Concerts January 2012

                                                 © Klaus Rudolph/EMI Classics

                                                                        © Thierry Cohen

Happy new year! Martha Argerich is scheduled to appear in three concerts in January. On 23 January she will partner Evgeny Kissin in four-hand piano repertoire by Mozart and Lutoslawski in Paris.

Afterwards, performing the Shostakovich concerto No. 1 with the Kremerata Baltica and its founder Gidon Kremer, she will take the piece on tour with the same group to various cities in Europe. The tour begins in Brussels on 25 January, then Paris will get to see the K-team two days later. Sergei Nakariakov joins Argerich on trumpet.

Argerich à la japonaise

Many classical music connoisseurs know that Japan is a treasure-trove for extremely-hard-to-find recordings of great artists. With Argerich it is no exception, as the Japanese simply adore her, and can't get enough of her. Her recordings from her main labels (DG, Philips and EMI) are often remastered, repackaged and released in various formats.

Concerts December 2011

The month of December is a particularly Verbier-related affair. Martha Argerich goes on a tour of Europe with the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra and its Music Director Gábor Takács-Nagy, reprising their very successful collaboration in at the Verbier Festival in 2010, performing the first piano concerto of Dmitri Shostakovich

Concerts November 2011

After a summer's break, Martha Argerich (as well as this blog!) resumes activity for the 2011-2012 season.

She starts her season with 3 subscription performances at the Semperoper in Dresden. Performing Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1, Argerich will be partnered by the Staatskapelle Dresden under the direction of Charles Dutoit.

UPDATE: Yuja Wang will replace Argerich for the Dresden concerts.

Verbier Cancellation... or not!

According to the Verbier Festival, Martha Argerich has decided to withdraw from the concert on July 26. Her chamber music concert on July 22 will however go ahead as planned.


Well, she actually decided to play in the concert after all! Argerich performed a couple of Kreisler pieces with Ivry Gitlis and Lutoslawski's Paganini Variations with Evgeny Kissin. That really was a surprise!

You can see the concert online for free until 30 October 2011.

Happy Birthday Martha!

Feliz Cumpleaños Martha! It's hard to believe that she was born 70 years ago. Before many of us were born (including myself), Argerich created magic on stage and on record, enriching the lives and souls of many music lovers. And I am sure I am not the only one wishing that there will be many more years of her unique artistry to come.

Progetto Martha Argerich 2011

As every year, the picturesque Swiss city of Lugano hosts the Progetto Martha Argerich with its eclectic programme, along with the interesting mix of the master artists with the promising artists of the future.

This year sees Argerich perform in nine concerts, and as has been seen in the last editions of the Progetto, she will play works new in her repertoire for the first time in Lugano (Julius Zarebski's rarely-heard piano quintet and Mozart's sonata for piano 4 hands, KV 497)

Concerts June 2011

UPDATE: SCHUMANN CONCERTO CANCELLED DUE TO INDISPOSITION OF ARGERICH. NIKOLAI LUGANSKY WILL REPLACE HER WITH BEETHOVEN 4TH PIANO CONCERTO
 
Argerich returns to London for a performance of Schumann's piano concerto on June 7, two days after her birthday. She will be partnered by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Charles Dutoit.

June 7, 2011
7.30pm
Schumann: Piano Concerto, op. 54
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Charles Dutoit
Royal Festival Hall, London, England

Benefit Concert in Berlin

At the end of May, members of the Berliner Philharmoniker will join forces with cellists Mischa Maisky, Jing Zhao, pianist Itamar Golan and Martha Argerich to play two benefit concerts for the FTV Junior Orchestra of Japan.

Itamar Golan and Argerich will perform four-hand piano works by Mozart and Schubert, and  Guy Braunstein and Daishin Kashimoto, two of the four concertmasters of the Berlin Philharmonic, along with the orchestra's new principal violist Amihai Grosz, will play works by Shostakovich, Dvorak and Schumann.  

Concerts July/August 2011

Salle des Combins, Verbier

Usher Hall, Edinburgh

Royal Albert Hall, London

Konzerthaus, Dortmund

July and August sees Argerich in four European countries; Germany, England, Switzerland and Scotland. First up is a concert at the Klavier-Festival Ruhr on 14 July, where she will perform with Lilya Zilberstein. Then she will jet off to Verbier for a concert on July 22. And in August she will perform with Nelson Goerner at the Edinburgh Festival.