Martha Argerich plays Bartók's Piano Concerto No.3 (cond. Bashmet) - Japan, 2007

Martha Argerich, piano
Toho Gakuen Orchestra
Yuri Bashmet, conductor

00:48 - I. Allegretto
08:12 - II. Adagio religioso
18:51 - III. Allegro vivace

'Live' at iichiko Grand Theater, iichiko Culture Center, Oita, Japan, on 14 April 2007

[spridgejuice]

she plays like she's inventing it, like she's just playing what she hears in hear head - beautiful and I think just what Bartok was after, singing free

[thommyberlin]

Here's a great performance of Bela Bartok's Piano Concerto No. 3 in E. This was Bartok's final composition, and was dedicated to his wife, who he hoped would increase her earnings performing this after he died.
To me, this is Bartok's most accessible work, a neoclassic tour de force, and is - finally, after much back and forth - even rancor, a salute to Stravinsky, the foremost of the neoclassic composers.
This piece is the culmination of a life spent at the piano, and is fully his Masterwork.
Folks, if you haven't listened to it, what are you waiting for? This is one of the finest piano concertos ever.

[vKarl]

One of the many great things about Argerich is how deeply she connects with the orchestra musicians.

[trschaefer]

The 2nd movement always makes me cry. So beautiful...

[Altonahh]

Argerich can tickle the keys like nobody else. She has rapid fingers and a sensibility in her expression that always strikes me as a phenomenon.

[TERI]

Am I dreaming? = A mostly all female orchestra? So young and already so so very good! Bravo! And what an honor to be playing with the one and only, Martha Argerich. Wonderful!!!

[nottees]

The sound engineers should get credit for such fine work as heard here. They are always anonymous, but as a performer (not of any high level) I can stress their contribution as being really integral to any good performance reproduction. Not that the Argerich is not a treasure, and the Toho Gakuen Orchestra very impressive.

[rebeccacromwell]

This is one of my favorite piano concertos. Argerich plays it like the true artist that she is.

[fazergazer]

Mme Argerich absolutely nails this concerto. Intelligent, sensitive!

[marcoesquandolez]

Martha is really in full concentration here and sounding completely inspired. I don't believe anyone could play it better.

[leoinsf]

Oh, I love this concerto! It is lovely, intriguing and subtly beautiful.
To think that Bartok wrote this under pressure (dying from cancer) for his wife's debut with the New York Philharmonic.
You would never know this as you listen to this ultra-relaxed, ultra-Hungarian, ultra beautiful and dramatic concerto.

Then there is this ultra-beautiful performance by Martha! She lives in the notes and everything evolves naturally because she is such a capable pianist with years of experience.
I love you Bela and I love you Martha. This is the perfect confluence of universes of beauty and drama and unbelievable skill.
.

[rationalthinker-]

Martha played this concerto once again in September 2024. It was amazing to see her re-visit it. She arrived on stage with a score and a page-turner. She changed a few things, and she played beautifully. The second movement, listened to live, was even more amazing than usual. Nobody plays it like Martha.

[michaels]

The first performance of this concerto in February 1946 was momentous for me. It was broadcast direct from Carnegie by BBC radio, then Medium Wave, my first experience of 'modern' music after a wartime of the classics with musical grandparents. I had to argue with my pianist father to be allowed to listen. I was entranced by it and have always enjoyed Bartok, playing and listening. This Martha Argerich sounds rather different in 21st century technology, also in style I think! I suppose there isn't a recording floating around somewhere out there?

[CiaranParker]

This is a beautiful interpretation of what is one of the most beautiful works of the 20th century. Martha identifies totally with the music which is often playful, yet it was penned by a dying man who knew he would never see his beautiful homeland again. Who is playing who? As i listen i am reduced to tears! It is so lovely!

[DetroitBureauofSound]

Last note was SO IN TUNE! Did you hear that echo? Damn fine playing all around - Martha is queen.

[chrisraffen]

This incredible pianist can master even the most unusual concerto that I have only heard for the very 1st time.Such brilliance from ALL the orchestra as well

[Steinwayaddict]

Mme Argerich makes it look so effortless. I'd feel gifted if I had a hundredth of her talent. This is a stupendous performance from all on stage. Wish I'd been there to hear it live.

[davidbee]

Super-natural talent - one of the greatest in recorded history.

[MartinSmithMFM]

It is rare for a YouTube recording to move one to tears but this one does. What conditions of poignancy ! : Bartok dying seventeen bars short of finishing the final flourish's orchestration; the paradoxes that drive Yuri Bashmet to seek the best in art regardless of politics: this five-fold mix of the best of the Southern New World with its passion, the agony of Central Europe transfigured by Bartok - worshipping Debussy who rediscovered and mapped the East as well as Bach (so present!) and Beethoven; the dutiful but definitely emotionally moved Confucian Japanese orchestra; the rigour of Russian artistry where control and expressivity are in a perfect equilibrium! No - this is extraordinary, I think everyone sensed that! M. A has such control, skill, knowledge, experience and praeternatural understanding of emotion in music that her chief preoccupation is to enthuse the entire string section and anyone else she can catch the eye of into understanding and enjoying - at her level - what this music is about!

[zyltch]

I am English but when I hear Bartok played like this I am Hungarian!