Martha Argerich

Martha Argerich (; Eastern Catalan: �ɾʒəˈɾik born 5 June 1941) is an Argentine classical concert pianist. She is widely considered to be one of the greatest pianists of all time.

Early life and education

Argerich was born in Buenos Aires. Her paternal ancestors were Spaniards from Catalonia who had been based in Buenos Aires since the 18th century. Her maternal grandparents were Jewish immigrants from the Russian Empire, who settled in Colonia Villa Clara in Argentina's Entre Ríos Province, one of the colonies established by Baron de Hirsch and the Jewish Colonization Association. The provenance of the name ''Argerich'' is Catalonia.

A precocious child, Argerich began kindergarten at the age of two years and eight months, where she was the youngest child. A five-year-old boy, who was a friend, teased her that she would not be able to play the piano, and Argerich responded by playing perfectly, by ear, a piece their teacher played them. The teacher immediately called the mother and they "started making a fuss." Argerich started learning the piano at the age of three. At the age of five, she moved to teacher Vincenzo Scaramuzza, who stressed to her the importance of lyricism and feeling. Argerich gave her debut concert in 1949 at the age of eight. The family moved to Europe in 1955, where Argerich studied with Friedrich Gulda in Austria, whom Argerich describes as one of her major influences. She later studied with Stefan Askenase and Maria Curcio. Argerich also seized opportunities for brief periods of coaching with Madeleine Lipatti (widow of Dinu Lipatti), Abbey Simon, and Nikita Magaloff. In 1957, at sixteen, she won both the Geneva International Music Competition and the Ferruccio Busoni International Competition within three weeks of each other.

Following this success, Argerich had a personal and artistic crisis. After an abortive attempt to study with the Italian pianist Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, who gave her only four lessons in the space of 18 months, she went to New York City, hoping but failing to meet and study with her idol, Vladimir Horowitz. She did not play the piano for three years and considered giving it up to train as a secretary or doctor. She credited Anny Askenase, the wife of Stefan Askenase, with encouraging her to return to the piano. Following her return, Argerich won the prestigious VII International Chopin Piano Competition in 1965.

Professional career

Argerich performed her debut concert at the age of eight, playing Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor and Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major. Argerich gained international prominence when she won the VII International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 1965, at age 24. In that same year, she debuted in the United States in Lincoln Center's Great Performers Series. In 1960, she had made her first commercial recording, which included works by Chopin, Brahms, Ravel, Prokofiev, and Liszt; it received critical acclaim upon its release in 1961. She has since recorded works by composers including Ginastera, Rachmaninoff and Schumann, to whom she describes feeling a particular connection."Bloody Daughter"

Argerich has often remarked in interviews of feeling "lonely" on stage during solo performances. Since the 1980s, she has staged few solo performances, concentrating instead on concertos and, in particular, chamber music, and collaborating with instrumentalists in sonatas.

Argerich has also promoted younger pianists, both through her annual festival and through her appearances as a member of the jury at international competitions. The pianist Ivo Pogorelić was thrust into the musical spotlight partly as a result of Argerich's actions: after he was eliminated in the third round of the 1980 International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, Argerich proclaimed him a genius and left the jury in protest. According to Đặng Thái Sơn, the eventual winner, Argerich made the "beautiful gesture" of sending a public telegram to the judging committee to congratulate him, after learning the final results. She has supported several artists, including Gabriela Montero, Mauricio Vallina

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