Beautiful Argerich Bach from 1969

Argerich, English Suite No. 2 in A Minor: YouTube

And the whole piece with better sound, played by Ivo Pogorelich:

YouTube

Originally posted by NoEarthlyReason
Argerich, English Suite No. 2 in A Minor: [youtube]b-dGuTLiMso[/youtube]

And the whole piece with better sound, played by Ivo Pogorelich:

[youtube]5PC0FrLlO5E[/youtube]

You don't have to tell me! I fell in love with her a long time ago. She went through a frightful time fighting cancer and survived. I saw a recent vid of her and Kissin doing a duet and you could see her smiling at the talent of the newbie🙂

It's really nice to see two different interpretations of the same piece like that, where Ivo has that curled hand approach and such, it is better sound, a tribute to the advances in audio technology from the 60's to now.

I wonder if that curled hand approach was strictly a result of his teachers or did he develop that on his own? Is there some advantage to that technique? I don't know if it was from the superior audio quality but the staccato bits seemed crisper, did you notice that? Strictly an audio quality thing?

Originally posted by sonhouse
You don't have to tell me! I fell in love with her a long time ago. She went through a frightful time fighting cancer and survived. I saw a recent vid of her and Kissin doing a duet and you could see her smiling at the talent of the newbie🙂

It's really nice to see two different interpretations of the same piece like that, where Ivo has that curled hand ...[text shortened]... lity but the staccato bits seemed crisper, did you notice that? Strictly an audio quality thing?

I hadn't picked up any of that, first time I listened. I just listened to Argerich again, then, Ivo, then Argerich. The expressivity of Argerich is so much greater in my opinion – she really gives the music her own interpretation with her phrasing and dynamics. I felt that Ivo's playing was almost mechanical in comparison. You can see it in the way his body was almost rigid (I guess not literally; he must have been relaxed), but it was really only his hands and lower arms that moved much at all. Maybe – I think this is right – he was consciously following the music as written, which I believe in Bach's time was before the invention of many of the dynamic and phrasing symbols and so on. His technique looks interesting – I have seen that before (not sure where), but I don't know if it is taught or just an idiomatic style. When I pay attention to it, it amazes me how pianists' technique differs so much yet they generally all produce such beautiful interpretations of the music. Actually I thought Argerich's staccato was crisper. Ivo was playing up a step in tempo in comparison and I thought that at times his note lengths were unintentionally uneven and the staccato notes tended to sustain ever so slightly longer than they should have.

I'm probably being really unfair to him: after all, I am barely a Grade 3-5 ABRSM player at the moment and have been neglecting to listen to music properly for many a month for various reasons. At another time I would probably be awed by his playing – I'm not consistent in my views over time.

Originally posted by NoEarthlyReason
I hadn't picked up any of that, first time I listened. I just listened to Argerich again, then, Ivo, then Argerich. The expressivity of Argerich is so much greater in my opinion – she really gives the music her own interpretation with her phrasing and dynamics. I felt that Ivo's playing was almost mechanical in comparison. You can see it in the way h ...[text shortened]... another time I would probably be awed by his playing – I'm not consistent in my views over time.

I'll agree with you there, Martha's work is more fluid, in almost everything she plays. I also love Alicia de Larrocha, I love the spanish works and her interpretation of Mozart and people like Granados, Albeniz, De Falla, and Rodrigo, not sure if she played any of his works.
Yes, she did, found this one little example, great dynamics!

YouTube

Tres Danzas de España

Here is Alicia playing Brahms Piano Concerto #2:

YouTube

Speaking of female artists, have you ever heard of a female guitarist from the 20th century called Ida Presti? Probably the greatest classical guitarists of any era, even Andre Segovia looked up to her.

I bought this CD back in the 70's and was bowled over by the precision and delicate sensitivity of her touch. Such energy and joie de vivre in this stunning interpretation which literally bursts with joy and a deep respect for the great man. She is to Bach what Mitsuko Uchida is to Mozart or Alicia de Larrocha to Granados.