She’s Been Named One Of The Greatest Pianists In Classical Music History, And This Is Her Story
There are a ton of brilliant pianists who have inspired many musicians and artists throughout their careers. How many influential female pianists can you name off the top of your head?
Martha Argerich has been named one of the greatest pianists in classical music history. This is her story.
Martha was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1941. When she was a little girl in kindergarten, she started learning to play the piano by ear. She began taking piano lessons by the time she was just three and made her concert debut by the age of eight.
As a teenager, Martha moved with her family all around Europe, where she started studying piano with esteemed musicians and teachers. In Austria, she studied under the famous jazz pianist Friedrich Gulda.
While in Switzerland at the age of 16, Martha won two big music competitions within three weeks.
Since she was becoming a successful pianist at such a young age, Martha decided she wanted to move to New York City to study under classical pianist Vladimir Horowitz. However, she ended up not being able to. After this, Martha spiraled into a career crisis and didn’t play the piano for three years.
She eventually picked up playing again and went back to performing classical piano in competitions. She also made her first recording in 1960, which included a series of pieces by Chopin, Brahms, Ravel, etc. Her recording received a lot of critical praise, boosting the success of her career.
In 1965, when she was 24, Martha won the VII International Chopin Piano Competition. She amazingly made her debut at Lincoln Center in New York City as part of their Great Performers series.
Martha made her big Carnegie Hall debut in 1974 and performed Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major alongside the Minnesota Orchestra. Since then, she’s performed at the legendary music venue 27 more times, and her concerts have received outstanding reviews from music critics.
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Martha also developed a passion for supporting aspiring artists and pianists. She once served as president of the International Piano Academy Lake Como and created and was a general director for the Argerich Music Festival and Meeting Point in Beppu, Japan.
Martha has been the recipient of many esteemed awards, including a Grammy for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance in 2000. She was also a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors in 2016.
In 1990, Martha was diagnosed with a malignant melanoma which she treated, but it came back and metastasized to her lungs, pancreas, lymph nodes, liver, and brain in 1995.
She underwent experimental treatment at the John Wayne Cancer Institute in Santa Monica, California, and went into remission. She gave a benefit concert for the institute at Carnegie Hall once she was feeling better.
Today, she’s known as one of the best pianists in the world and is 81-years-old.
Unfortunately, she had to cancel some upcoming performances earlier this year due to some heart health issues, so we’re wishing Martha a speedy recovery!
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