Sometimes, an artist is so great, effortlessly to break all limits or bounds of convention, tradition, excitement, depth, tenderness and physical prowess that one must wonder about the natural circumstances of her birth.
This disc captured a glimmer of such a singularity in her shockingly early debut at 18 years old. Ms Argerich emerged with such tremendous and adult artistic maturity enviable by many accomplished and established musicians---and only got better.
If Arthur Rubenstein is the "rule-maker" for Chopin, Argerich is the rule-breaker. The audacity of her c# scherzo is unparalleled---a ``scary scherzo''.
The Liszt Sonata is the atom-bomb: with stupendous structural force and power combined with astonishing delicacy, taste and beauty {without the very cloying sweetness}. In direct comparison to the deservedly legendary 1930 Horowitz, I started to hear in it a few technical flaws, hesitation and loss of momentum---in Volodya's version! This one is the pinnacle. Other than these two, I've heard none remotely close. {And she is way cuter on the cover, too. ;) }
The Liszt sonata and her Rachmaninov 3rd concerto will be recognized as among the very greatest piano recordings of the century, by anyone, playing anything.
The recording continues with beautifully long and singing lines in two rhapsodies of Brahms, and then whips back into the excitement with an energetic reading of Prokofiev's toccata. In the latter, she shows clear promise to challenge Richter as an interpreter of this composer.
Argerich's touch is very gentle in Ravel's Jeux d'eau, playing the tops of the keys rather than directly into them. I prefer recordings of Ravel by old master Walter Gieseking or the young virtuoso Boris Berezovsky, but am probably among a small minority on this point.
While many consider this recording of the Liszt B-minor sonata to be among the best, I actually prefer recordings from Claudio Arrau, Maurizio Pollini, and, yes, even Van Cliburn. Nonetheless, the performance is polished and well-crafted---Argerich is able to draw a rich, sometimes dark, often roaring tone from the piano.
Skip the Great Pianists of the 20th century disks on Argerich and go straight to the source: buy this disk and enjoy an exciting debut recording.
