Martha Argerich playing Prokofiev Toccata op.11 (good quality)

[@wuwupiano]

It's probably just jealously talking but there's something really unsettling about watching such macabre and tense music played so effortlessly.

[@gerontius34]

Not only 'unsettling', but down right spooky.

[@atalantak9205]

My thoughts exactly.

[@laurentbarre7887]

Effortlesy ? Its just you were'nt there when she had produced so much efforts to learn this piece of art during hours, days, weeks, month....

[@alanpotter8680]

@@gerontius34 Malofeev takes the piece to another level. He actually is enjoying playing it.. that grin of his..

[@jamesrobert4106]

​@alanpotter8680 To be that extraordinary at his age is mind boggling.

[@japphan]

She really brings out what I think is the essence of the composition, the monotony amidst chaos, emotional but distanced. Lovely.

[@richardvolpe7664]

Emotion, in THIS piece?

[@valkhorn]

@@richardvolpe7664yes. Are you deaf? There’s tons of expression.

[@waynespeers]

No, she doesn't., She used to have talent. Her failed Sydney appearance has solidified this non-entity-of performer as a personce that lives in poems and videos and photos of those who may believe, but the reality is that she DOES NOT EXCIST! To void her performance in Sydney is just AKIN TO HER BEING ABORTED!

[@coulton-davisjazz2872]

She is a wonder of the world, a force of nature. A virtuoso from the get-go. Sheesh. Still got it in her 80s too. What an artist!

[@davidphillips3925]

Martha's playing is always about the music, not about Martha. That's why she's a winner!

[@marshallartz395]

‘Astonishing’ doesn’t begin to describe how great her performance is! 😎🎹

[@thomasthompson6378]

Positively astonishing. I think Prokofiev himself would be absolutely amazed.

[@richardvolpe7664]

Even more flabbergasted if he heard Haochen Zhang or Yuja Wang.

[@rigel48]

@@richardvolpe7664 They are good but not better.

[@kimg4589]

@@rigel48And we now know even Horowitz was impressed!! Something which she also only recently discovered!

[@naiadeforta]

"You can't stop an avalanche rolling down that hill"

[@gabrielmandelas5527]

She plays what technically seems impossible so effortlessly.

[@imperius5417]

This is gold thanks for uploading it

[@cecilgriffiths6399]

🤩! Like a rock concert!! Amazing!! 🙏🎹🙌😍

[@ChewyTwee]

2:00 literally looks like she switches between two songs the control she has over the movement of her hand is hard to comprehend. Then the way she finishes out the piece like she was *bored* with it I absolutely love her

[@hyweldavid3661]

Wowsers. What a marvel, Charles. Thanks so much, Hywel x

[@ScaramouchedaVinci]

I used to be bursting with exaggerated self-confidence and thought, given enough time, I could play anything. If somebody had shown me Prokofiev's Toccata, I would have clearly felt my limitations even then and said, that I would need several lifetimes, to be able to do this. What makes Agerich so extraordinary here, the difficulty of overcoming it, is not her concern, but rather the musical language, the melody in between.

[@j.s.42822]

Out of curiosity, what could you play when you held that belief?

[@ScaramouchedaVinci]

@@j.s.42822 Chopin's Revolutionary Etude, Op.10, for example.

[@j.s.42822]

​@@ScaramouchedaVinci I suppose that's pretty far off, but not ridiculously so, I think? I'm currently at a slightly higher level, and I can give or take this Toccata, but I'd like to play Ondine sometime in the next few years. We'll see how that goes🙂

[@kondsiccMusic]

@@j.s.42822 Goodluck with the Ondine. Its so hard getting the opening right cus of the pianissimo and the repeated notes.

[@j.s.42822]

@@kondsiccMusic It is. I try just the opening sometimes to see how far I have to go. Still pretty far!😄But I'm getting closer. I used to test myself similarly with the opening of Rachmaninoff's Op. 39 No. 1, and that one is actually not difficult at all for me now.

[@darylchang6756]

Amazing!! Thank you for uploading this!

[@DJTomOke]

I just love it when it goes back to the initial figure at 3.31. Makes my hairs stand up every time. So powerful

[@therainforest4314]

I absolutely love her complete mastery of right and left-hand dynamic reciprocal communications on the keyboard. Brilliant delivery. :)

[@TheIpazia1]

Grazie mille per la condivisione davvero straordinaria Martha Argerich💥❤️

[@timbradley289]

Amazing. I love her. ❤️ What a performance!

[@danielhughes441]

Her gifts are the most monstrously beautiful! She is a demigoddess!

[@gerardosanchez9205]

Awesome! Thank you so much for sharing

[@jocelynemiloradovic2767]

Magnifique !!! Merci !!!

[@renelicht]

Unbelievable!

[@eateeharris4503]

I believe it. I just watched it for the 2nd time to be sure to be sure.

[@banana_GGG]

great performance

[@williambunter3311]

Amazing music played by the amazing Martha. Only one reservation to make about this video; this is a piece of extraordinary technical virtuosity throughout. So why was the camera ever taken off her awesome hands, even for a moment? Video producers sometimes seem to forget the purpose of videos, and fail to appreciate that much of the piano-lover's pleasure is visual as well as auditory. Just watch any group of people gathered round the piano in everyday life. None of them look anywhere but at the pianist's hands.

[@gerontius34]

Father forgive us, we are not worthy of such magnitude.

[@jeffaldridge4051]

Can never listen to her enough’

[@Old_Catholic]

Thank you for posting this. Awesome.

[@cateyaboytes.]

Just fantastic, and in.credible

[@valkhorn]

I gotta say between her performance and Yujas, Martha’s is more musical and expressive. Which is no easy task considering this composition.

