Customer Reviews

Prokofiev: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 3 / Bartok: Piano Concerto No. 3

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Even though her Prokofiev 3rd is not as volatile as her earlier DG recording with Abbado, this one is more thoughtul and represents her mature interpretation of the concerto after more than 30 years of performing it in concert -- she is in no way technically inferior to the earlier recording. The Bartók 3rd is exemplary, and the technique in the Prokofiev 1st is astounding (although that comment regarding this pianist is superfluous).

Martha Argerich's gives the listener an invigorating view of Prokofiev's youthful iconoclasm. Her entire reading is less hard-driven than Richter, but arguably more zestful and animated, less fierce.

Her performance of the Third Concerto is perhaps more languid than in her early legendary performance with Abbado. Nevertheless, it is still quite nimble and definitely more open to passing caprice and fancy.

It is in the Bartok concerto where she really shines. Some like Bartok a little rougher, but Argerich brings more refinement, giving the composer his own voice rather than imposing her own. This piano concerto has a Mozartean grace to it. She achieves a remarkable, delicate chamber-like balance that has sometimes eluded her in the past.

Dutoit and the Montreal Symphony achieve fine support and unity. The recording is clear and naturally balanced. While lacking her trademark spark, all three performances are full of integrity.

Two of the three concertos represented here are first recordings for Argerich. The first piano concerto of Prokofiev is real fun to listen to. As Argerich herself admits, she understands the composer's sense of humour, and 'his sensitivity'. Her performances reveal the subtleties of the score as well as the seemingly banal sense of humour Prokofiev injects into his music. And, as always, her technique is faultless.

Her Bartok is again technically brilliant. Her intuitive musicality is put into wonderful use, as it sounds well-thought-out, but it also sounds naturally spontaneous.

I am afraid to say the Prokofiev 3rd concerto fares less well. And for this, I put the blame on Dutoit, not Argerich.
After the lyrical slow introduction, the piano introduces the main theme. All is fine at the start. But less than one minute after the pianist has entered, one hears strange tempi fluctuations from Argerich. They not only sound forced, but they don't make musical sense. For example, where the piano has repeated runs in octaves, here at 6:21, Argerich starts very quickly, but slows down (a very subtle change, but noticeable). To me, it sounds as if Dutoit is forcing her to keep her speed at a safe measure. That is the last thing a soloist needs, to be forced by a conductor. Isn't a conductor supposed 'support' a soloist?? (in the second octave runs, repeated at 9:09, the same thing happens, only it is much more noticeable)
While all this is happening, one can sense that she doesn't like all the pushing around she is getting from Mr. Dutoit. Compared to her first recording, the whole performance takes almost 3 minutes longer than her 1967 recording.

Having said all that, I hear things in the piano part I didn't hear before, enhancing one's knowledge and enjoyment of the music. She totally understands Prokofiev's harmonic structure.
The way she interplays with orchestra is very imaginative. That is a characteristic in any concerto performances by Argerich.

The sound is good, but not great. The orchestra sound tends to dominate the pianist a lot of the time, and its playing is sometimes sloppy. Dutoit seems more interested in showing his orchestra off more than in supporting his soloist 100%

Argerich has gained new insights in the Prokofiev concerto, and one can hear subtle changes in her performances of it. Apart from the criticism above, this is a great disc, especially the 1st Prokofiev concerto. No wonder it won a Grammy.

Don't worry about the nit pickers. If you love this music, this is a fabulous performance of each of these great pieces. If you don't know this music, you owe it to yourself to get this CD and listen to it over and over again.

Argerich isn't just an important living pianist, she is one of the all time greats. Whether you always agree with her choices or not, she is always compelling. She is a treasure.

Here, the Bartok is performed by Argerich in an absolutely wonderful way. The orchestra does a spectacular job in making this music sounds as wonderful as it is.

The two Prokofiev concertos (1 & 3) are done with humor and energy as well as with intellect and taste.

Look, if you are still trying to get into twentieth century music, here is a CD that can help you make that move. These pieces are proof of the beauty and greatness of music making in the last century.

Listening to this CD is as much fun and intoxicating as your favorite roller coaster ride.

