Diversity is the key word for the 2015 “Martha Argerich and Friends” edition culled from the Lugano Festival’s Progetto Martha Argerich. The legendary pianist participates in five of the collection’s 13 works, three of which are new to her official discography.
One is Porteña for two pianos and orchestra by Luis Bacalov (born 1933), the Argentine composer who wrote the Oscar-winning score for the 1994 film Il postino. Porteña is constructed in 11 short, continuous sections, where the churning rhythms and biting accents might be described as Piazzolla-meets-Stravinsky. However, Bacalov’s original voice most readily manifests itself in the Gardellana movement’s sparse lyricism and delicate scoring, together with a violin soloist that floats around the piano lines. Argerich and Eduardo Hubert achieve a well-integrated and tonally seamless two-piano ensemble that exemplifies absolute togetherness; listen, for example, to the Corrientes Y 9 De Julio movement’s rapid and incisive exchanges between soloists and orchestra.
Argerich also provides invigorating support for violinist Géza Hosszu-Legocky in Zoltan Székely’s arrangement of Bartók’s Roumanian Folk Dances. You might argue that Argerich and Alexander Mogilevsky push the climaxes in Schubert’s underrated A-flat Variations D. 813 to the point where the music’s intimate charm dissipates; yet Schumann’s Six Canonic Etudes (arranged for two pianos by Debussy) emerges more graceful and flowing in the hands of Argerich and Lilya Zilberstein when compared alongside Argerich’s live Buenos Aires performance with Daniel Barenboim released on DG.
The Argerich/Barenboim Debussy En blanc et noir comes off sounding relatively heavy in its loudest moments in relation to her suppler and lighter Lugano version with Stephen Kovacevich, although I still prefer this pair’s brisker, more polished and straightforward 1977 Philips studio recording.
For the most part, the collection’s “non-Argerich” performances are on a high level. Mayu Kishima’s strident violin tone is not to my taste in Brahms’ Scherzo from the F-A-E Sonata, while the same composer’s Op. 40 Trio loses color and textural variety with a viola replacing the horn part. Conversely, the Op. 114 Clarinet Trio receives one of the most clear-lined and transparent performances I’ve heard of a work that often comes off sounding murky and upholstered.
Alissa, Natalia, and Jura Margulis give an alluringly blended yet slightly underplayed rendition of Turina’s Second Piano Trio, while by contrast Ferdinand Ries’ B minor Piano Quintet (with violin, viola, cello, and double bass) comes alive with nuance in every moment. I especially like how the Rondo’s gorgeously shaded string pizzicatos underpin the subtle ebb and flow of Zilberstein’s phrasing.
Sergio Tiempo and Karin Lechner perfectly characterize the Poulenc Two Piano Sonata’s wit, irony, and tenderness. Festival regular Carlo Maria Griguoli continues to serve up effective and brilliantly performed arrangements for three pianos of orchestral repertoire, this time with Philip Glass’ Suite from Les Enfants Terribles and Ginastera’s exuberant ballet score Estancia. In short, this 2015 edition adds up to one of the more stimulating and rewarding Argerich and Friends releases. What’s more, David Threasher’s succinct and informative booklet notes count among this series’ best.
