Pianist Martha Argerich cancels performances due to heart-related health condition

Martha Argerich Performs With The Youth Orchestra de Bahia in 2018. Picture: Getty

By Sophia Alexandra Hall

@sophiassocials

 

Legendary Argentine pianist, 81-year-old Martha Argerich, has been forced to withdraw from all planned performances. 

Widely considered to be one of the greatest pianists of all time, Martha Argerich has had to cancel all upcoming performances due to her declining health.

The 81-year-old Argentine artist is reportedly suffering from issues relating to her heart, as was described in the statement released by Lyon’s Salle Molière, where she was meant to perform earlier this month.

The statement (translated from French) read: “In the aftermath of three concerts given at the Berlin Philharmonic with Daniel Barenboim, despite a precarious state of health due to a heart problem, Martha Argerich, suffering, is no longer able to ensure her next commitments and cancels recitals and tours until further notice.”

Argerich was able to perform with long-time friend and musical partner, Daniel Barenboim, with the Berlin Philharmonic five days prior to the planned Lyon recital.

With Barenboim also suffering from health issues in recent months, the Berlin concert on 7 January was a heartwarming night of music, with Argerich playing the Schumann piano concerto while he conducted. Notably, it was the first time the pair had performed together with the Berlin Philharmonic.

At the same concert, the duo performed a movement from Bizet’s Children’s Games (for piano four hands) titled, ‘Hubby Wife’.

This isn’t the first time Argerich has taken time off from performing due to health issues. In 1990, Argerich was diagnosed with a malignant melanoma. Following treatment, her cancer later went into remission however, recurred again in 1995 when it metastasized to her lungs, pancreas, liver, brain, and lymph nodes. 

During Argerich’s second battle with cancer, a piece of her lung was removed during an experimental treatment. Five years after the surgery, she told the New York Times in a rare interview: “I was afraid of my own body. I was afraid of myself for the first time; afraid to be me.”

Following her treatment at the John Wayne Cancer Institute in Santa Monica, she was in remission again by 2000.

Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1941, Argerich took up the piano aged five, and by 16 years old was taking the international world of classical music by storm.

Within just three weeks, the teenager went on to win both the Geneva International Music Competition and the Ferruccio Busoni International Competition, and eight years later achieved global recognition as the winner of the 7th International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw.

Argerich has built up a remarkable career as an unparalleled recording artist and concert pianist, with an impressive specialism in the virtuoso piano literature of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Classic FM wishes Martha Argerich a restful and rapid recovery.

John Williams makes history as oldest person to be nominated for an Academy Award

By Maddy Shaw Roberts, Classic FM

 

The movie music maestro received his 53rd Oscar nomination for his score to Steven Spielberg’s ‘The Fabelmans’, which is also nominated for Best Picture.

At 90 years old, John Williams has once again made Oscars history, becoming the oldest person to be nominated for a competitive Academy Award.

The movie music legend’s score for Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans is nominated for the Best Original Score award in 2023, alongside Babylon, All Quiet on the Western Front, Everything Everywhere All at Once, and The Banshees of Inisherin.

Three people previously held the record for oldest nominee at 89 years old: Call Me by Your Name screenwriter James Ivory, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom costume designer Ann Roth, and Faces Places director Agnès Varda.

His nomination for The Fabelmans, which is also nominated for Best Picture, also means Williams has broken his own record for the most Oscar nods for a living person, with a total of 53 nominations. The film composer is now also the only person to ever be nominated in seven different decades.

If he wins, Williams – who will have turned 91 by this year’s ceremony on 13 March – will make history as the oldest winner of an Oscar according to the LA Times.

John Williams makes history as oldest person to be nominated for an Academy Award. Picture: Getty

Currently decorated with five Oscar wins, Williams’ last Best Original Score win was in 1993 for Schindler’s List. Previous winning scores were Fiddler on the Roof (1971), Jaws (1975), Star Wars (1977) and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982).

The Fabelmans marks 50 years of friendship and collaboration between Williams and Spielberg, who thanked the composer for writing the film’s score “as his most personal gift to me… [and] my parents”. 

Last week, the director confirmed his involvement in a new documentary on the life of John Williams, which could yet be the duo’s swansong.

Spielberg spoke about their shared love of the great sound of an orchestra, and the importance of that soundworld in their films, in an interview with the LA Times in 2012.

“Johnny and I have been very Luddite about including full orchestras and full choirs in most of our films,” said Spielberg. “I love orchestras. I never leave the scoring sessions. It’s my vacation from the movie I just made.”

In a special 90th birthday interview for Classic FM in 2022, Williams bashfully said of his immense contributions to the film world: “What little I can possibly contribute with my little scores, is nothing compared to the work of Bach or Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, any of the great colossal geniuses that developed the music that in our Western sphere, we hold so dear to our hearts as one of the foundations of our culture.”

Spielberg is also nominated for Best Director for The Fabelmans in the 2023 Academy Awards. Elsewhere, Tár is nominated for Best Picture, with a Best Actress nomination for Cate Blanchett in the lead role.

9-year-old violin prodigy plays Max Richter’s thrilling take on Vivaldi ‘Summer’ in talent show finale

By Maddy Shaw Roberts

 

Here’s some Vivaldi-Richter violin magic, played by the youngest finalist of French TV talent show ‘Prodiges’, to blow you away.

In December, 9-year-old violinist Sora Lavorgna made it down to the finals of Prodiges, a French TV talent show judged by cello virtuoso Gautier Capuçon, along with a star opera singer and dancer.

The competition looks for the most promising young talents in three different categories, singing, instrument and dance, all performing to the sound of great works of classical music.

In her final performance, the young French Japanese violinist played contemporary classical composer Max Richter’s recomposition and reinterpretation of the talent show favourite ‘Summer’ from Vivaldi’s collection of Baroque concertos The Four Seasons.

‘Summer 1’ is all intricate ostinato and soaring solo violin lines, making it the perfect showpiece for any high-stakes competition final. Sora gave a stunning performance, displaying a warm vibrato and tone, and incredible musicianship for a player of her age.

During the competition, which also saw her play the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto, Capuçon told her: “You impressed us, you show incredible concentration and determination for your nine years.”

Prodiges showcases 15 virtuosos aged nine to 16, whose performances are all accompanied by the Divertimento orchestra, under the baton of conductor Zahia Ziouani.

The jury is made up of three leading musical figures: Capuçon, prima ballerina and choreographer Marie-Claude Pietragalla, and soprano Julie Fuchs.  

For this ninth season of Prodiges, hosted by Faustine Bollaert, the final trophy was taken by 12-year-old ballet dancer Sacha, who also won the study grant of 10,000 euros. Sacha was told by Pietragalla: “You are dance-incarnate, you make me want to go dancing. You are beautiful, radiant, you have beautiful footwork, I would like to follow you.”

9-year-old violinist Sora Lavorgna plays Richter's 'Summer 1' in finals of 'Prodiges'. Picture: Prodiges/YouTube

Sora, who at nine years old was the youngest contestant in the entire competition, began playing the violin at age four at the Cannes Conservatory.

During the show, she explained that she practises the violin two hours a day and prior to Prodiges, had won the prestigious Arthur Grumiaux International Violin Competition in Belgium.

We look forward to seeing what else is in store for this brilliant young player.

Prodiges has not only put classical music front and centre on a major French TV channel, but has also produced some stars of the future and major recording contracts.

The debut album of violin and cello star Camille Berthollet, the 2014 winner of the show, went gold on Warner Classics in less than two months. She has since released six string duo albums alongside her sister, Julie Berthollet, with whom she also performed at Classic FM Live in 2021.