Miscellaneous

MARTHA ARGERICH AND FRIENDS • Martha Argerich (pn);1,2,6,7,9,12 Stefan Kovacevich (pn);1 Renaud Capuçon (vn);2 Lilya Zilberstein (pn);3,4,6 Dora Schwarzberg (vn);3 Lucia Hall (vn);3,7 Nora Romanoff-Schwarzberg (va);3,7 Mark Drobinsky (vc);3 Akane Sakai (pn);4 Lily Maisky (pn);5,6,8 Alissa Margulis (vn);5,7,10 Mischa Maisky (vc);5 Corrado Giuffredi (cl);7 Zora Slokar (hn);7 Vincent Godel (bn);7 Karin Lechner (pn);8 Eduardo Hubert (pn);9 Alexander Gurning (pn);10 Alexandre Debrus (vc);10 Georgia Tomassi (pn);11 Alessandro Stella (pn);11 Alexander Mogilevsky (pn);12 Mikhail Pletnev, cond;12 Swiss Italian O12 • EMI 67051 (3 CDs: 280:20)

MOZART Andante and Variations in G.1 SCHUMANN Violin Sonata No. 2.2 ARENSKY Piano Quintet in D.3 SAINT-SAËNS Scherzo.4 SHOSTAKOVICH Piano Trio No. 1.5 RACHMANINOFF Suite No. 1.6 JANÁČEK Concertino.7 DVOŘÁK 4 Slavonic Dances.8 PIAZZOLLA 3 tangui (trans. Hubert).9 Las estaciones porteñas (arr. Bragato).10 RAVEL Introduction and Allegro.11 PLETNEV Fantasia elvetica12

One thought kept recurring as I listened to this three-disc set from Martha Argerich’s 2008 Lugano Festival: I want to be at the event myself some day, sitting in the audience, listening to great music played at such a high level. For a recording that documents a live event, there is no greater compliment.

I have read commentary about this and other festivals that harp on technical deficiencies, either in the performances themselves or in the recording process. Few writers are as unforgiving of error as I am, and subpar recordings can no doubt spoil an otherwise fine endeavor. But in the case of this justly prestigious event, the caveats, though not insignificant, in no way diminish the excitement that only a live event can muster. Sadly, performers tend to operate in two different modes: a cautious one for recordings, where microphones pick up the smallest of sonic minutiae, and for live recordings, allowing sparks to be generated without fear of an error or two being preserved for posterity. This is a lesser issue in orchestral and opera recordings (quite common now due to the skyrocketing costs of studio recordings), where the sheer mass of performers provides a measure of cover. If ever there was an example of the value of preserving the particular virtues of live recordings, this is it.

Argerich is obviously the focal point here, but she has assembled an outstanding roster of accomplices, beginning with pianist Stephen Kovacevich in Mozart’s Andante and Variations in G for piano four hands. The duo delivers a performance that is by turns elegant and blistering. It also sets the tone for a collection that, while ostensibly a chamber-music sampler, is decidedly keyboard-centric, with 11 of the 24 performers being pianists.

Argerich’s recording on Deutsche Grammophon of Schumann’s violin sonatas with Gidon Kremer is one of my favorite discs, and here she reprises her performance of the Second Sonata with the captivating violinist Renaud Capuçon, an artist new to me but one who deserves the kind of exposure Argerich is providing. There is a palpable synergy here that is irresistible—Capuçon’s sound is beguiling, and the pair rides the waves of the composer’s fevered meanderings with total engagement. Those who deride Schumann’s piano-writing in these sonatas need only hear Argerich’s transparent yet fiery reading to hear what is possible in the hands of an artist of her caliber.

Anton Arensky’s Piano Quintet in D receives an expressive and finely nuanced reading with five other fine players from the festival. Arensky wasn’t a cutting edge composer. In fact, there are many similarities to Schumann, though this fine work was realized a few decades after that composer’s death. The fleet Scherzo bears some kinship with Mendelssohn, but with an added pinch of Slavic flavor. Lilya Zilberstein and Akane Sakai give a jostling, if occasionally messy reading of Saint-Saëns’s Scherzo for two pianos. Rarely have I heard Ravel so prominently prefigured in the music of his older compatriot (including prominently placed whole tone scales), but ultimately the entertainer gains the upper hand over the serious composer.

If Shostakovich’s Piano Trio No. 2 is a cornerstone among 20th-century trios, his first effort in the medium, written when he was 17, is neglected, and justly so. Still, an occasional deeply felt reading such as this by Lily and Mischa Maisky and Alissa Margulis is warranted. Rachmaninoff’s Suite No. 1 for two pianos has been performed with more polish and precise synchronization, but rarely with the idiomatic flair that Argerich and Zilberstein bring. I was not familiar with Janáček’s Concertino for mixed septet, and I was glad to get to know it in this characterful reading. Chamber music with programmatic undertones is a fairly rare commodity, but the composer pulls it off ingeniously. Argerich has assembled a fine group of wind- and string-players to make its case.

Four of Dvořák’s Slavonic dances in their piano duet versions are dispatched with verve by Maisky and Karin Lechner, but for some reason the recorded sound is suddenly recessed in comparison to other works on this collection, dulling their impact considerably. The Piazzolla arrangements succeed splendidly, as does the version of Ravel’s Introduction and Allegro for two pianos. Some of the differentiated color of the original is missed, but the homogenization pays dividends of its own, and Tomassi and Stella play with understated, idiomatic grace. The parade of intimate music is finally interrupted at the end of the collection with Mikhail Pletnev’s Fantasia elvetica for two pianos and orchestra from 2006. Needless to say for a work coming from the pen of a pianist, it is composed with idiomatic flair for the two soloists (Argerich and Mogilevsky), but otherwise it is not a work of much consequence.

There are some tracks that will reward the listener more than others, but overall this should appeal to more than just the sizable contingent of fans of the celebrated pianist.

FANFARE: Michael Cameron