Description:
There is not much video documentation of the great pianist Martha Argerich in her prime, so it is fortunate that this program, taped for Canadian television in 1977, gives a three-dimensional view of her various strengths. Ravel's Jeux d'Eau, which translates a fountain's flow and glitter into piano music, exemplifies the quality that most people notice first in her playing: dexterity and precision at breathtaking speeds. But there is also a fine awareness of the music's descriptive power. Liszt's moody Les Funerailles, in contrast, requires the ability to hold the music together as a coherent structure at very slow speeds, evoking a carefully defined atmosphere. This, too, she does splendidly. But the heart of the program is Schumann's Concerto in A Minor, one of the 19th century's greatest works in that form, rich in virtuoso display and heart-on-sleeve emotion and requiring fine rapport between soloist and orchestra. This disc fulfills all the music's potentials. --Joe McLellan
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