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Biography
Martha Argerich (born June 5, 1941 in Buenos Aires , Argentina ) is an Argentine people|Argentine pianist .
Early life
Argerich was born in Buenos Aires and started playing the piano at age three (the provenance of the name Argerich is uncertain: some say it is Catalunya|Catalan , while others maintain it originates from Croatia ).Dean Elder, Pianists at Play, Kahn & Averill, 1989 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 . Juan Perón , then the president of Argentina, made their decision possible by appointing her parents to Foreign relations of Argentina|diplomatic posts in the Argentine Embassy in Vienna . She later studied with Stefan Askenase and Maria Curcio .cite news|author=Niel Immelman |url= http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/apr/14/obituary-maria-curcio |title=The Guardian, 14 April 2009 |publisher=Guardian |date= 14 April 2009|accessdate=2012-01-04 |location=London Argerich also seized opportunities for brief periods of coaching with Madeleine Lipatti (widow of Dinu Lipatti ), Abbey Simon , and Nikita Magaloff .Minaldi, Donald http://www.musicalamerica.com/features/? fid=66& fyear=2001 Musician of the Year 2001 Martha Argerich, "Musical America", 2001 In 1957, at sixteen, she won both the Geneva International Music Competition and the Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition|Ferruccio Busoni International Competition , within three weeks of each other. It was at the latter that she met Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli whom she would later seek out for lessons during a personal artistic crisis at the age of twenty, though she only had four lessons with him in a year and a half.Elder, Dean. http://www.andrys.com/arg-1979.html Excerpts from a Rare Interview with Argerich. accessed 19 January 2010. Her greatest influence was Gulda, with whom she studied for 18 months.
Professional career
Argerich rose to international prominence when she won the seventh International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 1965, at age 24. In 1965, she debuted in the United States in the Lincoln Center 's Great Performers Series. In the same year, she also made her first recording, including works by Frédéric Chopin|Chopin , Johannes Brahms|Brahms , Maurice Ravel|Ravel , Sergei Prokofiev|Prokofiev , and Franz Liszt|Liszt , which received critical acclaim. In 1965, she recorded Chopin's Scherzo No. 3 (Chopin)|Scherzo No. 3 , Polonaise Op. 53 (Chopin)|Polonaise, Op. 53 , and other short works in the later years.
Argerich has often remarked in interviews of feeling "lonely" on stage during solo performances.Martha Argerich, The Evening Talks < http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=8sPD1cma58w> Since the 1980s, she has staged few solo performances, instead focusing on piano concerto|concertos and, in particular, chamber music , and accompanying instrumentalists in sonata (music)|sonatas . She is noted especially for her recordings of 20th century classical music|20th century works by composers such as Sergei Rachmaninoff|Rachmaninoff , Olivier Messiaen|Messiaen and Sergei Prokofiev|Prokofiev . One notable compilation pairs Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 (Rachmaninoff)|Piano Concerto No. 3 (recorded in December 1982 with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin|Radio Symphonie-Orchester Berlin under direction of Riccardo Chailly ) with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky|Tchaikovsky 's Piano Concerto No. 1 (Tchaikovsky)|Piano Concerto No. 1 (February 1980, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra|Symphonie Orchester Des Bayerischen Rundfunks , Kirill Kondrashin ).
Argerich is also famous for her interpretation of Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 (Prokofiev)|Piano Concerto No. 3 , Ravel's Piano Concerto (Ravel)|Piano Concerto in G , and Bach's Partita No. 2 in C minor, which she has recorded several times and continues to perform.
Argerich has also promoted younger pianists, both through her annual festival and through her frequent appearances as a member of the jury at important competitions.Citation needed|date=January 2009 The pianist Ivo Pogorelic 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 Frederic Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, Argerich proclaimed him a "genius" and left the jury in protest.Stevenson, Joseph.Allmusic|class=artist|id=q46402/biography|pure_url=yes Allmusic Biography of Ivo Pogorelich accessed 18 January 2010 She has supported several artists including Gabriela Montero , Gabriele Baldocci and Sergio Tiempo .cite web|url= http://www.rsi.ch/argerich/welcome.cfm? lng=1& ids=491& idc=989 |title=Progetto Martha Argerich |language=it icon |publisher=Rsi.ch |date= |accessdate=2012-01-04cite web|url= http://www.rsi.ch/argerich/welcome.cfm? lng=1& ids=491& idc=1000 |title=Progetto Martha Argerich |language=it icon |publisher=Rsi.ch |date= |accessdate=2012-01-04
Argerich is president of the International Piano Academy Lake Como and performs each year at the Lugano Festival , Switzerland . She also created and has been General Director of the Argerich Music Festival and Encounter in Beppu , Japan , since 1996.
