There was a time when her wild Liszt Sonata put the world to the impression that Argerich was playing only with an animal instinct. Her playing was so impulsive. The colouring was thick but not subtle, the pianism was virtuosic but not finely polished, the dolce is expressive but not singing. But people love to hear her, because every note that flow from her fingers come inside her blood, hot and volatile. Although still lacking in depth and subtlety, the poetic seed began to show as in the Brahms Rhapsodies. One only miss some more relaxation and lighter touch to bring out the space and singing line of a Chopin work. The problem is that tension she created was too great to make room for her own wonderful imagination. But her technique is stunning and breathtaking. She has made two highly exciting and brilliant recordings of Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No.1. Her playing of Prokofiev's Toccata made even Horowitz raised his eyebrows. And it was her first recording made before she won the glamorous Warsaw Chopin Competition in 1965 at an age of 24. As a child, she was already discovered as a prodigy of Argentina, much similar to Arrau of Chile. One member in the jury remembered hearing her in Argentina as a small girl who played octaves as fast as single notes.
In the opening movement of the C-major Concerto of Beethoven, Argerich brought out the darker colour and Mozartian lyricism of the middle development section so wonderfully that only the old Kempff and young Perahia could match. She gave every bar the breath and space to sing. Before the well-known imagination of the grand old master, the lady find no shame. While the young man sounds satisfied with a lighter Mozartian grace, Argerich is determined to turn every bar into wonders. Here Richter begins to sound impatient to ponder, with his strong and stern drive forward. The great colorist ran dry of paint this time or did he only refrain himself from pouring out his colour too casually. No matter the reason, no one will regret Argerich for being too sensitive and imaginative in the two earlier Beethoven concertos.
However, it is in Romantic music that I find her at her most expressive. In Schumann's Kinderscenen and Kreisleriana, she was so much in tone with the lonely Robert Schumann. The playing was deeply introspective. Yet one can feel the mercurial emotional undercurrent beneath that lonesome surface. Technically, the inner voices were so finely balanced that the sound picture is very realistically Schumannesque. Perhaps, one just misses that last degree of adherence in the important last three sections of the Kresleriana that makes Horowitz 1985 recording so special(despite its many flaws). Her ending of the piece reminds me of a load cry that pierced through the lonely night. Maybe, solitude was her greatest fear. Since the 1980s she seldom appeared on stage in a solo recital. She showed increasing interest in chamber music or piano duo. Her favorite partners include the violinist Gidon Kremer and the cellist Maisky. Both of them are very individual musicians. To pick from her chamber output, just hear her recording of the slow movement of Beethoven Spring Sonata, with Kremer, one of their first outputs in their very individual Beethoven cycle. They chose to give the movement its full lyricism and poetry. Their tempo was much slower than usual. The ultimate effect was produced by the subtle shading and articulation of the piano part. The effect makes you wonder whether this could have come from a Franck Sonata.
Yes, Argerich has matured. But it would be inappropriate to say that her playing is growing more intimate and serene, after more than three decades on the concert platform. Like most temperamental musician. She could, in different occassions, play with extremely different expression. Her recent recording of the Rachmaninov Concerto No.3 with Chaily was virtuosic to the extent of animal excitement, what we generally associate with the young Argerich. But it is what we treasure most of a temperamental pianist. She is always unpredictable. Some may even say she is revelatory, in the line of Horowitz, Richter, Cherkarssky,...
