Martha Argerich - Martha Argerich Live, Vol. 10 (2023)

Half a century separates the Martha Argerich of today from the one found in this tenth volume of archives published by Doremi. Unsurprisingly, we hear the repertoire that the Argentinian-born pianist has taken up constantly since her youth: Ravel's Concerto in G, Prokofiev's Third or Beethoven's Second, played with this incredible mixture of volcanic temperament and fervor with a virtuosity that she knew how to keep intact until our days.

In addition to this brilliant reunion with the young Martha Argerich, this album is precious for the quality of the conductors who accompany it: Lorin Maazel for Beethoven in 1972, Peter Maag for Ravel in 1969 and the young Claudio Abbado in a sparkling Third Concerto by Prokofiev captured in Paris with the National Orchestra in 1967.

From these same years dates his recital in Tokyo in 1970 offering his only known version of Beethoven's Waldstein Sonata played with an overexcited energy that seemed to burn his fingers. Schumann's Sonata No. 2 in G minor recorded in New York in 1973 is particularly suited to the fiery temperament of the Argentinian pianist. We will never get tired of listening and re-listening to such a phenomenon whose passionate, sometimes hallucinatory interpretations seem limitless. Note the excellent work of cleaning the original tapes which particularly highlight quality radio sound recordings.