Martha Argerich - Prokofiev: Sonata in B-flat, opus 83, Precipitato

Martha Argerich
Sergei Prokofiev
Piano Sonata No. 7 in B-flat major, Op. 83 (Stalingrad)
III. Precipitato

[@anothermusicfan]

By far, the best rendition of this extremely difficult sonata. And it’s technically perfect. She plays it so effortlessly. A machine. Just unbelievable. Prokofiev would be proud.

[@3YZ-TS191]

Then you should hear Pollini's rendition.

[@bigdjean]

I prefer Grigory Sokolov's interpretation, she's very impressive but too rushed.

[@konigstephan]

@@bigdjean That's PRECIPITATO - now you tell me the difference between 'rushed' and 'TOO rushed' :-)

[@bigdjean]

@@konigstephan Look, I'm just saying that for my personal taste she plays this piece too fast, I prefer Sokolov's approach, and he knows what he is doing as much as Argerich. Each to his own.

[@konigstephan]

@@bigdjean Still, there's that ''precipitato'' thing... There are worlds of difference between, say, Gould's and Katsaris' versions - all I can say is that Sokolov's clearly isn't to be seen on that ''precipitato'' spectrum. Clean, showy (LOTS of arm and elbow technique) stuff by Sokolov - completely dwarfed by Pollini's classic version, Di Bonaventura's Direct-to-Disc or even Yuja's very own live takes on this warhorse as of 2021. Each to his own, really...

[@Rudel23]

This is a real PRECIPITATO! Great

[@cristianbiscayart9632]

Exactly! Precipitato means “risky” “non-stop”…in an unqualified category…it is just the way Argerich plays it, whether you like it or not…subjective and -for sure- yet respectable and admirable

[@user-vo1gx6xm8r]

Как такое может не понравиться ? Фантастика !

[@davidrmoran]

if you must take it so fast, then absolutely do it precisely and delicately and with technical elan as she does

[@stucoy1]

And what gets is as always, even in very technically difficult music, she's so nonchalant. And there's no 'Look at me' posturing.

[@zuhairbakdoud1360]

@@stucoy1 Look-at-me posturing is the SPECIALTY of clown Lang Lang and leg pianist Wang Yuja?

[@christofjoubert8850]

This is a classic example of what is referred to as Argerich fast. Once you pass Prestissimo in tempo, one gets Argerich fast, and it makes this piece simply spectacular. Most people play this too slow for my taste.

[@slateflash]

Absolutely agree!! But some people like it slow... maybe coz their brains are slow to process lol

[@tensorprodukt]

loool

[@Hervinbalfour]

SO Grigori Sokolov who plays this MUCH slower and MUCH better at than Argerich has has "slow brains??? SMH!

[@lsbrother]

Argerich at 2mins 57secs is indeed quicker than Bronfman 3.23, Wang 3.31, Lisitsa 3.23 and Horowitz 3.28 and Pollini 3.09 But still just slower than Volodin 2.55 and the overall winner: Khatia Bhuniatishvilli 2.43 ! (all timed here from KZbin videos)

[@MrCinemuso]

@@lsbrother In race number 7 on a fast, dry track, the outside favourite Cyprien Katsaris pipped KB at the post with a GOAT track time of 2.42, at odds of 100 to 1. The badly injured CK suffered a heart attack and was put down after the race.

[@hugginduff]

she is amazing , she is so relaxed that by the end of it, she looks as if she is thinking 'what am I having for lunch'.

[@danielabosnegeanu1065]

wow ...She is fantastic ! ....Brilliant !

[@montanus57]

YESSSS - swinging, superbly done!

[@dvoulga71]

a powerfull, drilling, war machine ! exciting tempo and absolute technique perfection ! Viva Prokofiev !

[@andylt26]

How can someone give dislike on a video like that!? She’s awesome! 👏🏻👏🏻

[@nostromissimo]

Because, as awesome as some aspects of it are, there are moments where it seems an uncontrolled, over-pedalled noise.