[@eyevon6387]

Yessss, at times when yuja was playing it felt like she was just playing the notes and I could baerly hear the actual melody

[@valkhorn]

@@eyevon6387 disagree. Yuja is still extremely expressive with it you have to listen a bit more carefully but it is there. Argerich just does more.

[@jeffreymiller4814]

@@valkhornyou are totally correct. Yuja’s performance is VERY musical. No use wasting time on deciding who is better. They’re BOTH titans in this piece.

[@jeffaldridge4051]

Contrast this with her Scarbo and her genius is undeniable. What a treasure her art is.

[@cjcrichton8482]

So heavy💗

[@trancosomarcus]

Prokofiev se excedeu em criatividade e beleza. Kapustin bebeu aí.

[@ludmilapopova3080]

Bravo 👏

[@jamesrobert4106]

The greatest pianist ever is a subjective, ridiculous, unanswerable notion. But if it was answerable, Martha Agerich would win a lot of the votes.

[@RaineriHakkarainen]

Come on! Argerich never was the greatest! Dimitri Bashkirov her teacher Anastasia Virsaladze teach saying to Bashkirov the most important lesson is the love of beautiful colorful piano sound! More colorful beautiful piano sound than Argerich=Wilhelm Kempff Emil Gilels Radu Lupu Artur Rubinstein Vladimir Ashkenazy Grigory Sokolov! More genius than Argerich=Sviatoslav Richter Solomon Cutner Grigory Sokolov Maurizio Pollini Stanislav Bunin Maria Grinberg Murray Perahia Alexei Lubimov Dinu Lipatti Stanislav Igolinsky! More powerful louder than Argerich=Mikhail Pletnev! The Second Loudest ever was Lazar Berman! The 3rd Loudest was Erwin Nyiregyhazi! Beethoven wanted louder instruments piano fortes! Horowitz his technique attack better than Argerich's technique!

[@robertdouglass7221]

The way she looks suspiciously at the cameramen creeping up on her while still executing perfectly....

[@thibomeurkens2296]

Incredible thank you! What dvd is this from originally?

[@BWV846]

Yes, that’s right... Martha is definitely Martha.

[@cgnotes]

4:07 true argerich fashion 😭

[@hector67000]

Amaizing! She stands out from other pianists as always.

[@daniels7052]

Was this recorded in 1965?

[@petergolding5733]

I think it was March 16 1960 in Hamburg but I may be wrong

[@admuchon]

Maravilhoso

[@fibrofrecuencia]

Todos estamos enamorados de ella

[@alanpotter8680]

I get the feeling Malofeev took a lot of notes from her performance. Pun not intended.

[@Anna-js5lj]

❤

[@ChalumeauCauchemarLOL]

🙌🙌🙌🙌

[@Troybeallad]

a piece which suits her

[@師太滅絕]

Do you mean there is a bad quality Martha performance of Prokofiev Toccata?

[@jonathanstupidcheesespaghetti]

It's referring to the video quality, not her performance quality.

[@jeffaldridge4051]

Great joke😂. I got it….

[@josephhapp9]

🌹🙏🌹

[@ooover638]

Michael Jackson would have wanted to dance when he heard this performance🤠 and I hear Martha is his fan

[@DavidMiller-bp7et]

I'm mad about her. All the comments below times infinity. Wow!

[@fabriciovalvasori1121]

Copado!

[@MichelTretout]

After that....... No comment.

[@POUSSIEREDECURIOSITE]

Étrange, ce que l'être non disposé musicalement que je suis perçoit, en différence des commentaires plus avisés participant d'une dissection de l'oeuvre. Car l'écoute qui m'accompagne tout au long du chemin très accentué de l'oeuvre et loin de toutes sensations d'un quelconque obscur, y perçoit comme une flamboyante rythmique . Et le piano ne s'y trompe pas en imprimant à chaque note si incisive, sa résultante sonore.

[@alainspiteri502]

Of course the young Argerich erea 70 '-80 and aftee : Argerich with orchestras , stop solo piano : j hope not the same career for Yunga Wang !

[@richardvolpe7664]

What's that you're saying?

[@rigel48]

@@richardvolpe7664 I think he regrets that Martha Argerich stopped playing solo too early in her career.

[@mobilephil244]

The only competitor to this performance would be Horowitz.

[@ghamoz]

Oltre i limiti dell'umano

[@fabgourmet]

Jesus H Christ!

[@richardvolpe7664]

Now what in hell is that supposed to mean? Is it a criticism, or did you spill your beer on the sofa?

[@paulvandenberg9588]

Can anyone approach her ability to play this so quickly and not sound hurried ? None that i have heard.

[@bananabig8839]

yujia wong's is also amazing

[@andyanderson9824]

Good. Still Yuja in front, I would say.

[@jamesrobert4106]

I think I agree. Yuja makes it incredibly sharp and clean in its delivery. Nobody can say what the definitive version should be, but her performance was extraordinary.

[@rigel48]

Yuja Wang is technically as good, but a little too much mechanical.

[@idesof]

Gilels is infinitely superior in this piece, so much more musical.

[@richardvolpe7664]

What the heck do you mean - - "musical?" If there existed some expressive, melodic phrases in these pages (there aren't any, by the way), I'd understand, more or less, where you're coming from. But this is essentially a mechanical kind of style; we're not talking 'Chopin nocturne' here.

[@No_One_In_Particular_Today]

Sure, Martha nailed it, but listen to Yuja - much more interesting and clean.

[@rigel48]

"much more interesting"? in what way? They are both brilliante and I do not see why one should be more insteresting than the other.

[@jamesrobert4106]

I think both versions are incredible. Yuja plays it in a manner that seems to more capture the sharp madness within the piece.