Liszt. Brahms. Schumann - Piano Works

Martha Argerich pf

DG 437 252-2GGA Buy now

(64’ · ADD)

Liszt Piano Sonata. Hungarian Rhapsody No 6
Brahms Two Rhapsodies, Op 79
Schumann Piano Sonata No 2 in G minor, Op 22

Recorded 1963-72.

No one could accuse Martha Argerich of unstructured reverie or dalliance and her legendary DG performance of the Liszt Sonata from 1972 suggests a unique level of both technical and musical achievement. Her prodigious fluency unites with a trailblazing temperament, and Valhalla itself never ignited to such effect as at the central Andante’s central climax. Both here and in the final Prestissimo there are reminders that Argerich has always played octaves like single notes, displaying a technique that few if any could equal. There are times when she becomes virtually engulfed in her own virtuosity yet this is a performance to make other pianists turn pale and ask, how is it possible to play like this?

Argerich’s Schumann, too, is among her most meteoric, headlong flights. In terms of sheer brilliance she leaves all others standing yet, amazingly, still allows us fleeting glimpses of Eusebius (the poetic dreamer in Schumann, and one of his most dearly cherished fictions). The Brahms and Liszt Rhapsodies, taken from Argerich’s very first 1963 DG disc, are among the most incandescent yet refined on record. The sound, when you bother to notice it, is excellent.