[@anotherdepressedmusician]

@@nostromissimo for all the people that hear it that way, i don't think they quite understand how superior her sound really is here. almost everything she does she designs logically and purposefully to be really musically effective in the context of the piece

[@1.4142]

The left eared people

[@EdwardBast]

@@nostromissimo Yes. And the lack of dynamic differentiation within many passages, especially in the central section between the left hand staccato line and the ostinato, contributes to the effect.

[@edwardchen9619]

she's feelin' it, the velocity of the piece

[@MrElfOwl]

Insanely brilliant playing.

[@WESSERPARAQUAT]

incredible music even more incredible playing

[@shoshog4647]

After that 3:01 note slipping she made if very clear that those on 3:04 will be heard i love this woman 😂❤️

[@danielabosnegeanu1065]

A real pleasure to listen how play this lady to piano ...💓👏

[@marikhutsishvili2243]

Absolutely love her. Just LOVE. Maybe I adore Mr. Alexander Toradze for the same piece but I will always LOVE Martha. Martha is very personal to me.

[@markgreen2146]

戦争ソナタをこんなにスマートに、カッコよく、難なく弾けるピアニストは他にいない！！

[@RaineriHakkarainen]

Come on!! More beautiful colorful piano sound than Argerich=Wilhelm Kempff Emil Gilels Artur Rubinstein Radu Lupu Vladimir Ashkenazy! More Powerful Louder than Argerich=Mikhail Pletnev Supernova Explosion Power!( Prokofiev piano concerto no 1 by Pletnev!) The Second Loudest pianist was Lazar Berman! More Genius than Argerich=Sviatoslav Richter Solomon Cutner Grigory Sokolov Maurizio Pollini Alexei Lubimov Stanislav Igolinsky! Argerich not the best Genius! Argerich not had the best piano sound! Argerich not the most Powerful!!

[@rigel48]

@@RaineriHakkarainen Always the same worthless comparisons from Mr. Raineri Hakkarainen who displays his personal tastes as if it were the absolute truth. In Argerich's case he is completely wrong.

[@stucoy1]

She's a force of nature.

[@CatsAndClassicalMusic]

Yes!!!!!!!!!!!

[@RaineriHakkarainen]

Come on! More beautiful colorful piano sound than Argerich=Wilhelm Kempff Emil Gilels Artur Rubinstein Radu Lupu Vladimir Ashkenazy! More Powerful Louder than Argerich=Mikhail Pletnev Supernova Explosion Power!( Prokofiev piano concerto no 1 by Pletnev!) The Second Loudest pianist was Lazar Berman! More Genius than Argerich=Sviatoslav Richter Solomon Cutner Grigory Sokolov Maurizio Pollini Alexei Lubimov Stanislav Igolinsky! Argerich not the Best Genius! Argerich not the best colorful piano Sound! Argerich not the most Powerful!!

[@rigel48]

@@RaineriHakkarainen Always the same worthless comparisons from Mr. Raineri Hakkarainen who displays his personal tastes as if it were the absolute truth. In Argerich's case he is completely wrong.

[@ondinehd6889]

Extraordinary!

[@789armstrong]

Fantastic! The reason why Prokofiev sent Horowitz an autographed copy of the score is because he liked it fast.

[@ColoraturaBaritone]

Pure fire! What a a phenomenal human being.

[@akelofgren9468]

BALANCED IN LIFE AS IN PIANO,hat off for Martha and the rest,today it seems easy to fall in nerveousthing

[@picardbs]

The Goddess of piano

[@davidhammerbeck7433]

Sheer genius - she gets sounds out of the piano that no one else does - Argerich truly gets the percussive and resonant qualities of the piano that no other pianist does. She makes Richter's version - who premiered the piece for Prokofiev - sound tame, slow (well, everyone is slow compared to Martha) and limited in imagination.

[@keithmatthews1673]

The difference is that in Richter's hands it sounds like music!

