Music by Beethoven, Schumann, Schubert, Ravel, Bartók and Lutoslawski, played by Martha Argerich and Friends at the 2007 Verbier Festival. DG 479 5096 (2 CDs) Total Time: 72:46 + 64:44
Since its founding in 1994, the Verbier Festival in Switzerland has grown steadily to become one of the most prestigious in the world, with the greatest artists regularly appearing every summer and students from nearly every country competing to study at the Academy and to play in one of its three orchestras. Recently the festival signed a contract with Deutsche Grammophon to begin issuing performances from its archives; this CD, curated by pianist Martha Argerich, who chose the music and the performers, is the first release and it is outstanding.
Although she has stopped giving solo recitals, in this concert Argerich allows herself one solo piece: Schumann’s Kinderszenen. A delight from beginning to end, Argerich finds poetry in every episode.
The piece that impressed me most on this CD was Schubert’s Arpeggione Sonata. Most often played by cellists, here the solo part is in the hands of violist Yuri Bashmet. After hearing this performance, I am convinced that the viola is the ideal instrument for this music, but more importantly, Bashmet and Argerich work wonders with tempo and dynamics. This piece can be tediously repetitious and predictable, but not here, where the performers’ sense of rubato enlivens each phrase. I have always thought of this piece as a string player’s vehicle, with the piano confined to clumping along in the background. Again, not here, where Argerich consistently brings out little turns of phrase that make the piano part as interesting as the viola line.
The first movement of Beethoven’s Trio in D major Op. 70 No. 1 (“Ghost”) has never sounded more passionate, and in the slow movement, the performers find magic in every surprising harmony. Violinist Julian Rachlin, cellist Mischa Maisky and Argerich at the piano make a formidable trio.
With the young French violinist Renaud Capuçon, Argerich plays Bartók’s Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1. As always, she clarifies the complexities of difficult music with amazing transparency and Capuçon contributes a sound that is almost too beautiful for the music.
Lang Lang and Argerich play some four-hand music by Schubert and Ravel with joy and refinement, and Gabriela Montero and Argerich offer spectacular virtuosity in Lutoslawski’s Variations on a Theme of Paganini.
The concert concludes with a rendition of “Happy Birthday” for Mischa Maisky’s daughter Lily. This remarkable version comes in the form of an improvisation, mostly in Latin style, by Gabriela Montero.
This is great music-making by any standard, with pianist Martha Argerich at her best, traversing a wide repertoire with some friends who also happen to be among the greatest artists at work today.
This year’s Verbier Festival has just concluded, but you can hear many of the concerts at www.medici.tv; some of these will probably also turn up later as Deutsche Grammophon recordings.
The CD is available for purchase via iTunes and Amazon.com.
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