Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Sergey Prokofiev, Maurice Ravel
Performer: Martha Argerich
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Catalogue: 4795978
Release: 2016
Size: 337 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Mozart: Piano Sonata No. 18 in D, K.576
01. 1. Allegro
02. 2. Adagio
03. 3. Allegretto
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 7 in D, Op. 10 No. 3
04. 1. Presto
05. 2. Largo e mesto
06. 3. Menuetto (Allegro)
07. 4. Rondo (Allegro)
08. Prokofiev: Toccata, Op. 11
Ravel: Gaspard de la nuit, M.55
09. Ondine
10. Le gibet
11. Scarbo
12. Prokofiev: Piano Sonata No. 3 In A Minor, Op. 28
Ravel: Sonatine, M.40
13. 1. Modéré
14. 2. Mouvement de menuet
15. 3. Animé
Prokofiev: Piano Sonata No. 7 in B flat, Op. 83
16. 1. Allegro inquieto – Andantino – Allegro inquieto – Andantino – Allegro inquieto
17. 2. Andante caloroso – Poco più animato – Più largamente – un poco agitato – Tempo I
18. 3. Precipitato
Martha Argerich’s exhilarating early recordings, released here for the first time, include sonatas by Mozart and Beethoven that appear nowhere else in her discography; Prokofiev’s Third Sonata is also a recording première. This set displaying the young virtuoso includes her first recordings of Ravel’s Gaspard and his Sonatine, as well as Prokofiev Seventh Sonata, full of mystery and verve. They show her to be an eloquent and imaginative artist at the age of 18, already at the peak of her abilities. This release documents some of the radio recordings she made for North German (NDR) and West German Radio (WDR) in 1960 and 1967 and is released in time for her 75th birthday celebration on 5th June 2016.
Most of these recordings were made in 1960, when the pianist Martha Argerich was just 18; there is a fearsomely proficient Prokofiev Piano Sonata No. 7 in B flat major, Op. 83, from seven years later, after Argerich had won the Chopin Piano Competition and was on her way to stardom. The recordings are taken from radio broadcasts that are quite good sonically by 1960 standards, and they give abundant evidence of why those in the know spotted the young Argentine and began to give her bigger opportunities. Sample the opening movement of the Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 7 in D minor, Op. 10, No. 3 (CD 1, track 4). Argerich imparts a kind of restless push to this slow introduction that fits it very well. In general she takes fast tempos, but exerts iron control over the music, and in the outer movements of the late Piano Sonata in D major, K. 576, of Mozart, this is very effective indeed. The second disc of the CD set is devoted to show pieces by Prokofiev and Ravel, and the duality of intellectual music done with flair and bravura and virtuoso works done with a probing attention to structure has sustained Argerich throughout her career. Highly recommended for Argerich fans, and really for anybody.