[@davidhammerbeck7433]

@@keithmatthews1673 They both sound like music - the main difference is that Martha captures something that Richter, perhaps constrained by Prokofiev, doesn't, which is the power, even terror, for what is, after all, a sonata dedicated to the Battle of Stalingrad.

[@EntelSidious_gamzeylmz]

I love argerich but this is too fast

[@RaineriHakkarainen]

Come on David!! Not True!! More beautiful colorful piano Sound than Argerich=Wilhelm Kempff Emil Gilels Artur Rubinstein Radu Lupu Vladimir Ashkenazy! More Powerful Louder than Argerich=Mikhail Pletnev Supernova Explosion Power!( Prokofiev piano concerto no 1 by Pletnev!) The Second Loudest pianist was Lazar Berman! More Genius than Argerich=Sviatoslav Richter Solomon Cutner Grigory Sokolov Maurizio Pollini Alexei Lubimov Stanislav Igolinsky! Argerich not the Best Genius! Argerich not had the Best Colorful piano Sound! Argerich not the Most Powerful!!

[@rigel48]

@@RaineriHakkarainen Always the same worthless comparisons from Mr. Raineri Hakkarainen who displays his personal tastes as if it were the absolute truth. In Argerich's case he is completely wrong.

[@cornegliastilling899]

Argerich, devil and angel, o my Lord

[@ronl7131]

Very good. Highest Artistry

[@TheIpazia1]

Whawwwww straordinario bravooooo💕

[@MarshallArtz007]

Just sensational! 😎🎹

[@andrearodigari4840]

A goddess. Really. By any means.

[@anthonytay523]

Crazy ? 33 people dislike her? Are they deaf or what ?

[@alexisdanielvaneskeheian2127]

BRAVOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

[@javiersantiagocampanini5035]

Martha diosa del Plata resalta lo "negro" del rito. Un tango loco o una Bossa desesperada. Increible

[@javiersantiagocampanini5035]

Ritmo

[@guidepost42]

All in one breath too.

[@valerieheinderyckx4506]

Elle est géniale...❤

[@AngeloDeAngelis748]

Excellent

[@deyangrigorov7843]

Богинята е великаааааа!

[@miguelmarquez4192]

Excellent quality recording. Does she play this on a bösendorfer or fazioli later on in life? Lol i just love their tone, clarity, and volume and wanna hear her do it on one. Do pianists have contractual limitations if they are sponsored or does that not exist with pianos like they do sometimes with percussion and guitars?

[@bw2082]

She is a Steinway artist

[@fazergazer]

целую твои руки. я слышу окончательное торжество человеческого духа. -Прокофьев I kiss your hands. I hear the ultimate triumph of the human spirit. -Prokofiev.

[@JesseDavis7373]

What makes this so great is that she refuses to pound the crap out of the thematic gestures, instead expressing them with a bit of grace and controlled enthusiasm. The left hand bass accents are the secret to her successful interpretation. Gotta admit, I find this particular work unlistenable by most artists...

[@ritamorim100]

the best!

[@papagen00]

Even better than Bronfman's. Simply mind-blowing.

[@michsub]

The perfect Nietzschean pianist!

[@opticalmixing23]

Learning this will prob drive the neighbors mad if you dont have your own playing place

[@nanaobx]

I'm awestruck.

[@NoferTrunions]

I love Martha

[@MrInterestingthings]

I'm amazed at how lyrical her playing of this neurotic Sonata is: generally the percussive wrist punching,boxing the keyboards is fraught with ugly disturbing shocks out of nowhere .Is it possible she was afraid of being too violent and showing it's true deflected , ruptured surface . No.6,7 and 8 are just right for todays pianists but when remembers what humanbeings were doing to each in the 1940's in gulags and concentration camps no artistic statememt can be rough enough . Messiaen takes a completely different road . Schnittke gives it to us as well as Lutoslawsky ,Penderecki and many others after the 1960's !

