martha argerich

To kickstart things off in an informal way, I'll share with you a CD I have.

I used to listen to this:

Live from the Concertgebouw, 1978 & 1979
	Johann Sebastian Bach Bela Bartok Frédéric Chopin Alberto Ginastera Sergey Prokofiev Domenico Scarlatti Martha Argerich EMI Classics 2000-05-09 Sales Rank : 80773 Average Review If you only get one Martha Argerich disc... DON'T YOU WISH YOU'D BEEN THERE? Argerich's strengths and weaknesses See details at Amazon by G-Tools

It was actually recorded when I was born (-_-)..

I won't say that I've listened to many in my lifetime but the one thing I like about Argerich's playing is this strength in her playing. One of my weaknesses was not developing the right muscles at a younger age (see? teachers are important) and her CD was very inspiring for me partly due to the clear technical way of playing as well as the tone. Something about it spelt a strong depth of masculinity and yet feminine sensuality.

Can imagine how much I tried to 'pump' up after that (-_0)

My favs are her interpretation of Bach which sounds more touching actually, in character, compared to Glenn Gould's (hm, then again, posture matters!) as well as the Ginastera Danzes. I've heard this piece 5 times in my lifetime and nobody plays it close to hers. Heard it bashed over, crashing, eloquently played, but it didn't have that steel.

Then again, they were both Argentinian I think..

if you like your pianists strong, female, liberated and sensual with tons of class, you might want to try this out :)