MARTHA ARGERICH LIVE AT THE VERBIER FESTIVAL (2007-2008)

Johann Sebastian Bach: Partita No. 2 in C minor, BWV 826

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: 5 Variations in G major for Piano, K. 501

Edvard Grieg: Cello Sonata in A minor, Op. 36

Béla Bartók: Violin Sonata No. 1, BB 84

Witold Lutosławski: Variations on a Theme by Paganini

Dmitry Shostakovich: Piano Quintet in G minor, Op. 57

Renaud Capuçon, violin (Bartók)
Joshua Bell, violin
Henning Kraggerud, violin
Yuri Bashmet, viola
Mischa Maisky, cello
Martha Argerich, piano
Stephen Kovacevich, piano (Mozart)
Gabriela Montero, piano (Lutosławski)

Recorded live in Salle Médran, Verbier, Switzerland, during the Verbier Festival on 27 July 2007
(Bartók, Lutosławski), 22 July 2008 (Bach, Mozart, Shostakovich) and 29 July 2008 (Grieg).

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Running time: 125 mins
No. of DVDs: 1 (DVD9)

REVIEWS:

“These hi-def videos were shot in both the 2007 and 2008 seasons at the Verbier Festival. The performers are all of equal standing to Ms. Argerich, and the image quality is superb - nearly as good as Blu-ray. The 48K PCM stereo is also crystalline and silky in the high end … The Bach Partita makes a fine opening, with Argerich moving swiftly from one to another of the six movements without even the five-second pause of most recordings... The second half of the concert opens with the rough and tumble First Violin Sonata by Bartok. Renaud Capucon is the frantically involved soloist in this sharp-edged three-movement sonata. The two pianos are nested with one another in typical fashion for the Lutoslawski Variations, but the innovative TV director has a number of shots placing the two soloists’ keyboards up against one another in a V formation so that you can see both pianists at work. The closing Shostakovich Quintet is a fitting conclusion to this wonderful program… All five performers tear into the work with gusto, and the result demonstrates how much more of a musical experience a video with high definition and clean wide-range sound can provide of a live musical performance vs. even the best audio-only recording.” - John Sunier, Audiophile Edition

The music captured on this DVD is from concerts at the Verbier (Switzerland) Music Festival in July of 2008. Martha Argerich is the center of this little solar system, with star performers as her guests. She starts the proceedings with a masterly rendition of Bach’s 2nd Partita in C minor, BWV 826. Stephen Kovacevich than joins her as secondo in Mozart’s Andante and Five Variations, K.501 for piano four-hands. In the Grieg Sonata for Cello & Piano, she is joined by Mischa Maisky. This is heady stuff, highly passionate Romantic music into which the artists dig with gusto…The guest in the Bartok Sonata No. 1 for violin and piano is Renaud Capucon…followed by Lutoslawski’s popular Variations on a Theme of Paganini—the second pianist (Gabriela Montero) matching split-second virtuosity with Argerich. Perhaps the most attractive work on the program is Shostakovich’s great Piano Quintet, Op.87. Joining the ensemble were Joshua Bell, 1st violin, Henning Kraggerud, 2nd, and violist Yuri Bashmet, along with the perspiring Mischa Maisky.