[@Molybdaenmornell]

I think this is open for discussion. There is an argument that art does not need to represent reality to be good or relevant, because honesty is not the only virtue. The most accurate representation of something is the thing itself. That would require war-informed art to be war itself, with all the associated crimes against humanity. Performance art is pushing the boundaries of artistic license (e.g. Marina Abramovic essentially torturing herself), but it had better stop short of this. In order to be therapists rather than criminals, artists dealing with horrors must filter and distance themselves from them. So, given that accurate representation isn't on, it's not a question of whether there's a filter but how strong it should be.

[@RAREpicture]

Elle joue ça comme si elle repassait une chemise, ou faisait du vélo, le corps quasiment détaché du son. Pas de grimaces, de simagrées ou théâtralité détestable. Superbe.

[@lospazio]

Et à la fin elle reste comme si elle venait de jouer une berceuse.

[@catladyfromky4142]

I agree. She plays it so effortlessly, so she doesn't make any faces. Her hands just fly over the keys with grace but also precision. She is, in my opinion, the best pianist alive.

[@yimeizi2648]

She really brings out the bitonality

[@alexisdanielvaneskeheian2127]

¿Vieron los movimientos de cabeza de esta mujer? ¡Parece que bailara mientras realiza esta inigualable interpretación (en mi opinión, la mejor de todas las que escuché, por lejos) de la obra de un genio compositivo! ¡Bravísimo por siempre!

[@DaysAreForgottenBaby]

It is what it is

[@robertjones447]

Good God Almighty, Argerich can throw down!

[@cornegliastilling899]

Martha, devil and goddess

[@3YZ-TS191]

In my own humble opinion, a pianist on equal technical par with Horowitz, Rubinstein, and other masters of the 20th Century.

[@RaineriHakkarainen]

Come on Trevor! More beautiful colorful piano sound than Argerich=Wilhelm Kempff Emil Gilels Artur Rubinstein Radu Lupu Vladmir Ashkenazy! More Powerful Louder than Argerich=Mikhail Pletnev Supernova Explosion Power!( Prokofiev piano concerto no 1 by Pletnev!) The Second Loudest pianist was Lazar Berman! More Genius than Argerich=Sviatoslav Richter Solomon Cutner Grigory Sokolov Maurizio Pollini Alexei Lubimov Stanislav Igolinsky!

[@3YZ-TS191]

@@RaineriHakkarainen You mentioned the names of some real superstars there, Raineri! I'm personally not a fan of Agerich, as I do not regard her a very good musician. I am highly impressed, however, with her technical abilities, and regard her as one of the all-time greats --- pianistically speaking, anyway. Other greats you've mentioned, who deserve high marks for combined pianistic and musical prowess, are the maestro himself, Artur Rubinstein, Pollini, Ashkenazy, & Gilels. Mine is an unpopular position, but I find Richter quite boring, and Berman a real snooze fest. I am not too familiar with Kempff, and unfortunately, have not heard the others. All that said, no one plays this piece, and particularly not the Precipitato, like Pollini.

[@rigel48]

@@RaineriHakkarainen Always the same worthless comparisons from Mr. Raineri Hakkarainen who displays his personal tastes as if it were the absolute truth. In Argerich's case he is completely wrong.

[@davidtatro7457]

I would say that she is at least as good in all respects if not better than most of the other greatly heralded 20th century masters.

[@3YZ-TS191]

​@@davidtatro7457 As a pianist, yes, I would agree with you that she is the technical equal of the heralded masters. As a musician, however, perhaps not. Just my opinion.

[@corinnechicheportiche8072]

this is maaaaaaad

[@markgreen2146]

誰にも真似ができない。

[@franciscoalbertocriadocorr1968]

Es como escuchar a Dios!

[@donghoonkim5935]

best!!!

[@jazzfan7491]

Fun!

[@aicrim]

Count to seven is hard enough for normal people, and she is superme.