Her aversion to the press and publicity has resulted in her remaining out of the limelight for most of her career. Nevertheless she is widely recognized as one of the greatest pianists of her time.In a 2001 article about Martha Argerich for The New Yorker , critic Alex Ross (music critic)|Alex Ross wrote: "Argerich brings to bear qualities that are seldom contained in one person: she is a pianist of brain-teasing technical agility; she is a charismatic woman with an enigmatic reputation; she is an unaffected interpreter whose native language is music. This last may be the quality that sets her apart. A lot of pianists play huge double octaves; a lot of pianists photograph well. But few have the unerring naturalness of phrasing that allows them to embody the music rather than interpret it."
Personal life
Argerich has been married three times. Her first marriage was to composer - Conducting|conductor Robert Chen, with whom she had a daughter, Lyda Chen, who is a violist. From 1969 to 1973, Argerich was married to conductor Charles Dutoit , with whom she had a daughter, Anna. Argerich continues to record and perform with Dutoit. Her third husband was pianist Stephen Kovacevich , with whom she had a daughter, Stephanie.cite web|url= http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20076190,00.html|title=A Top Woman Pianist, Martha Argerich, Nearly Gave Up Her Steinway for Steno|last1=Hauptfuhrer|first1=Jenny|last2=Vespa|first2=Mary|date=1980-04-07|publisher=people.com|accessdate=2010-01-18
In 1990, Argerich was diagnosed with malignant melanoma . After treatment, the cancer went into remission, but there was a reoccurrence in 1995, eventually metastasis|metastasizing to her lungs and lymph nodes. Following aggressive treatment at the John Wayne Cancer Institute, which included the removal of part of her lung and use of an experimental vaccine , Argerich's cancer went into remission again. In gratitude, Argerich performed a Carnegie Hall recital benefiting the Institute.Toronto Globe and Mail, concert review, March 28, 2000 As of 2011, Argerich remains cancer-free.
Awards
Order of the Rising Sun#4th Class, Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette|The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette 2005 Japan
Praemium Imperiale 2005 Japan
Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (with orchestra) :
* Claudio Abbado (conductor), Martha Argerich and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra for Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 3 ( 48th Grammy Awards|2006 )
Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance :
*Martha Argerich and Mikhail Pletnev for '' Sergei Prokofiev|Prokofiev (Arr. Pletnev): Cinderella Suite for Two Pianos/ Maurice Ravel|Ravel : Ma Mere L'Oye ( 47th Grammy Awards|2005 )
Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (with orchestra)
* Charles Dutoit (conductor), Martha Argerich and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra for Sergei Prokofiev|Prokofiev : Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 3/ Béla Bartók|Bartók : Piano Concerto No. 3 ( 42nd Grammy Awards|2000 )
Arrau Medal|Claudio Arrau Memorial Medal (1997)
International Frédéric Chopin Piano Competition|International Frederick Chopin Piano Competition : 1st prize (1965)
Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition : 1st prize (1957) http://www.concorsobusoni.it/en-94-1984.aspx www.concorsobusoni.it, History of the competition. "In 1957 the Premio Busoni was awarded to the sixteen-year-old Martha Argerich..."
Geneva International Music Competition : 1st prize (1957)
See also
Portal|Piano
Great Pianists of the 20th Century - Martha Argerich
Great Pianists of the 20th Century - Martha Argerich II
http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2001/11/12/011112crmu_music Ross, Alex; 'Madame X', November 12, 2001, a profile of Argerich in The New Yorker
http://www.gachot.ch/gachot_argerich.html Martha Argerich, evening talks , the award-winning documentary film about Argerich by http://www.gachot.ch/l Georges Gachot - ( http://imdb.com/title/tt0384318/ imdb link)
http://www.andrys.com/argerich/ar-orga.html Orga, Ates, River Plate Queen (1978, 2006), an interview with Argerich first published in the 1979 International Music Guide
http://www.argerich-mf.jp/english.html MUSIC FESTIVAL Argerich's Meeting Point in Beppu, a music festival sponsored by the Argerich Arts Foundation of Beppu, Oita|Beppu, Japan
http://www.rtsi.ch/trasm/argerich/welcome.cfm? lng=1 The Martha Argerich Project
http://andrys.com/argerich/ Argerich Music news, concert schedule, articles, recordings
http://home.swipnet.se/bjorn_ostlund/argerich_repertoire.htm Argerich's repertoire through the years
http://www.cosmopolis.ch/english/cosmo14/argerich.htm Martha Argerich biography, CD and concert review by cosmopolis.ch
http://www.euronews.net/2009/06/15/martha-argerich-project-brings-talent-to-lugano/ Martha Argerich Project Brings Talent to Lugano by Euro News , June 15, 2009
Persondata | NAME = Argerich, Martha | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH = 5 June 1941 | PLACE OF BIRTH = | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Argerich, Martha Category:1941 births Category:Living people Category:Argentine classical pianists Category:International Chopin Piano Competition winners Category:Illustrious Citizen of Buenos Aires Category:People from Buenos Aires Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Classical piano duos Category:Prize-winners of the Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition Category:Honorary Members of the Royal Academy of Music
