Live from the Lugano Festival 2014 Martha Argerich & Friends

• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791): Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K466
• 1 I. Allegro (Live) 14:02
• 2 II. Romance (Live) 08:55
• 3 III. Rondo - Allegro assai (Live) 07:51
• Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)
• 4 Variations on Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen, WoO 46 (Live) 09:57
• Darius Milhaud (1892–1974): La création du monde, Op. 81b
• 5 I. Prelude (Live) 05:00
• 6 II. Fugue (Live) 01:38
• 7 III. Romance (Live) 03:45
• 8 IV. Scherzo (Live) 01:24
• 9 V. Finale (Live) 06:33
• Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847): Symphony No.1 in C minor, op.11 for two pianos/eight hands
• 10 I. Allegro di molto (Live) 09:50
• 11 II. Andante (Live) 06:33
• 12 III. Menuetto - Allegro molto (Live) 06:08
• 13 IV. Allegro con fuoco (Live) 08:20
• Alexander Borodin (1833–1887): Piano Quintet in C minor
• 14 I. Andante (Live) 04:41
• 15 II. Scherzo - Allegro non troppo (Live) 05:28
• 16 III. Finale - Allegro moderato (Live) 10:39
• Frank Bridge (1879–1941): Cello Sonata in D Minor, H. 125
• 17 I. Allegro ben moderato (Live) 10:28
• 18 II. Adagio ma non troppo (Live) 05:14
• 19 Molto allegro e agitato (Live) 08:07
• Francis Poulenc (1899–1963): Sonata for Piano, 4 Hands, FP 8
• 20 I. Prélude. Modéré (Live) 01:59
• 21 II. Rustique. Naif et lent (Live) 02:12
• 22 III. Final. Très vite (Live) 02:20
• Cello Sonata, FP 143
• 23 I. Allegro. Tempo di Marcia (Live) 05:36
• 24 II. Cavatine. Très calme (Live) 06:13
• 25 III. Ballabile. Très animé (Live) 03:28
• 26 IV. Finale. Largo, très librement - Presto subito - Largo (Live) 06:53
• Alexander Scriabin (1872–1915)
• 27 Fantasy for 2 Pianos in A Minor (Live) 07:32
• Mieczysław Weinberg (1919–1996): Violin Sonata No. 5 in G Minor, Op. 53
• 28 I. Andante con moto (Live) 05:07
• 29 II. Allegro molto (Live) 06:04
• 30 III. Allegro moderato (Live) 04:59
• 31 IV. Allegro - Andante - Allegretto (Live) 08:01
• Total Runtime 03:14:57

Info for Live from the Lugano Festival 2014

Warner Classics is pleased to release the 12th annual 3-album set of highlights from the Progetto Martha Argerich in Lugano, described in The Times (London), as “community music-making on a deluxe scale, with performers and listeners mutually uplifted by music’s wonders.” The recordings celebrate the musical fruits of a project in which young artists join seasoned performers, including Martha Argerich herself, to explore wide-ranging chamber music and orchestral repertoire, both well-known and rarely heard.

In addition to Ms Argerich, the 2014 Festival featured long-time collaborators such as Gidon Kremer, Gabriela Montero, Mischa Maisky, Gautier Capuçon and Lilya Zilberstein, as well as many of Ms Argerich’s young protégées, including pianists Anton and Daniel Gerzenberg and violinists Geza Hosszu-Logocky and Andrey Baranov, winner of the 2012 Queen Elizabeth Competition. Also featured are pianists Alexander Mogilevsky, Francesco Piemontesi, Daniel Rivera, Dagmar Clottu, Akane Sakai, Eduardo Hubert, violinists Dora Schwarzberg and Michael Guttman, violist Nora Romanoff and cellists Jing Zhao and Mark Drobinsky.

The piano has been at the heart of all Lugano Festival programmes, from the Festival’s inception, in performances of standard repertoire alongside rarely heard compositions and the 2014 season was no exception. Each year the Festival includes a piano concerto with Ms Argerich as soloist and this time it is Mozart’s Concerto No 20 in D minor, K466, with the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana conducted by Jacek Kaspszyk. Argerich also performs sonatas with each of two long-standing collaborators, cellist Mischa Maisky and violinist Gidon Kremer. She joins Maisky in Beethoven’s Variations on ‘Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen’ based on Papageno and Pamina’s duet in Mozart’s opera Die Zauberflöte and Kremer, a champion of the work of Shostakovich’s younger friend and colleague Mieczysław Weinberg, in the composer’s Fifth Violin Sonata.

The Swiss pianist Dagmar Clottu appears for the first time in this series, joining Argerich in Francis Poulenc’s Piano Sonata for four hands. Gautier Capuçon and Francesco Piemontesi perform Poulenc’s Cello Sonata and Capuçon performs the Cello Sonata in D minor by Frank Bridge with Gabriela Montero.

