Martha Argerich facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Martha Argerich
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Argerich in 2015
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| Background information | |
| Born | 5 June 1941 Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Genres | Classical |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instruments | Piano |
| Labels |
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| Citizenship | Argentina Switzerland |
Martha Argerich is a famous classical concert pianist from Argentina. Many people think she is one of the greatest pianists ever. She was born on June 5, 1941.
Martha grew up in Buenos Aires. She played her first concert when she was only eight years old. After that, she went to Europe to learn even more about playing the piano. When she was young, she won many important music competitions. These included the VII International Chopin Piano Competition and the Ferruccio Busoni Competition. Since then, she has made many recordings and performed with top orchestras all over the world.
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Early Life and Piano Training
Martha Argerich was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her family had roots in Spain and also included Jewish immigrants from the Russian Empire. These grandparents settled in a special farming community in Argentina.
Martha was a very talented child. She started kindergarten when she was just two years old. One day, a friend teased her, saying she couldn't play the piano. Martha surprised everyone by playing a song perfectly by ear, just after her teacher played it. Her teacher was amazed and immediately called her mother.
Martha began learning piano at age three. When she was five, she started lessons with Vincenzo Scaramuzza. He taught her how important it was to play with feeling and emotion. Martha gave her first public concert in 1949 when she was eight.
In 1955, her family moved to Europe. There, Martha studied with Friedrich Gulda in Austria. She says he was one of her biggest influences. She also learned from other great teachers like Stefan Askenase and Maria Curcio. In 1957, when she was sixteen, she won two major competitions within three weeks: the Geneva International Music Competition and the Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition.
After these big wins, Martha faced a difficult time. She stopped playing the piano for three years. She even thought about becoming a secretary or a doctor instead. Her teacher's wife, Anny Askenase, helped encourage her to return to the piano.
Amazing Professional Career
Martha Argerich's first concert at age eight featured music by Mozart and Beethoven. She became famous worldwide when she won the VII International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 1965. She was 24 years old then. That same year, she performed in the United States for the first time at Lincoln Center.
In 1960, she made her first professional recording. It included music by famous composers like Chopin, Brahms, and Liszt. This recording was highly praised when it came out in 1961. Since then, she has recorded many more works. She feels a special connection to the music of Schumann.
Martha has often said that she feels "lonely" when performing alone on stage. Because of this, since the 1980s, she has mostly played with orchestras or other musicians. She loves playing chamber music, which is music for a small group of instruments.
Martha also helps young pianists. She does this through her yearly music festival and by being a judge at international competitions. For example, she strongly supported pianist Ivo Pogorelić. When he was eliminated from a competition in 1980, Martha called him a genius and left the jury in protest. She also sent a public message to congratulate the winner, Đặng Thái Sơn. She has helped many other young artists too.
Martha Argerich leads the International Piano Academy Lake Como. She also performs every year at the Lugano Festival. Since 1996, she has also been the director of the Argerich Music Festival in Beppu, Japan.
Martha doesn't like a lot of attention from the media. This means she has stayed out of the spotlight for much of her career. Still, she is known as one of the greatest pianists in history. In 2016, she performed Liszt's First Piano Concerto. A newspaper called it "an unforgettable performance." They said her playing was still "dazzling" and "frighteningly precise," even though she was 75. She returned to the Proms in 2019 at age 78, playing Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto. Her performance was described as "mesmerizing."
Personal Life and Interests
Martha Argerich has been married twice. Her first marriage was to Robert Chen, and they had a daughter named Lyda. Later, she was married to Swiss conductor Charles Dutoit. They had a daughter named Annie. Even after they separated, Martha and Charles continued to perform together. Martha also had a relationship with American pianist Stephen Kovacevich, and they had a daughter named Stéphanie. Martha and Stephen still perform together often.
Martha raised her children in a free-spirited way. She preferred them to learn at home instead of going to school. She often invited young musicians to her house and practiced music late into the night.
Martha can speak many languages, including Spanish, French, Italian, German, English, and Portuguese. Even though Spanish is her first language, she raised her children speaking French. She has lived in Argentina, Belgium, Switzerland, and France. She is a citizen of both Switzerland and Argentina.
Martha Argerich has never been involved with political parties. However, she is strongly against the death penalty. She also supported a Russian pianist who was put in prison. She also paid tribute to an Israeli pianist who was held hostage.
In 1990, Martha was diagnosed with a type of cancer called melanoma. After treatment, the cancer went away. But it came back in 1995 and spread to other parts of her body. She received special treatment in California, and the cancer went away again. As of 2023, Martha remains cancer-free. In August 2023, she had to cancel some concerts because of an illness, but she is still performing.
Documentaries About Martha Argerich
Two documentary films have been made about Martha Argerich. In 2002, Georges Gachot released Martha Argerich: Conversation nocturne. In 2012, her daughter Stéphanie Argerich Blagojevic directed a film about her mother, using videos she had taken since childhood.
Awards and Honors
Martha Argerich has received many awards for her incredible talent:
- 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) for being the most important classical musician in Argentina for that decade.
- Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (with orchestra):
- Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance:
- For Prokofiev (Arr. Pletnev): Cinderella Suite for Two Pianos / Ravel: Ma mere l'Oye (2005)
- Order of the Rising Sun#4th Class, Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette (2005) from Japan
- Praemium Imperiale (2005) from Japan
- Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (with 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)
- Recipient of National Order of Faithful Service by the Romanian Presidency (2025)
- A Main-belt asteroid (56067 Argerich) was named after her by the International Astronomical Union (2025).
See also
In Spanish: Martha Argerich para niños
- Great Pianists of the 20th Century – Martha Argerich
- Great Pianists of the 20th Century – Martha Argerich II
- List of Argentines