Martha Argerich has sustained a brilliant career and just seems to become more eloquent with the passing years, adding a rich mysticism to her volcanic energy. And what better concerti to demonstrate these approaches than those on this stunning CD: Prokofiev #1,3 and Bartok #3. Technical perfection would seem an unexplainable bedfellow with a pianist who has always stressed passion and comunication in her idiomatic performances both on the concert stage and on the recorded realm. But that is one of the reasons Argerich has reigned the keyboard for so long. Her ability to dash off the Prokofiev 3rd with such apparent ease allows her to serve the composer's brittle, biting cynicism while retaining the eloquence of the langorous second movement. Charles Dutoit and the Montreal Orchestra are fine companions, if not the sonic splendor source of other better orchestras. It simply works here. This is most definitely a "Desert Isle" must for the CD collection.

Ms. Argerich has always given a smashing Prokofiev and on this CD you get that, twice. I owned her recording of Prokofiev's Toccata in C Major, Opus 11, before I bought this CD. Stunning. She has turned me on to Prokofiev an unbelievable amount. She plays his music with ease, complete comprehension, complete technique. There is absolutely nothing lacking in these two concertos.
The Bartok concerto, however, is definitely deserved of my highest acclaim. This performance takes absolutely nothing away from the CD. In fact, it has become one of my favorite concertos, and given Argerich a spot as one of my favorite pianists. (She wasn't previously on the list for her distasteful recording of Brahms' G Minor Rhapsody).

5 out of 5. This was a very easy decision, and it should be the same for you to buy it.

It is amazing how Marta plays these wonderful piano concerti of Prokofiev. The third is simply out of this world. She is aware of every single detail in the score of the work. Simply astonishing! Compared to the previous release with Abbado, this one is simply much more mature and everything becomes so perfectly clear. She is in great control of her technique, using it to serve the music and not to exhibit her virtuosity! BRAVO! This is the hardest thing for an artist to achieve. The Bartok is very well performed but it tends to be more jazzy than Hungarian!

Martha Argerich has held the hegemony in Prokofiev's Third Piano Concerto for the past four+ decades. Even if her 1967 rendition with the BPO under Abbado on DG remains unsurpassed, this 1997 remake with the OSM under Dutoit on EMI is the only equal in pianistic terms. The assertion of the supremacy of a single one pianist in a work may indeed appear baffling--so, let's consider the evidence, laid out as a comparison between the two versions.

1967: From the first entry at 0:45, Argerich renders the piano part with an unmatched combination of impetus, brilliance and sense of discovery; her every twist and turn sounds as much a matter of course as invented on the spot; her pacing is impeccably swift as entirely unrushed; her ubiquitous fire and abandon seems a force of nature rather than the result of human deliberation.

1997: The impetuous brilliance is still very much evident, but the sense of discovery is rather replaced with a sense of seasoned maturity, as solid as invariably mercurial; the pacing is less fleet but instead somewhat more flexible; the visceral force is indeed alive, if more tamed and controlled.

Choosing between diamonds and pearls certainly is a luxury problem. In this case, I prefer the slightly more interesting freshness of glistering diamonds to the classic and immaculate sheen of pearls--except in the second movement, where the latter's merits more aptly bring out the idiomatic atmosphere (and the articulation at 8:11 is beyond reproach).

Argerich's Prokofiev First is essentially cut from the same cloth as her Thirds. It has all the power and dexterity one could ask for, combined with a sense that she is gradually reinventing the piano part as she plays it. Although the reptilian sophistication in the Cadenza is peerless, Gavrilov's greater youthfulness makes his version marginally preferable overall.

So, why then only 4+? Well, Argerich's Bartók is mysterious. Her live 1978 account of the Sonata (Live from the Concertgebouw, 1978 & 1979) is on par with Kocsis. However, her Third Concerto, in spite of numerous pianistic delights, ultimately fails to bring out the uniquely idiomatic Bartók sound--which makes the versions of Kocsis and Anda unforgettable.

The OSM and Dutoit are good, if not great. The same holds true for EMI's engineering that, in spite of any serious flaws, fails to match the warm and full three-dimensional sound Decca routinely achieved at St. Eustache. All the same, the Grammy Award this disc earned was most well-deserved.

