This is a sensational solo Chopin recital for Chopin Year 2010. The collection is made up of previously unreleased radio recordings made by Argerich in Berlin and Cologne in 1959 and (mainly) 1967. Here is over an hour of newly-discovered Martha Argerich solo recordings of Chopin, all released for the first time and including works otherwise not recorded by her (Ballade no. 1, Mazurkas opp. 24/2, 33 /2,41/1&2, C# minor Etude).
From her epic First Ballade to the overpowering live Third Sonata with exquisite performances of Mazurkas and Nocturnes in between the recital demonstrates what a force of nature she already was in her first decade on the international music scene a veritable powerhouse of the emotions, as Jrgen Otten writes in his liner notes.
Not only one of the most talented virtuosi of her generation, she can do what at most only a dozen pianists in the world are capable of. Joachim Kaiser (Sddeutsche Zeitung, 1967)
Chopin: Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23: Recorded: 26 January 1959, RIAS Studio 7
tude Op. 10 No. 4 in C sharp minor: Recorded: 3 December 1967, RIAS, Studio Lankwitz
Mazurka No. 26 in C sharp minor, Op. 41 No. 1: Recorded: 3 December 1967, RIAS, Studio Lankwitz
Mazurka No. 27 in E minor, Op. 41 No. 2: Recorded: 3 December 1967, RIAS, Studio Lankwitz
Mazurka No. 15 in C major, Op. 24 No. 2: Recorded: 3 December 1967, RIAS, Studio Lankwitz
Mazurka No. 40 in F minor, Op. 63 No. 2: Recorded: 3 December 1967, RIAS, Studio Lankwitz
Mazurka No. 23 in D major, Op. 33 No. 2: Recorded: 3 December 1967, RIAS, Studio Lankwitz
Nocturne No. 4 in F major, Op. 15 No. 1: Recorded: 3 December 1967, RIAS, Studio Lankwitz
Nocturne No. 16 in E flat major, Op. 55 No. 2: Recorded: 3 December 1967, RIAS, Studio Lankwitz
Piano Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58: Recorded live on 15 March 1967, Hochschule fr Musik, Berlin
Mazurkas Op. 59 Nos. 1-3: Recorded: 31 October 1967, Saal 2, WDR Kln