Debussy Martha Argerich

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  • Barbirollians
    Full Member
    • Nov 2010
    • 11680

    Debussy Martha Argerich

    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
    Full Member
    • Nov 2010
    • 5607

    #2
    You'd imagine she'd make a tremendous job of the Studies.

    Comment

    • richardfinegold
      Full Member
      • Sep 2012
      • 7666

      #3
      She finds so much color in Schumann and Chopin that it would be fascinating to hear her in some the Debussy Preludes

      Comment

      • BBMmk2
        Late Member
        • Nov 2010
        • 20908

        #4
        I so wish she played more Debussy and Ravel, for that matter. Her Gaspard de la Nuit, is something else!
        Don’t cry for me
        I go where music was born

        J S Bach 1685-1750

        Comment

        • Barbirollians
          Full Member
          • Nov 2010
          • 11680

          #5
          Originally posted by richardfinegold View Post
          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 .

          Comment

          • Serial_Apologist
            Full Member
            • Dec 2010
            • 37678

            #6
            I so totally agree with everything said on this thread.

            Comment

            • richardfinegold
              Full Member
              • Sep 2012
              • 7666

              #7
              Originally posted by Serial_Apologist View Post
              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

              Comment

              • BBMmk2
                Late Member
                • Nov 2010
                • 20908

                #8
                Martha Argerich, is my favourite pianist of all.
                Don’t cry for me
                I go where music was born

                J S Bach 1685-1750

                Comment

                • Belgrove
                  Full Member
                  • Nov 2010
                  • 938

                  #9
                  Originally posted by Barbirollians View Post

                  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.

                  Comment

                  • gradus
                    Full Member
                    • Nov 2010
                    • 5607

                    #10
                    Originally posted by Belgrove View Post
                    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.

                    Comment

                    • Bryn
                      Banned
                      • Mar 2007
                      • 24688

                      #11
                      Originally posted by Barbirollians View Post
                      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?

                      Comment

                      • Barbirollians
                        Full Member
                        • Nov 2010
                        • 11680

                        #12
                        Originally posted by Bryn View Post
                        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.

                        Comment

                        • Belgrove
                          Full Member
                          • Nov 2010
                          • 938

                          #13
                          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.

                          Comment

                          • Barbirollians
                            Full Member
                            • Nov 2010
                            • 11680

                            #14
                            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 !

                            Comment

                            • BBMmk2
                              Late Member
                              • Nov 2010
                              • 20908

                              #15
                              Originally posted by Barbirollians View Post
                              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.
                              Don’t cry for me
                              I go where music was born

                              J S Bach 1685-1750

                              Comment

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