Martha Argerich - Wikipedia

2025/2/20 13:07 Martha Argerich - Wikipedia

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Martha Argerich

Argerich in 2015

Background information

Born 5 June 1941

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Genres Classical Occupation Musician Instrument Piano

Labels Spouses

Deutsche Grammophon · Warner Classics · Philips

Robert Chen

(m. 1964; div. 1964) Charles Dutoit

(m. 1969; div. 1973)

the age of two years and eight months, where she was the youngest child. A five-year-old boy, who was a friend, teased her that she would not be able to play the piano, and Argerich responded by playing perfectly, by ear, a piece their teacher played them. The teacher immediately called the mother and they "started making a fuss." Argerich started learning the piano at the age of three.[6] At the age of five, she moved to teacher Vincenzo Scaramuzza, who stressed to her the importance of lyricism and feeling. Argerich gave her debut concert in 1949 at the age of eight. The family moved to Europe in 1955, where Argerich studied with Friedrich Gulda in Austria, whom Argerich describes as one of her major influences. She later studied with Stefan Askenase and Maria Curcio.[7] Argerich also seized opportunities for brief periods of coaching with Madeleine Lipatti (widow of Dinu Lipatti), Abbey Simon, and Nikita Magaloff.[8] In 1957, at sixteen, she won both the Geneva International Music Competition and the Ferruccio Busoni International Competition within three weeks of each other.[n 1]

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Professional career

External audio

Martha Argerich performing

Johann Sebastian Bach's Partita No.

2 in C minor, BWV 826 Here on

archive.org (https://archive.org/det ails/MarthaArgerichBachPartita2bw v8261Sinfonia.GraveAdagio-Andant e)

1965, at age 24.[13] In that same year, she debuted in the United States in Lincoln Center's Great Performers Series. In 1960, she had made her first commercial recording, which included works by Chopin, Brahms, Ravel, Prokofiev, and Liszt; it received critical acclaim upon its release in 1961. She has since recorded works by composers including Ginastera, Rachmaninoff and Schumann, to whom she describes feeling a particular connection.[14]

Argerich performing at the Kirchner Cultural Centre, July 2015

Argerich has often remarked in interviews of feeling "lonely" on stage during solo performances.[15] Since the 1980s, she has staged few solo performances, concentrating instead on concertos and, in particular, chamber music, and collaborating with instrumentalists in sonatas.

Argerich has also promoted younger pianists, both through her annual festival and through her appearances as a member of the jury at international competitions.[16][17][18] The pianist Ivo Pogorelić was thrust into the musical spotlight partly as a result of Argerich's actions: after he was

eliminated in the third round of the 1980 International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, Argerich proclaimed him a genius and left the jury in protest.[19] According to Đặng Thái Sơn, the eventual winner, Argerich made the "beautiful gesture" of sending a public telegram to the judging committee to congratulate him, after learning the final results.[20] She has supported several artists, including Gabriela Montero, Mauricio Vallina, Sergio Tiempo, Roberto Carnevale, Gabriele Baldocci, and Christopher Falzone.[21][22][23]

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Argerich is the president of the International Piano Academy Lake Como and performs annually at the Lugano Festival.[24] She has also created and been a General Director of the Argerich Music Festival and Encounter in Beppu, Japan, since 1996.

Her aversion to the press and publicity has resulted in her remaining out of the limelight for most of her career. Nevertheless, she is widely recognized as one of the greatest pianists in history.[25][26][27][28] Her performance of Liszt's First Piano Concerto conducted by Daniel Barenboim at The Proms 2016 prompted this review in The Guardian: "It was an

Argerich performing at the later Kirchner Cultural Centre, 2008

unforgettable performance. Argerich celebrated her 75th birthday in June this year, but that news doesn't seem to have reached her fingers. Her playing is still as dazzling, as frighteningly precise, as it has always been; her ability to spin gossamer threads of melody as matchless as ever. This was unmistakably and unashamedly Liszt in the grand manner, a bit old-fashioned and sometimes even a bit vulgar at times, but in this of all concertos, with Barenboim and the orchestra following each twist and turn, every little quickening and moment of expressive reflection, it seemed entirely appropriate".[29] Argerich returned to the Proms at the age of 78 in 2019 to perform Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto under the baton of Barenboim, a performance described as "mesmerizing".[30]

Personal life

Argerich during a rehearsal

with the orchestra for the final of the VII International Chopin Piano Competition, 1965

Argerich's first marriage was to composer- conductor Robert Chen, (Chinese: 陈亮声; pinyin: Chén Liàngshēng)[31] with whom she had her first child (violinist Lyda Chen- Argerich).[32] The marriage was dissolved after several months, in 1964.[33] From 1969 to 1973, Argerich was married to Swiss conductor Charles Dutoit, with whom she had her

second daughter, Annie Dutoit. Although they separated in 1973, Argerich and Dutoit continued to collaborate. In the 1970s, Argerich had a relationship with American pianist Stephen Kovacevich,[34] with whom she had her third daughter, Stéphanie.[33] Although they made few recordings together during their relationship, Argerich and Kovacevich still frequently perform together.[35] Stéphanie Argerich explains in her film Bloody Daughter that as her parents were not married, they tossed a coin to name their

0:41

Argerich introduces herself, 2018

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Barenboim stated that when he contacted the Argentine president Mauricio Macri in 2016, asking him to accept Syrian refugees into the country, it was also on behalf of Argerich.[44]

In 1990, Argerich was diagnosed with malignant melanoma. After treatment, the cancer went into remission, but it recurred in 1995 and metastasized to her lungs, pancreas, liver, brain, and lymph nodes. Following an experimental treatment at the John Wayne Cancer Institute in Santa Monica pioneered by oncologist Donald Morton, Argerich's cancer went into remission again. Ingratitude, Argerich performed a recital at Carnegie Hall benefiting the institute.[45] As of 2023, Argerich remains cancer-free.[10] In August 2023 she was forced to cancel several concerts in Germany and Switzerland due to an undisclosed illness.[46]

Media

In 2002, director Georges Gachot released Martha Argerich: Conversation nocturne (Martha Argerich: Evening Talks), a documentary film about Argerich.[47] Stéphanie Argerich Blagojevic, using filmshe had shot since childhood, directed a 2012 documentary film about her mother, titled Bloody Daughter.[48]

Awards

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