Another great Lugano summer, dominated by duo pianos and un
Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 04/07/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Here we are again with a new batch of highlights from Argerich's summer festival. Lugano may not be as important as the old Marlboro Festival, which united a generation of emigre artists like Casals and Serkin with younger taelnts, but in the current landscape, EMI's treasure trove of chamber music is building constantly. The other major labels have all but abandoned the entire field of chamber music, yet here is the seventh installment under Argerich's inspiration, filled with out of the way music, all performed as expertly as anyone could wish.
I've even made some peace with her penchant for two-piano music, most of it arrangements taken from orchestral music. It's a bastardized form, yet the performances are too scintillating to deny that they are pleasurable. Argerich's other penchant is for all the music of Schumann, which has led us into some obscure byways. Here on CD 1 we get the Phantasiestucke Op. 88, scored for piano trio. It's not very inspired music, and although I support anyone in principle who strives to redeem the wandering, debilitated powers of late Schumann, these miniatures sound mundane. Argerich reamins on hand for a duo piano arrangement of the Overture and Scherzo from A Midsummer Night's Dream. It's marvelously light, and second piano Cristina Marton keeps up with Argerich beautifiully. Still, it's a trifle and a throwback to salon music.
The two Capucon brothers are favorites summertime playmates of Argerich's, and cellist Gautier joins her for a lovely account of Chopin's obscure but winning Introduction and Polonaise Brillante in C, Op. 3. Good as he is, it's hard to take your attention away from Argerich's sparkling piano playing. Like Schumann, Mendelssohn has a store of mostly unplayed chamber music, including his late Sextet Op. 110 for piano and strings. As with Schubert's evergreen Trout Quintet, there's a double bass added to the instrumentation. Offhand, I know of no other sextets of this kind; Mendelssohn's is charming and instantly appealing. I'm glad to make its acquaintance, even if the music smacks of propriety more than inspiration. To match Mendelssohn's sextet, here's another, even more rare, from Glinka. It's the more romantic and deeply felt piece, with a memorably soulful slow movement and rollicking finale. So far, I'd call it the best discovery on this 3-CD set.
Rachmaninov makes it a close contest, though, with his lovely Romance and Waltz for piano six Hands. A first listen didn't reveal what the third pianist was needed for, but the composer keeps the writing uncomplicated -- for all I could hear, a single pianist could have accomplished what he wanted. Both parts of this six-minute work are delightful, however. Rachmaninov's Russian Rhapsody, published after his death, is even more engaging and should be included from now on when piano duos record his two Suites and the Symphonic Dances.
The other Capucon brother, violinist Renaud, gets a solo turn in Bartok's Sonata No. 2, which he and pianist Khatia Buniatishvili perform with more sombre lyricism than usual. Liszt's Reminiscences de Don Juan (meaning Mozart's Don Giovanni) crops up here in a two-piano arrangement. Argerich's participation makes for thrills, but one does grow impatient with so much derivative rum-tum. Apparently she never does.
With Falla's Nights in the Gardens of Spain we get a first, a full-fledged orchestral work, with Argerich as soloist. The orchestral accompaniment is a bit skimpy, but who can argue over a chance to hear her shine? With a sigh one notes that two-piano music is never allowed out of sight, so on we go to Ravel's Rapsodie espagnole, led by Sergio Tiempo, an Argerich protege. The reading is powerful and atmospheric, although Ravel's characteristic delicacy isn't realized so well when two pianos and their percussive mechanism are at work. Finally, Ernest Bloch's strong, motor-driven Piano Quintet no. 1, which like his violin sonata owes a lot to Bartok flavored with modal harmonies from the composer's Jewish roots, comes as a reminder that there are many rewarding works of chamber music to be unearthed. That has been Argerich's point all along.
