Martha Argerich

Martha Argerich is considered one of the greatest pianists of our time and is mentioned in the same breath as such legendary names as Benedetti Michelangeli, Horowitz and Pollini. Her playing delights audiences and reviewers around the world with its enormous lyrical sensitivity, temperament and captivating brilliance. Martha Argerich, born in Argentina in 1941, gave her first public concert at the age of five. In 1955, she moved to Europe with her family, where she studied with Friedrich Gulda, Nikita Magaloff, and Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli. At the age of 16, she won the Geneva International Music Competition and the Busoni Competition. In 1964, she toured Western Europe and Poland and made her debut in London in November of the same year. At the age of 24 she won the Seventh International Chopin Competition in Warsaw and the Polish Radio Prize for her interpretation of Chopin waltzes and mazurkas. In 2005, Martha Argerich was honoured with the highly endowed Japanese "Praemium Imperiale". Argerich is a frequent guest at renowned festivals in Europe and overseas, including the Festival Pianistico Internazionale Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli in Brescia, the Verbier Festival (Switzerland) and the North American Saratoga Festival. Since the beginning of her career, she has worked regularly with conductor (and former spouse) Charles Dutoit. Highlights of the live recordings of her concerts released to date are the recording of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 and Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 25 from 1978 and 1992 respectively from the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, as well as the document of a piano recital from Amsterdam with Schumann's "Fantasiestücke" and Ravel's "Sonatine" and "Gaspard de la nuit". Of Argerich's numerous chamber music recordings for EMI Classics, the one of Beethoven's "Kreutzer" Sonata and Franck's A Major Sonata with Itzhak Perlman, which was awarded an "ECHO Klassik 2000", stands out. The artist herself also promotes young international talent through her own festivals, which include the Second International Piano Competition "Martha Argerich" and her own "Martha Argerich Piano Festival". At the "Martha Argerich Festival Lugano", which takes place in Switzerland, she makes chamber music together with good friends and young musicians, introducing young artists with world-class potential. Every year since 2002, EMI Classics has released live recordings of the concert highlights from Lugano.