Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 3

Recording of the Month Gramophone Magazine January 2005

"For many years it seemed as if Martha Argerich would never get past the first two Beethoven piano concertos: but now we have her first recording of the Third Concerto - and very fine it is too. As with everything she plays there is rarely a bar that doesn't challenge preconceptions and, even if it ruffles a few feathers, makes you think anew about the music. And that surely is what great artistry and musicianship is all about. These performances were recorded live with the ever-lively Mahler Chamber Orchestra - the Chamber Orchestra of Europe de nos jours, it seems - under one of Argerich's oldest friends, Claudio Abbado. As with the many COE discs over the past couple of decades, the Mahler CO play with a freshness and spirit that must account for the esteem in which conductors as different as Minkowski and Abbado hold them."
(Gramophone)

"A luminous performance, full of tenderness and emotion. There was a poetry and an instrumental finish of extraordinary intensity...this wonderful pianist brought a unique combination of and instrumental power to the concerto, Beethoven's favourite."
- La Repubblica (Rome), 22 February 2004

Martha Argerich, unpredictable, volatile, impetuous - causing sleepless nights for concert promoters and marketing manager - and yet, there's something about her... as we all know. One of the world's truly great pianists, her performances have always got something spine-tingling about them.

Teamed up with Claudio Abbado, her long-time musical partner, who can draw great performances from the greatest artists, and their favourite orchestral partners, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, we can be sure that their new CD is something special.

The repertoire is familiar - two of the Beethoven concertos. What's new is that this is Martha Argerich's first-ever recording of no. 3, taped live in Ferrara earlier this year, and complemented by an equally thrilling new version of no. 2, one of Argerich's favourites.