Debussy Martha Argerich

[Barbirollians]

I have always rather regretted that Argerich did not play more Debussy though she has made a particularly lovely recording of En Blanc et Noir with Kovacevich. I assumed it may be to do with her aversion for solo performance and recording .

In 2018 she appears to have taken up the Fantaisie for-the anniversary celebrations and her DG recording of it with the Staatskapelle Berlin and Barenboim makes the piece sound far more interesting than I have ever found it before with all due respect to Thibaudet and Valerie Tryon in my other recordings of the piece .

Highly recommended - the couplings of the sonatas are fine if the La Mer would not quite be in the premier league. A bit of an ordinary day out on a Sealink ferry sort of performance

[gradus]

You'd imagine she'd make a tremendous job of the Studies.

[richardfinegold]

She finds so much color in Schumann and Chopin that it would be fascinating to hear her in some the Debussy Preludes

[BBMmk2]

I so wish she played more Debussy and Ravel, for that matter. Her Gaspard de la Nuit, is something else!

[Barbirollians]

She finds so much color in Schumann and Chopin that it would be fascinating to hear her in some the Debussy Preludes

I agree. The Debussy Fantaisie recording I have played a great deal - I think now the definitive recording of the work - so much colour and atmosphere .

[Serial_Apologist]

I so totally agree with everything said on this thread.

[richardfinegold]

I so totally agree with everything said on this thread.

I think she has made a few concert performances of Black and White with other Pianists

[BBMmk2]

Martha Argerich, is my favourite pianist of all.

[Belgrove]

In 2018 she appears to have taken up the Fantaisie for-the anniversary celebrations and her DG recording of it with the Staatskapelle Berlin and Barenboim makes the piece sound far more interesting than I have ever found it before with all due respect to Thibaudet and Valerie Tryon in my other recordings of the piece .

I’ve never shared the enthusiasm for this pianist that others here have, but the Debussy Fantaisie is a work of which I am inordinately fond, so was tempted to explore this release. Goodness me, what a travesty of a delicate butterfly of a piece, broken by a hard percussive playing style more suited to Stravinsky than early Debussy. Then an attempt to imbue a ‘look at me’ virtuosity more suited to Rachmaninov. A charmless and brittle rendition of a piece that should charm.

[gradus]

I’ve never shared the enthusiasm for this pianist that others here have, but the Debussy Fantaisie is a work of which I am inordinately fond, so was tempted to explore this release. Goodness me, what a travesty of a delicate butterfly of a piece, broken by a hard percussive playing style more suited to Stravinsky than early Debussy. Then an attempt to imbue a ‘look at me’ virtuosity more suited to Rachmaninov. A charmless and brittle rendition of a piece that should charm.

I'm not a fan either especially since I saw her at the Proms playing the Schumann concerto, although I know others on here take the opposite view of that performance. I think her way would be effective with the Debussy Studies and I wonder why she's not recorded them.

[Bryn]

I have always rather regretted that Argerich did not play more Debussy though she has made a particularly lovely recording of En Blanc et Noir with Kovacevich. I assumed it may be to do with her aversion for solo performance and recording .

In 2018 she appears to have taken up the Fantaisie for-the anniversary celebrations and her DG recording of it with the Staatskapelle Berlin and Barenboim makes the piece sound far more interesting than I have ever found it before with all due respect to Thibaudet and Valerie Tryon in my other recordings of the piece .

Highly recommended - the couplings of the sonatas are fine if the La Mer would not quite be in the premier league. A bit of an ordinary day out on a Sealink ferry sort of performance

You are not refering to thie fake, are you?

[Barbirollians]

You are not refering to thie fake, are you?

Erm no -

We all have different ears but I cannot for the life of me hear what is Rachmaninov like or percussive about her performance of the Fantaisie - it brings out the colour in a piece that in lesser hands can seem very wan.

[Belgrove]

Different folks hear different things. Debussy’s Fantaisie is no masterpiece. It does not advance the piano/orchestral form, nor does it provide the material for a virtuoso to display. Indeed Debussy rejected it! But its principal virtue is that it charms (as mentioned before). Argerich fails to acknowledge this through avoiding a soft or delicate touch and distorts the piece to pretend to a virtuosity. Barenboim’s accompaniment is pushed into bombast to complement Argerich’s aggressive approach. An example of a soloist serving themselves rather than the composer.

[Barbirollians]

Whilst I would never say that one should defer to critics I note that Harriet Smith also praised the performance highly in Gramophone . Who knows ? If Debussy knew it could sound like this he might not have disowned it !

[BBMmk2]

Erm no -

We all have different ears but I cannot for the life of me hear what is Rachmaninov like or percussive about her performance of the Fantaisie - it brings out the colour in a piece that in lesser hands can seem very wan.

I’ll have to look this up because I didn’t know that she recorded this work.