|
"Great Pianists of the
20th Century"
In Martha Argerich's landmark account
of the Ravel triptych Gaspard de la Nuit, for example, you're
almost tempted to forget what an Everest these pieces represent
to the most intrepid virtuoso, so gripping are the poetic conjurings.
Unpredictability and magnetic presence define the Martha Argerich
style, but not at the price of distortion. There isn't a track
of filler on this collection, which displays Argerich's range
from the glistening, mirrored surfaces of Ravel's Sonatine to
a Rachmaninoff Third pushed to the breaking point and back again
as well as Argerich's extraordinarily immediate, vital Bach.
Quick tempos and imaginative finger weightings convey personality
without pointing away from the music. And in the Liszt Piano
Concerto No. 1, Argerich's visceral imagination can actually
make the score sound better, richer in substance, than it is.
--Thomas May About |
Reviewer: Joseph Tsang from Hong Kong
Fans of Argerich should have already got most of the original
recordings in this compilation set. The only question is, is
this a representative compilation of Argerich's pianistic art,
and can it serve as a good introduction to Argerich for those
who are not familiar with her? When you think of it as a compilation
set which excludes her chamber works, then it is as close to
a "best of" as you can imagine, subject to the constraint
of a 2-disc set. Her Rach 3 and Prokofiev 3 are without peer.
Her Ravel and Liszt 1 are also among the best available. May
be she's not known as a Bach specialist, but her Partita No.2
is music to my ears (don't miss DG's reissue of her all-Bach
recording, if you haven't got it). This is not just a 5-star
issue. It is a must have. No exaggeration, IT IS A MUST HAVE! |
|
|
