February 6: Piano Works (Toccata BWV 911, Partita #2 BWV 826, English Suite #2 BWV 807); Martha Argerich, piano

Martha is the greatest.

Today, like any day, is a great day to revisit the incomparable Martha Argerich’s 1979 Bach program that includes four of my all-time favorite minutes of music: the Prelude of the English Suite #2 (BWV 807).

It doesn’t get any better than this, folks. We’re lucky to have video of Martha performing it in 1969. She’s utterly poised — not even close to breaking a sweat. No matter the volume or speed she’s playing, her tone is vibrant, sparkling. Every note sings. From both hands the phrases ring out as discrete ideas working alone and in tandem. They drift apart and come together with pace. That ‘poking’ opening fanfare gets continually tossed, flipped, and reversed mid-flight — keep listening for it. Every time the main theme is reintroduced, Martha imbues it with a different color, and we hear it anew. Her ease is underpinned by a boundless, youthful confidence. Absolute mastery:

Listen again and follow along with the score, too. Most of the time we have two voices traveling side-by-side, but Bach throws in internal third phrases to add to the conversation, and when a fourth joins for the big chords, it’s meant to startle.

Coming into contact with greatness like this inspires me to drop everything and devote my life to figuring out how to do it myself. It’s a facile sentiment, and probably self-defeating. Struggling through countless hours to gain the rudiments to play even a few bars of this well, to say nothing of the attempt to write at this level... it feels so far from my grasp. The ego-consoling devil on my shoulder whispers that in the heart of middle-age, I’m better off spending time on the stuff I’m already good at.

So I have to buck myself up every time I face-plant playing my beginner and early-intermediate pieces. And bar by bar, my pianism has improved. This prelude is Everest, and it’s nice to have a goal. Maybe I’ll get there one day.

Let’s not pay short shrift to the rest of this fantastic recording. Here are some highlights:

In the Toccata BWV 911, Argerich builds and builds into a cresting wave.

Later in the same piece, she accents and holds some tied internal notes to bring out a whole new melodic center — this starts at about 0:13 in the clip below… it’s a bit tough to hear, but give it a shot.

The dynamic range of the piano is a bonanza after having listened to so much harpsichord and organ in January, as in this bumpin’ Capriccio of Partita #2 BWV 826:

I’ll close by going back to English Suite #2 for the justifiably famous opening of the Sarabande:

Martha Argerich is still touring at 82 years of age and playing at an extremely high level. We’re lucky to have her, and go see her if you can!