06/05/2026
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On this day (June 5, 1941) in "Classical History", Argentine Classical concert pianist Martha Argerich was born.
Martha Argerich (5 June 1941) is an Argentine classical concert pianist. She is widely considered to be one of the greatest pianists of all time. Born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argerich gave her debut concert at the age of eight before receiving further piano training in Europe. At an early age, she won several competitions, including the VII International Chopin Piano Competition, and has since recorded numerous albums and performed with leading orchestras worldwide.
PROFESSIONAL CAREER - Argerich performed her debut concert at the age of eight, playing Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor and Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major. She gained international prominence when she won the VII International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 1965, at age 24. In that same year, she debuted in the United States in Lincoln Center's Great Performers Series. In 1960, she had made her first commercial recording, which included works by Chopin, Brahms, Ravel, Prokofiev, and Liszt; it received critical acclaim upon its release in 1961. She has since recorded works by composers including Ginastera, Rachmaninoff and Schumann, to whom she describes feeling a particular connection.
Argerich has often remarked in interviews of feeling "lonely" on stage during solo performances. Since the 1980s, she has staged few solo performances, concentrating instead on concertos and, in particular, chamber music, and collaborating with instrumentalists in sonatas.
Argerich has also promoted younger pianists, both through her annual festival and through her appearances as a member of the jury at international competitions. The pianist Ivo Pogorelić was thrust into the musical spotlight partly as a result of Argerich's actions: after he was eliminated in the third round of the 1980 International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, Argerich proclaimed him a genius and left the jury in protest. According to Đặng Thái Sơn, the eventual winner, Argerich made the "beautiful gesture" of sending a public telegram to the judging committee to congratulate him, after learning the final results. She has supported several artists, including Gabriela Montero, Mauricio Vallina, Sergio Tiempo, Roberto Carnevale, Gabriele Baldocci, and Christopher Falzone.
Argerich is the president of the International Piano Academy Lake Como and performs annually at the Lugano Festival. She has also created and been a General Director of the Argerich Music Festival and Encounter in Beppu, Japan, since 1996.
Her aversion to the press and publicity has resulted in her remaining out of the limelight for most of her career. Nevertheless, she is widely recognized as one of the greatest pianists in history. Her performance of Liszt's First Piano Concerto conducted by Daniel Barenboim at The Proms 2016 prompted this review in The Guardian: "It was an unforgettable performance. Argerich celebrated her 75th birthday in June this year, but that news doesn't seem to have reached her fingers. Her playing is still as dazzling, as frighteningly precise, as it has always been; her ability to spin gossamer threads of melody as matchless as ever. This was unmistakably and unashamedly Liszt in the grand manner, a bit old-fashioned and sometimes even a bit vulgar at times, but in this of all concertos, with Barenboim and the orchestra following each twist and turn, every little quickening and moment of expressive reflection, it seemed entirely appropriate". Argerich returned to the Proms at the age of 78 in 2019 to perform Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto under the baton of Barenboim, a performance described as "mesmerizing".
AWARDS:
• Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition: 1st prize (1957)
• Geneva International Music Competition: 1st prize (1957)
• VII International Chopin Piano Competition: 1st prize (1965)
• Claudio Arrau Memorial Medal (1997)
• Diamond Konex Award (1999) as the most important classical musician of the decade in Argentina
• Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (with orchestra):
Charles Dutoit (conductor), Martha Argerich, and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra for Prokofiev: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 3 / Bartók: Piano Concerto No. 3 (2000)
• Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance:
Martha Argerich and Mikhail Pletnev for Prokofiev (Arr. Pletnev): Cinderella Suite for Two Pianos / Ravel: Ma mere l'Oye (2005)
• The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette (2005) Japan
• Praemium Imperiale (2005) Japan
• Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (with orchestra):
Claudio Abbado (conductor), Martha Argerich, and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra for Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 and 3 (2006)
• Voted into Gramophone's Hall of Fame (2012)
• Recipient of The Kennedy Center Honors (2016)
• Recipient of Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (2018)
• Recipient of the National Order of the Legion of Honour (2023)
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(Classical Music History Source - Wikipedia)