Here's the complete program:
Bartók:
Violin Sonata No. 2, Sz 76
Renard Capuçon (violin, Khatia Buniatishvili (piano)
Bloch, E:
Piano Quintet No. 1
Lilya Zilberstein (piano), Alissa Margulis (violin), Lucia Hall (violin), Nora Romanoff-Schwarzberg (viola), Mark Dobrinsky (cello)
Chopin:
Introduction and Polonaise Brillante in C, Op. 3
Gautier Capuçon (cello), Martha Argerich (piano)
Falla:
Noches en los jardines de Espana
Martha Argerich (piano)
Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, Alexander Vedernikov
Glinka:
Grand Sextet in E flat major for piano, string quartet & double bass
Polina Leschenko (piano), Alissa Margulis (violin), Geza Hosszu-Legocky (violin), Lida Chen (viola), Mark Drobinsky (cello), Enrico Fagone (double-bass)
Liszt:
Réminiscences de Don Juan (W.A. Mozart) for two pianos, S. 656
Martha Argerich, Mauricio Vallina (pianos)
Mendelssohn:
A Midsummer Night's Dream Overture, Op. 21
A Midsummer Night's Dream: Scherzo
Martha Argerich, Cristina Marton (pianos)
Piano Sextet Op. 110
Khatia Buniatishvili (piano), Dora Schwarzberg (violin), Nora Romanoff-Schwarzberg (viola), Lida Chen (viola), Jorge Bosso (cello), Enrico Fagone (double-bass)
Rachmaninov:
Pieces (2) in A major for piano 6 hands - Waltz & Romance
Daniel Gerzenberg, Anton Gerzenberg, Lilya Zilberstein (piano)
Russian Rhapsody for two pianos, Op. post.
Lilya Zilberstein, Alexander Mogilewsky (pianos)
Ravel:
Rapsodie Espagnole (for 2 pianos)
Sergio Tiempo, Karin Lechner (pianos)
Schumann:
Fantasiestücke in A minor for Piano Trio, Op. 88
Martha Argerich (piano), Renaud Capuçon (violin), Gautier Capuçon (cello)"
Wonderful chamber music performed by Martha Argerich and fri
P. Adrian | Arad, Romania | 06/30/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Martha Argerich's victory in the Chopin Competition (Warsaw, 1965) launched her to the orbit of the top pianists of our time. Her astounding virtuosity combined with a volcanic temperament and a special musicality, allowed her ever since to lead an impressive career, spectacularly developed both on stage and records. Her outstanding skills enabled her to tackle the most demanding concertos in the literature (Tchaikovsky, Liszt, Chopin, Schumann, Rachmaninov, Prokofiev, Bartok, Shostakovich) while she decided to gradually restrain her solo recitals to abandon them totally since the mid `80. However, her high-voltage appearances along with the greatest orchestras around the world are always eagerly anticipated by her fans and gratified with flattering accolades by professional critics.
In the recent years she settled her own festival ("Progetto Martha Argerich") in Lugano where a lot of distinguished stars along with promising young musicians are invited to perform mainly chamber music, but also concerts with orchestra or solo recitals. EMI proves inspired to treasure these wonderful music sessions by issuing yearly a 3 CD box set with the main moments of each edition of the festival.
In the spring (2010) it was released to great international acclaim the CD box comprising the highlights of the last summer edition (2009). As expected, the undisputed star throughout these recordings is Argerich herself who this time chose to offer a sparkling account of De Falla's piano concerto "Nights in Gardens of Spain" (accompanied by Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana under Alexander Vedernikov). Then, in chamber repertoire she mesmerizes the audience and inspires her partners (Capucon brothers in the energetic Fantasiestucke by Schumann) or intersperses piano melodic flows with the dramatic voice of Gautier's cello (in Chopin's "Introduction and Polonaise brillante"), but also pairs young pianists like Mauricio Vallina (in "Reminiscences de Don Juan" by Liszt) or Cristina Marton (in Overture and Scherzo from "A Midsummer Night's Dream" by Mendelssohn). What else are we offered? A fine rendition of the second violin sonata by Bartok performed by two young stars - Renaud Capucon and Khatia Buniatishvili, some luxuriant string sextets by Glinka and Mendelssohn, a piano quintet by Bloch, pieces for six or four hands by Rachmaninov, "Rapsodie espagnole" by Ravel with Sergio Tiempo and Karin Lechner.
Although some of the works performed on these CDs can be found in the recordings catalogue in many other interpretive versions, the fresh accounts given by Martha Argerich and her friends in Lugano deserve our full attention. Moreover, they are truly delightful samples of genuine artistry and breathe an insolvable joy of making music. A joy, so natural to young musicians and so naturally retrieved by older maestros!
Strongly recommended!
"
Track Listings (12) - Disc #1