Up close and personal

Poster for the concert outside the Konzerhaus

When news first broke of Martha Argerich’s possible performance of Chopin’s first piano concerto in Vienna a few months ago, there was a good deal of discussion among fans as to whether she would really go ahead with it or if she would bail and/or change to another concerto that she regularly plays. The reason for this was that she had not played the Chopin concerto since 2000, as well as the fact that virtually all concerts with Argerich are just planned, but rarely guaranteed (although it has to be said that she cancels far less concerts than before). The good news is that she did play the work in Vienna last Sunday, on 16 May. 

VOD of Argerich @ Salle Pleyel

As most of you may know, the two concerts Argerich played in Paris last March were recorded for TV by the French-German arts channel Arte.

The VOD can be viewed at the following website: liveweb.arte.tv. Or if you prefer, you can click on the following two links, which will directly open the pages;

  
Martha Argerich présente le festival de Lugano en direct de la Salle Pleyel, 6 March 2010


Martha Argerich présente Autour du tango, à la Salle Pleyel, 7 March 2010

Concerts July/August 2010

Martha Argerich starts the month of July with an Argentinian-flavoured appearance at London's York Place, where she will team up with pianist Alberto Portugheis and his friends.


Additionally, she is also scheduled to play at the Verbier and Salzburg festivals this summer. While she will play two chamber music concerts at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, the Verbier concert in July will be her only appearance at the Swiss festival this year. She will be partnered by the young French trumpeter, David Guerrier, in Shostakovich's first piano concerto, and the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra under Gábor Takács-Nagy, with whom she made a memorable collaboration in the last edition of the Verbier Festival.

Concerts June 2010

It's a decidedly Swiss affair in June. The beautiful city of Lucerne, and the Konzert-und Kongresszentrum with its wonderful concert hall, will be the venue for her four performances there. Schumann is the composer featured, with two performances of the piano concerto, and two late-night concerts where she will partner friends in chamber music.

And the programme for this year's Progetto Martha Argerich in the equally, if not even more breathtakingly beautiful city of Lugano has just been announced, and it promises to be another exciting edition, with eclectic repertoire rubbing shoulders along with the familiar works. New additions to Argerich's repertoire to be performed include a two-piano arrangement of Liszt's Les Préludes, as well as Enescu's Konzertstück, alongside Yuri Bashmet. AND if luck is on her - and our - side, she will also resuscitate Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1, a work that she doesn't play very often these days (if at all so far in this millenium).

Concerts May 2010

Three concerts are scheduled for May. One in Vienna, where she will play in a tribute concert for Friedrich Gulda, a concert of Schumann's chamber music in Bologna, and another in Germany, where she will play chamber music by Robert Schumann with friends. From what I heard, she will play Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1 in Vienna. Here's hoping she does indeed play!

Concerts April 2010

Argerich will spend most of April in the Far East, playing one concert in South Korea and four in various cities in Japan, including two concerts at her own festival in Beppu.

Concerts March 2010

This month, 'music among friends' seem to be the keywords in the Argerich concert calendar. Salle Pleyel in Paris will host Argerich and friends for two concerts, and in Rome, she will play music by South American composers. There is also a duo concert with Freire in Barcelona.

Past Concerts November 2009 - January 2010

Here is a list of concert dates that were not added in time, but they are displayed here for your information. In January, Martha Argerich received the NORD/LB Artist Award 2009 after her performance with Lilya Zilberstein at the Braunschweig Classix Festival in Germany. Since 2001, the annual award has been given to musicians from many different genres, who have contributed to the world of music and culture.

Welcome!

Hello, and welcome to the new Martha Argerich blog! I have created this blog to serve as the continuation of the concerts page Andrys Basten created, as well as an extension of the Yahoo group dedicated to Martha Argerich.

Apologies in advance for the sparse layout. Although I am an avid reader of blogs, I am a complete newbie in creating them, so please bear with me while I learn the necessary techniques to better the aesthetic aspect of the blog. Please feel free to comment, and if you have any future concert information, please send them to me in a message (you can send me a PM by clicking on my profile picture, and then on 'Send a message'). Don't forget to subscribe to the RSS feeds so that you get updates as they are posted (you can do so by clicking on the "Subscribe to Posts" button at the right sidebar)!

I really hope you will find the information here useful and that it will be an important outlet for admirers of the art of Martha Argerich. Enjoy!

Paul