MARTHA ARGERICH & DARIO NTACA IN
RECITAL
25th Singapore
Esplanade Concert Hall
Monday (11 June 2018 )
This review was published in The Straits Times on 13 June 2018 with the title "Piano legend's outsized personality wins crowd over".
While
the nation was being occupied by hype surrounding Donald Trump and Kim Jong
Un's peace summit, music lovers here knew what was really important: Argentine
pianist Martha Argerich's debut in Singapore
As
Argerich no longer performs solo recitals, audiences are content with her
presence in chamber music and duo recitals. Her piano duo partners have
included Stephen Kovacevich, Nelson Freire, Alexandre Rabinovitch and Daniel
Barenboim, and her Singapore
Those
expecting a femme fatale oozing musical ecstasy and exotic allure as suggested
by her record-cover photographs over the decades might have been underwhelmed
by the appearance of a 77-year-old grandmother with a slightly stooped posture
taking the stage. But legends do not just fade, they prefer to go out with a
big bang.
Fireworks
were not first order of the day, as the opening two works were slow and quiet.
Ntaca, helming the first piano part, opened with the flute solo of Debussy's Prelude
to The Afternoon of the Faun. It was still and haunting, replied by
Argerich on second piano with harp-like arpeggios. The atmosphere was languid
and laid-back from the outset, and one could be excused for nodding off.
Next
was Schubert's Rondo in A major (D.951) for four hands on a single
piano. This was pure hausmusik, written for home entertainment by
friends and family. Congenial to a fault, the work exuded an easy drawing room
charm, gratefully lapped up by both pianists and shared by the near full-house.
Far
more challenging was Mozart's Sonata in D major for two pianos (K.448),
which required greater expertise. There are certainly more notes, and although
they started and ended together, there was a niggling sense that the duo had
not lived long with the work together. There were many lovely moments, but
imagine what a long-time and dedicated piano duo could do more with this
work.
For
the second half, Argerich took over the primo role. Brahms's Haydn
Variations (based on the St. Anthony Chorale) started strongly, with
an orchestral feel to the sound production. The good work however petered out
in the final variation, a passacaglia, where over-pedalling was used to mask an
overall messiness.
Fortunately
there was Rachmaninov's warhorse Second Suite to save the day. Both
pianists raced off like thoroughbreds in the opening Alla Marcia. This
breathlessness continued into the vertiginous Waltz, where the
spellbinding speed still continues to amaze. The Romance offered enough
time to smell the roses before rapturously arriving at the final Tarantella.
Here one really got to savour up close Argerich's brilliant fingerwork, which
was closely matched by Ntaca.
There
were two encores, a less than totally inspiring Debussy's En Bateau (Petite
Suite) and a reprise of the brilliant Rachmaninov Waltz. Ultimately
it was Argerich's reputation, outsized personality and largesse that won the
crowd over.
 |
| This little girl can tell her grandchildren she watched the great Martha Argerich perform. |
 |
| Everybody wants to look like La Martha, especially the piano teachers. |
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