TIMINGS: Prokofiev First--6:57, 4:34, 4:29; Bartók Third--7:17, 10:45, 6:42; Prokofiev Third--9:39, 9:39, 9:47

REFERENCES: Prokofiev First--Gavrilov/Rattle (Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No.1; Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 1; Balakirev: Islamey); Prokofiev Third--Argerich/Abbado (Prokofiev, Ravel: Piano Concertos, etc / Martha Argerich); Bartók Third--Kocsis/Fischer (Bartok: The Works for Piano & Orchestra)

I did not know who Martha Argerich was until three weeks ago. I am not a pianist, my knowledge of the Byzantine workings of the piano concert circuit virtually nil, and except for a few giants like Horowitz, I could not name five concert pianists off the top of my noggin, much less discuss their relative merits and flaws. Still, I have been a fan of piano concerti for years, and I am so pleased I picked this up.

I will not discuss her interpretation of the Bartok. I am not sufficiently familiar with him to offer any hard opinion, although I did enjoy the mysterious, almost ethereal interpretation Argerich chose. It is a rather jarring departure from what little I have heard of his other compositions, Argerich clearly eschewing the brittle and even slighly menacing post-modern "sound" Bartok seemed to sometimes favor. But, "Bartok in a new way" when this competently done is a treat, interesting at minimum.

Prokofiev is my favorite, though, and I thought her interpretations of the First and Third were fascinating and magnificent. True, I did think her measured approach to the Third lacked a certain fire I have come to associate with the work, but I have never heard it so clear, so perfectly executed. In a way, I suppose I could say that I was able to "hear" what Prokofiev was "intending" when he wrote the piece, and while the flash and iconoclastic passion might have been subdued to unmatched technique, Argerich's sheer mastery of both concerti and her obvious and intimate familiarity with both works made for interpretations and performances that can only be described as nearly without peer. If a note got dropped anywhere I would be shocked.

Unlike others, I had no real issues with the orchestration. I think in any concerto, any orchestra is going to emphasize certain areas in service to the unique gifts of the particular pianist. So while the orchestra and Argerich in this case might not have been a "match made in heaven," they were still a very happy couple indeed, at least to the untrained ear.

Cannot recommend this artist more highly. Wonderful!

And dumbstruck, as well!

Indeed, in my experience, this is the only recording of his First Piano Concerto wherein the relentless keyboard banging and typical hectoring orchestral volatility take a subservient role to the abundant wonders imbued in this music.

Listen, for example, to the majestic unfurling of the glorious opening Allegro brioso of Concerto No. 1--- and, then, after an exciting horn fanfare, Argerich enters with the most phenomenal, articulated, running passagework. It takes the breath away! How well Argerich has "aged" playing this work, how caressing her panache, her quiet intensity. There's no fierceness anymore, no aggression, just revelation and a manifold interconnectedness with the music. Throughout, it's moments like this that propel the performance, that make it so completely appealing. Listen, again, to the flutes' eerie fluttering shortly into the Andante assai--- and how Argerich's magical piano comes whispering, cat-like and hushed. Lastly, thrill to the way Argerich and Dutoit pursue the cyclical material of the Allegro scherzando finale to a hair-raising conclusion. Prokofiev? I'd hardly recognize you.

As if this weren't enough, Concerto No. 3 shimmers and glows in the outer movements and is translucent in the Andantino "variations." That Argerich has matured and mellowed is so telling, especially here, in a concerto she first tackled back in 1957. No longer is her need to "showcase" her dynamism or "whiteknuckle" the keyboard. No. No need at all.

Thus she turns Bartok's Third Piano Concerto into an almost mystical experience, yet filled with a sense of jubilant humanity. Listen to the interplay between orchestra and soloist in the Allegretto first movement, and that incredibly haunting Hungarian melody Bartok threads throughout. To say this is thrilling would be putting it mildly. Listen, as well, to the heartfelt aura surrounding the Allegro religioso, the plaintive piano figurations, the warmly supportive orchestra.

What we hear on this CD is sublimely wrought, mesmerizing, emotionally profound and powerfully gifted pianism. Martha Argerich brings new life to these acerbic masterpieces--- taming them into gentle giants---sympathetically supported by Dutoit.

No reservations about the sound: it is full and rich, the piano just forward enough to be perfectly natural.

[Running time: 70:12]