Martha Argerich

Martha Argerich stands among the foremost pianists active across the final decades of the twentieth century and the initial years of the twenty-first. What distinguishes her artistry is its primary expression through partnerships, whether in concerto settings alongside orchestras and their leaders or within chamber ensembles.

Born in Buenos Aires on June 5, 1941, to parents of Catalan and Russian Jewish descent, she began piano studies at age five. Progress came swiftly, allowing her to deliver complete Mozart and Beethoven concertos without error by the age of eight. Her family relocated to Switzerland in 1955, where she worked with Madeleine Lipatti and Nikita Magaloff before spending eighteen months under Friedrich Gulda in Vienna; this last arrangement followed diplomatic postings secured for her family by Argentine president Juan Perón. In 1957 she captured first place at both the Geneva International Competition and the Ferruccio Busoni International Competition. Her 1960 debut recording, presenting works by Liszt, Prokofiev, Ravel, Brahms, and Chopin, earned favorable notice. Yet the decisive breakthrough arrived in 1965 with victory at the Chopin International Festival in Warsaw, marking her as the first Western-hemisphere pianist to claim the prize and generating attention comparable to Van Cliburn’s 1958 International Tchaikovsky Competition triumph in Moscow.

Thereafter Argerich largely avoided solo recitals, at times remarking that she felt isolated when performing alone. She concentrated instead on concerto recordings drawn chiefly from the late Romantic and early modern eras, collaborating with leading European conductors. A sustained relationship with Deutsche Grammophon began in the 1970s; her 1975 album of Prokofiev and Ravel concertos, recorded with the Berlin Philharmonic under Claudio Abbado, became notable for its cover image of the pianist and conductor in animated discussion. Another landmark was her 1985 account of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor, Op. 23, with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra led by Charles Dutoit. Dutoit was the second of her three husbands, following composer Robert Chen and preceding pianist Stephen Kovacevich; she had children with each. After a diagnosis of malignant melanoma in 1990 and a recurrence in 1995, Argerich underwent experimental treatment at the John Wayne Cancer Institute that proved successful, later performing a Carnegie Hall benefit for the institution. She maintained a schedule of acclaimed concerto appearances well into later life, including a 2016 BBC Proms performance of Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in E flat major with Daniel Barenboim. Chamber music and duo sonatas remained central, with frequent partnerships involving Kovacevich, pianist Nelson Freire, violinist Gidon Kremer, and other distinguished colleagues.

In her later decades Argerich became especially identified with the Progetto Martha Argerich at Switzerland’s Lugano Festival, where she both performed and mentored numerous younger artists. The festival concluded in 2016 following an inquiry into its sponsor’s possible breach of Swiss banking regulations. Two years later she organized a new festival presented by the Hamburg Philharmonic, while continuing to direct the Argerich Music Festival in Beppu, Japan, which she founded in 1996. Her 2019 calendar included engagements throughout Britain, Switzerland, Italy, and Germany. Programs remained anchored in the core concerto and chamber repertory spanning Mozart to the early twentieth century, though she also explored contemporary scores by compatriots such as Alberto Ginastera and by Witold Lutoslawski.

Recordings for Deutsche Grammophon persisted, supplemented by releases on Warner, Decca, and additional labels. Output showed little diminution through her sixties and seventies; the year 2015 alone saw eleven separate Argerich discs, some reissues. In 2020 she appeared on a new recording of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major, Op. 19, with Seiji Ozawa and the Mito Chamber Orchestra in Japan. By then her discography encompassed at least 175 entries.