[@jimyoung9262]

38 Yuja Wang fans disliked this

[@jimyoung9262]

G O A T

[@RaineriHakkarainen]

Not True!! More beautiful colorful piano sound than Argerich=Wilhelm Kempff Emil Gilels Artur Rubinstein Radu Lupu Vladimir Ashkenazy! More Powerful Louder than Argerich=Mikhail Pletnev Supernova Explosion Power!( Prokofiev piano concerto no 1 by Pletnev!) The Second Loudest pianist was Lazar Berman! More Genius than Argerich=Sviatoslav Richter Solomon Cutner Grigory Sokolov Maurizio Pollini Alexei Lubimov Stanislav Igolinsky! Argerich not the best Genius! Argerich not had the best piano sound! Argerich not the most Powerful!!

[@AWISECROW]

When was this?

[@daniels7052]

1965

[@nn7397]

Superhuman!!!!!

[@lazza1160]

And then there are people saying Yuja wang's renditi is better...

[@VanoArts]

ballert

[@akelofgren9468]

Martha ,Bonachvilli have only this tempo Precipitato

[@cosmosescath621]

Bonjour Max Lima, Tu peux nous confirmer la date ? 1978 - 1979 ? Merci !

[@willemboone7912]

No, much earlier, it must have been in the 60's, probably after her 1st prize in Warsaw!

[@mariemichelgouar7084]

Très belle interprétation. Manque cependant la furia et le déchaînement ultra virtuose de la version de référence de Maurizio Pollini de 1971...

[@dalewasson5919]

I know this song thanks to Gran Turismo 5

[@janewarrington9681]

Martha, looking back even you must know this was too muddy. But you got better. Less pace, more definition = more power.

[@Metasisic]

Schnittke might have called this one of his agitato movements.

[@StephenFleschler]

WOW, reminds me of the excellent Grant Johannesen, even better (the worst was Khatia Buniatishvili with 100% wrong emphasis and banging bass). I have over a dozen recordings of this sonata. The problem with the recording of Argerich is her opening of the 1st movement where she is the fastest of all, missing all the depth and beauty that Johannesen brings to it by s l o w i n g down to smell the roses. Her version is comparable to an impressionistic blur of sound, okay as well but not my favorite. I think I will meld his opening 1st and 2nd movements to her 3rd movement. So many pianists play this work as if Prokofiev is mad/angry (Sokoloff 1994). Why? It's not pleasant to hear it played like angry music (I have and heard most of over 13,500 LPs/CDs/78s piano recordings in my collection out of 54,000).

[@WaterFlame957]

As of today, 33 people are haters of the great Martha Argerich. 😕

[@RaineriHakkarainen]

Come on! More beautiful colorful piano sound than Argerich=Wilhelm Kempff Emil Gilels Artur Rubinstein Radu Lupu Vladimir Ashkenazy! More Powerful Louder than Argerich=Mikhail Pletnev Supernova Exposion Power!( Prokofiev piano concerto no 1 by Pletnev!) The Second Loudest pianist was Lazar Berman! More Genius than Argerich=Sviatoslav Richter Solomon Cutner Grigory Sokolov Maurizio Pollini Alexei Lubimov Stanislav Igolinsky! Argerich not the best Genius! Argerich not the best piano Sound! Argerich not the most Powerful!!

[@rigel48]

@@RaineriHakkarainen Always the same worthless comparisons from Mr. Raineri Hakkarainen who displays his personal tastes as if it were the absolute truth. In Argerich's case he is completely wrong.

[@JuanPabloVitaliMusica]

Estupenda. No rompan las pelotas con eso de que lo toca rápido, si hay algo que jode son esas interpretaciones lentas y flácidas que le quitan poder a la música, si no les gusta como lo toca marta vayan a escuchar a otro , o toquenlo uds

[@idroj6566]

Totalmente de acuerdo.pasa lo mismo con su interpretación de la sonata de Liszt: la velocidad,el virtuosismo son ahí elemento básico de la ideosincradia misma de esa música. Si no se puede llegar a ese nivel ,es mejor no tocar la partitura por respeto al compositor.

