Martha Argerich

Born in Buenos Aires in 1941, Martha Argerich made her concerto debut at the age of eight with Beethoven’s First Piano Concerto. She came to Europe in 1955 to study with Friedrich Gulda in Vienna. In 1957, she won the Busoni Competition in Bolzano and the Geneva Piano Competition but opted to continue her training. She went on to work with Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli and Stefan Askenase before launching her international career in 1965, when she won First Prize at the Chopin Competition in Warsaw. Martha Argerich has appeared with the world’s leading orchestras, performing a repertoire by composers ranging from Bach to Bartók. Today she enjoys legendary fame and is considered one of the finest pianists of all time. For about forty years, Argerich has avoided solo recitals, preferring to devote herself to performances with orchestras and chamber music. She also champions young talent. From 2002 to 2016, she presented her own festival in Lugano, Switzerland, and from 2018 to 2024 she ran a similar project in Hamburg. In connection with these undertakings, she has performed with such artists as Daniil Trifonov, Mischa Maisky, Gil Shaham, Maxim Vengerov, Stephen Kovacevich, and Daniel Barenboim. Argerich’s recordings have been honored with numerous prizes. She has received the coveted Grammy Award no fewer than three times: in 1999 for her recording of Prokofiev and Bartók concertos, in 2005 for a duo CD with Mikhail Pletnev, and in 2006 for Beethoven concertos with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Claudio Abbado. In 2014, she won an Echo Klassik Award for her performance of Mozart concertos, also with Abbado. Her daughter Stephanie’s 2013 documentary Argerich presents a film portrait of the pianist. In the fall of 2005, Martha Argerich was honored with the Praemium Imperiale for her life’s work. French President Emmanuel Macron named her a “Commandeur de la Légion d’honneur” in 2023.

Lucerne Festival (IMF) debut on 20 August 1969 as the soloist in Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto under Charles Dutoit.

March 2025