerich, Mozart’s Overture to Le nozze di Figaro, and Ravel’s Rapsodie espagnole, Alborada del gracioso, Pavane pour une infante défunte, and Bolero, as well as works by Schumann, Mores, and Bizet.
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Dong Hyek Lim, Martha Argerich – Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2 & Symphonic Dances (2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 01:08:48 minutes | 2,42 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Warner Classics
Dong Hyek Lim takes two pianistic roles on this all-Rachmaninov album: soloist with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Alexander Vedernikov in the much-loved Piano Concerto No 2 in C minor, and duo partner to his mentor, the great Martha Argerich, in the composer’s two-piano transcription of the enthralling and enigmatic Symphonic Dances. Lim’s credentials in Russian music are rooted in the formative period he spent as a young student at Moscow’s Central School of Music and Conservatory.
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