[@Fritz_Maisenbacher]

This is a women ..... in this kind of pieces , men are elephants and women Goddesses

[@MrCinemuso]

Argerich is a goddess indeed, but Pollini is by no means an elephant...

[@nohaylamujer]

Possessed

[@charlottewhyte9804]

sounds just like a dam machine robot too metallic

[@MaxLima1]

That is exactly what Prokofiev had in mind when he composed this

[@alializade4276]

Загнала сильно.

[@manfredmantke8418]

You tube gravitation ,

[@Kalen1457]

A little too much pedal and a bit too fast for my taste.

[@aluisaac]

Kalen1457 the problem is your taste 😂

[@Ar1osssa]

Isaac No, it's really so fast. I performed this not so good like this but more slow than her

[@sanderspiano7040]

Z

[@SELMER1947]

Sokolov 's 7 sonata is by far the best version

[@rigel48]

Yes, if you like it slow and rough.

[@user-vo1gx6xm8r]

Sultanov

[@olegsemenov711]

Кумбия!!!. Ей надо было на танке покататься, чтобы понять темп.

[@whewdoggy]

Great performance-- but...clearly sped up. Why!?! Look at 2:54.

[@MaxLima1]

Sped up? Are you sure?

[@nicolaspachecoarango]

It's the camera that wasn't enough for Martha Argerich

[@ssprokofiev]

Spectacular from a technical point of view, but too fast from an artistic one.

[@MozartFong]

Yes, since we should always separate technique from "artistry" and judge them individually. Are you high?

[@ssprokofiev]

Alex Fong It's always surprising to me that when a person expresses an opinion, it draws a reply with an insult. Mr. Fong, Argerich plays the piece too fast, but I found a way to give her a compliment by remarking that she possesses a great technique.

[@MozartFong]

ssprokofiev "Too fast, too slow" such an easy and lazy form of music criticism. Let alone to say it about Argerich. Spare us your superficial opinion.

[@ssprokofiev]

Alex Fong More juvenile insults. Mr. Fong I know this sonata inside and out and know what the tempo marking Precipitato means. Prokofiev praised Horowitz's recording of the work, calling him a miraculous pianist. Horowitz played the Finale much slower than Argerich. Was the composer wrong?

[@Highinsight7]

Alex Fong as long as you get your point across... (and SHE does...!) tempos... can be somewhat irrelevant... I've heard it played slower... and very effectively... still ... I love her thoughts...!

[@alessiopullara7170]

Yes but Pollini's interpretation is better

[@MaxLima1]

no.

[@alessiopullara7170]

@@MaxLima1 Y E S

[@MaxLima1]

@@alessiopullara7170hmmm not at all.

[@alessiopullara7170]

@@MaxLima1 certanly

[@MaxLima1]

​@@alessiopullara7170 no.

[@burgersuperking]

This is trash metal before metal even existed

[@zuhairbakdoud1360]

Shame!!! I thought we had some worthy pianists… l cannot believe that Argerich played stuff like this…

[@nicolaspachecoarango]

?

[@sashan2764]

very very bad.....

[@attackhelicopter2900]

people actually like this??

[@debussy84]

Nope, just pretending to, to sound "intellectual."

[@cyrusthegreat5434]

Stuff likes this takes more time to understand but once you understand it you just keep coming back to hear it again. Try some slower versions first

[@aerohydra3849]

@@debussy84 Well I thought that at one point too, but this piece really grew on me (and Prokofiev in general). I love the opening and ending in particular with how the major melody in the right hand is contrasted by those accented chords in the left.

[@mr.scottpowell]

Well, it's not Mozart. But this isn't THAT difficult a piece to understand actually. Not exactly talking Schoenberg here

[@attackhelicopter2900]

@@mr.scottpowellDang i haven’t been on this account for years .. anyway. What’s there to understand? Isn’t music just about enjoying?