Martha Argerich (1941-present) is considered perhaps the greatest living pianist. She embodies rebellion both on and off stage.
Martha Argerich (1941-present) is considered perhaps the greatest living pianist. She embodies rebellion both on and off stage.
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Hello! From Wonder Media Network, I’m Luvvie Ajayi Jones. I’m a New York Times Best Selling author and host of the podcast Professional Troublemaker. I’m so excited to be your guest host for this month of Womanica!
Today, we’re talking about the Lioness of the Piano. Considered perhaps the greatest living pianist, she embodies rebellion both on and off stage.
Let’s talk about Martha Argerich.
By the time Martha Argerich was six years old, her parents, especially her mother, knew she was something of a genius.
Martha was born on June 5, 1941, in Argentina. Her maternal grandparents were Jewish, and had fled the pogroms in Russia. Her father’s family was from Catalonia, in Spain.
When Martha started kindergarten, she was just two and a half. An older classmate started teasing her, betting her that she couldn’t play the piano. So Martha sat down at the keys – and played a tune she’d heard the teacher play, perfectly, by ear.
That first performance warranted a call home, and a lot of “fuss.” Soon, Martha’s mother began introducing her daughter to every musician who came to their town. But Martha was immediately drawn to Friedrich Gulda, a young Austrian pianist. When Martha was 13, the entire family moved to Vienna, so she could study with him.
In 1957, when she was 16, Martha stormed onto the international music scene. In a matter of weeks, she won two major piano competitions – The Busoni, in Italy, and the Geneva International competition. A tidal wave of performances and public attention followed. And Martha – young and shy and headstrong – felt ill-prepared.
She resisted recording her first commercial album for a few years, before finally releasing one in 1961. And then…her career came to a stop.
After a disappointing stretch spent with a new teacher, who only gave her four lessons over a year and a half, Martha left for New York.
She hoped to meet her idol, Vladimir Horowitz, but never did. She wondered if she should quit music altogether. She met and married and had a child – in quick succession – with Robert Chen, a composer. When they split up, in 1964, Martha returned home, and began to pick up the pieces of her career.
In 1965, Martha came back to the stage for good. At just 24 years old, she won the International Chopin Piano Competition. Held every five years, it’s one of the only competitions dedicated entirely to one composer. Martha’s interpretation of the First Piano Concerto – performed with her signature nuance, emotional depth and charisma – reportedly brought judges to tears. With her mane of dark hair, she became an immediate media darling. Martha remains the only South American winner in the Chopin competition’s history.
Offstage, Martha’s life remained something of a tornado. She lost custody of her daughter, Lyda, and wouldn’t see her again until she was a teenager. She had two more daughters, with two different partners. She developed a reputation for being a mercurial performer. Today, she won’t sign a contract until after a performance, as she’s known to cancel concerts at the last minute, change programs without warning, and appear onstage long after the start of a show.
In a documentary made by her youngest daughter, Stephanie, Martha’s daughters remember their home life as chaotic, if not joyful. Regularly attending school was considered something of a rebellion. There were dance parties, 2 am practice sessions, and a revolving door of other young artists.
Martha is now 80 years old. She still performs, though she’s rarely appeared onstage alone since the 1980s. It feels lonely up there, she’s said. Her lifetime of rebellion – against the rigidity of classical music, against how a female musician is supposed to play, and act – has left her in a league entirely of her own. When she sits down to play, she is as she’s always been – completely herself.
For more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram @womanicapodcast.
Special thanks to creators Jenny and Liz Kaplan for having me as your guest host.
Talk to you tomorrow!