Martha Argerich - Debut Recital (1996)

Here, on this richly filled CD, is a positive cornucopia of musical genius.
Martha Argerich's 1961 disc remains among the most spectacular of all recorded débuts, an impression reinforced by an outsize addition and encore: her 1972 Liszt Sonata. True, there are occasional reminders of her pianism at its most fraught and capricious (Chopin's Barcarolle) as well as tiny scatterings of inaccuracies, yet her playing always blazes with a unique incandescence and character. The Brahms Rhapsodies are as glowingly interior as they're fleet. No more mercurial Chopin Scherzo exists on record and if its savagery becomes flighty and skittish (with the chorale's decorations sounding like manic bursts of laughter), Argerich's fine-toned fluency will make other, lesser pianists weep with envy. Ravel's Jeux d'eau is gloriously indolent and scintillating and the Prokofiev Toccata is spun off in a manner that understandably provoked Horowitz's awe and enthusiasm. Liszt's Sixth Hungarian Rhapsody is a marvel of wit and daring and the B minor Sonata is among the most dazzling ever perpetuated on disc. The recordings have worn remarkably well and the transfers have been expertly done.