Martha Argerich & Friends LIVE FROM LUGANO 2015

The Lugano Festival in Switzerland is documented annually with a box set by Martha Argerich & Friends, containing their performances in various instrumental combinations. The three-CD package contains live recordings from the 2015 festival of works by Johannes Brahms, Robert Schumann, Franz Schubert, Ferdinand Ries, Joaquín Turina, Béla Bartók, Claude Debussy, Luis Bacalov, Francis Poulenc, Philip Glass, and Alberto Ginastera, Argerich's fellow countryman whose centennial in 2016 is observed with a performance of Dances from Estancia. The roster of performers is impressive, as always, boasting the talents of Argerich and her colleagues, pianists Stephen Kovacevich, Nicholas Angelich, Lilya Zilberstein, and Sergio Tiempo, cellist Gautier Capuçon, violinists Ilya Gringolts, Mayu Kishima, and Andrey Baranov, clarinetist Paul Meyer, and the Orchestra della Svizzera italiana, conducted by Alexander Vedernikov. The June 2016 release of this Warner Classics set also marks Argerich's 75th birthday.

Martha Argerich and Friends LIVE FROM THE LUGANO FESTIVAL 2006

All too often, chamber music collaborations between established, accomplished soloists do not yield favorable results. Merely putting together virtuosic musicians does not mean they will play well together. Such is not the case with this recording of Martha Argerich's 2006 festival in Lugano. This album represents an amazing synthesis of well-known artists, musicians just coming into their own fame, as well as compositions ranging from standard repertoire to rarely heard works. Argerich's decision to include violinist Renaud Capuçon and brother Gautier Capuçon was wise indeed, as their energetic and fiendishly virtuosic playing is nearly enough to carry the CD on its own. All of the music-making is simply top-notch, yet there are still ensembles that truly stand out. The first such remarkable performance is of Schumann's Piano Quartet, Op. 47, with Argerich herself at the helm joined by brothers Renaud and Gautier Capuçon and Lida Chen. The quartet breathes amazing new energy and life into a composition that is frequently given a backseat to the piano quintet. Schumann receives another boost in the performance of his Piano Trio, Op. 63, this time by pianist Nicholas Angelich joined again by the Capuçon brothers. Both of these Schumann interpretations could stand alone as reference recordings of the works. As for lesser-known works, the Taneyev Piano Quintet is perhaps the weakest piece on the program primarily due to the slightly poorer sound quality. The three-disc set concludes with the Schnittke Violin Sonata and a concerto for cello (again with Gautier Capuçon) and wind orchestra by Friedrich Gulda. Anyone the least bit interested in chamber music should give this album a try. (Mike D. Brownell)