Other works featured include Darius Milhaud’s jazzy ballet, La création du monde, performed in the composer’s arrangement for piano quintet; Alexander Borodin’s early Piano Quintet; Felix Mendelssohn’s First Symphony, composed at the age of 15, in an arrangement by Ferruccio Busoni for four players at two pianos; and Alexander Scriabin’s Fantasy in A minor, envisaged as a work for piano and orchestra but only sketched for two pianos, and neither orchestrated nor performed during his lifetime.

Few artists have nurtured and promoted emerging young musicians with the level of personal commitment shown by Martha Argerich. In the process, she has created inspired chamber music partnerships mixing established and up-and-coming artists. A legend in her own lifetime for her technical mastery and passionate artistry, Argerich possesses an infectious spirit that has fired her own performances and partnerships as well as those of her colleagues and protégées.

After setting up Meeting Point at Beppu, Japan in 1996 and the Martha Argerich Festival in Buenos Aires in 1999, the pianist decided to create a similar gathering of musical minds in Europe. The southern Swiss town of Lugano was identified as an ideal setting for a project based on the spirit of building a community of close-knit relationships among young and established artists and the Progetto Martha Argerich was launched in 2002. More than a decade later, the Festival continues to retain its original experimental ‘feel’ because of the original programming and the emergence of new performing talents. Geoffrey Norris in The Daily Telegraph wrote, “It is always instructive to see who has been invited to perform at the Progetto Martha Argerich in Lugano, because the cast list is a reliable guide to some of the most exciting talent in the musical world today.”

Martha Argerich, piano
Mischa Maisky, cello
Lilya Zilberstein, piano
Gidon Kremer, violin
Gautier Capucon, cello
Gabriela Montero, piano
Eduardo Hubert, piano
Dora Schwarzberg, violin
Michael Guttmann, violin
Nora Romanoff-Schwarzberg, viola
Mark Drobinsky, cello
Akane Sakai, piano
Anton Gerzenberg, piano
Daniel Gerzenberg, piano
Alexander Mogilevsky, piano
Andrey Baranov, violin
Geza Hosszu-Legocky, violin
Jing Zhao, cello
Dagmar Clottu, piano
Grancesco Piemontesi, piano
Daniel Rivera, piano
Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana
Jacek Kaspszyk, conductor

Martha Argerich
was born in Buenos Aires (Argentina). She began her first piano lessons at the age of five with Vincenzo Scaramuzza. Considered a child prodigy, she soon performs in public. In 1955, she moved to Europe and continued her studies in London, Vienna and in Switzerland with Bruno Seidlhofer, Friedrich Gulda, Nikita Magaloff, Madeleine Lipatti and Stefan Askenase.

In 1957, she won the Bolzano and Geneva Piano Competitions, and in 1965 the Warsaw International Chopin Competition. Since then, she has been one of the most prominent pianists in the world both in popularity and ability.

Martha Argerich has been rated highly for her performance of the virtuoso piano literature of the XIX and XX centuries. Her large repertoire includes Bach and Bartók, Beethoven and Messiaen, as well as Chopin, Schumann, Liszt, Debussy, Ravel, Franck, Prokofiev, Stravinski, Shostakovitch, Tchaikovski.

Though she is permanently invited by the most prestigious orchestras, conductors and music festivals in Europe, Japan and America, chamber music takes a significant part of her musical life. She regularly plays and records with Nelson Freire, Ivry Gitlis, Mischa Maisky, Gidon Kremer and Daniel Barenboim: “This harmony within a group of people gives me a strong and peaceful feeling.”

Martha Argerich has recorded for EMI, Sony, Philips, Teldec, DGG and many of her performances were broadcasted on television worldwide. She has received many awards: »Grammy Award« for Bartók and Prokofiev Concertos, »Gramophon – Artist of the Year«, »Best Piano Concerto Recording of the Year« for Chopin Concertos, »Choc« of the Monde de la Musique for her Amsterdam’s recital, »Künstler des Jahres Deutscher Schallplatten Kritik«, »Grammy Award« for Prokofiev’s Cinderella with Mikhael Pletnev and lately a »Grammy Award« for Beethoven Concertos 2 & 3 with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra under Claudio Abbado (DGG/»Best Instrumental Soloist Performance«), »The Sunday Times – Record of the Year« and »BBC Music Magazine Award« for her Shostakovitch recording (EMI, 2007). Last recordings include Mozart Concertos K466 and K503 with Orchestra Mozart and Claudio Abbado and a Duo Recital with Daniel Barenboim (Deutsche Grammophon).

Since 1998 she is the Artistic Director of the Beppu Festival in Japan. In 1999 she created the »International Piano Competition and Festival Martha Argerich« in Buenos Aires, and in June 2002 the »Progetto Martha Argerich« in Lugano.

Martha Argerich has received numerous distinctions: »Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres« in 1996. »Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres« in 2004 by the French Government, »Accademica di Santa Cecilia« in Rome in 1997, »Musician of the Year« by Musical America 2001, »The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette« by the Japanese Emperor and the prestigious »Praemium Imperiale« by the Japan Art Association in 2005.

Booklet for Live from the Lugano Festival 2014