Argentinian Argerich is press-shy, somewhat like Glenn Gould, though not as quirky in performance as the vaunted Canadian. Watching her bristle through the fiery pianism of Prokofiev's First Piano Concerto is a thrilling experience, her hands moving so quickly in capturing Prokofiev's brilliant motives that they literally become a blur in close-up. But you have to wait for while to revel in her technique. Up first in this concert is Prokofiev's charming pre-Stalinist "Classical Symphony," written in 1916-17 at the height of the Bolshevik Revolution, and premiered in 1918 just a couple of months before Tsar Nicholas and family were brutally murdered. Taking these world shaking events that were unfolding around him into account, Prokofiev's first symphony is a remarkably light, airy and beautifully structured hommage to Haydn, with those bracing dissonances thrown in that make every Prokofiev work so instantly recognizable. It's fascinating to realize that more than one Russian composer (notably Stravinsky) was trying to forge a neo-Classical movement, one rooted in clarity of structure and technique, while the world devolved into chaos around them. This performance, while brisk and well-played, is hampered by the outdoor acoustics of the concert stage, where Prokofiev's brilliant string writing sounds a bit muddy and disordered. Conductor Alexandre Rabinovitch-Barakovsky keeps a tight reign on his players, perhaps taking the first movement just a tad slower than I'd have liked it, but more than making up for it with a nicely nuanced Larghetto and Gavotte, and an especially impressive fourth movement that lives up to its Molto Vivace composer's direction.

Argerich takes the stage next to essay Prokofiev's unrelenting First Piano Concerto, a piece that, while technically demanding and compositionally challenging, doesn't seem to get the respect that Prokofiev's Third, for instance, routinely does. This is the piece where Argerich's commanding technique is on stunning display, with some admirable close-ups of her hands dancing across the keys in quicksilver movements that routinely defy 24 frames per second. This relatively brief, one-movement piece (divided into three sections) caused critical derision when it was first played in the same years that saw Prokofiev's nation-mate Stravinsky greeted with catcalls for his own stylistic innovations. Listening to the Concerto now through the filter of intervening decades, it still sounds bracingly new but full of the divine melodic invention of one of the greatest composers of the modern era. Argerich makes the most of the concerto's florid passages, and occasionally seems to either be talking to herself or at least counting through the more prodigiously challenging passages. The balance between the piano and orchestra is spot on and thrilling to listen to.

Argerich moves on to a smaller scale chamber piece, Schumann's lovely Sonata for Piano and Violin No. 1 in A minor, with some lovely work by Renaud Capucon. Though not as much as a showcase as Prokofiev's piece, with many of the more bracingly technical passages given to the violin, this piece nonetheless shows Schumann's innate gift for beautiful melody melded with an alternately lyrical and forcefully rhythmic presence.

Capucon's brother, cellist Gautier, joins the duo in Beethoven's great Triple Concerto, a wonderful four part dialogue between the trio of soloists and orchestra. Though Brahms' work in this genre may be the more frequently played nowadays, Beethoven's opus is full of commanding bravura passages for each instrument with an especially lively Rondo summing everything up. Both Capucon brothers play magnificently and Argerich herself moves through Beethoven's sometimes demanding fast passages with ease and grace.

The Flanders Symphony Orchestra acquits itself quite well throughout this concert DVD, with excellent intonation in the brass and winds. I just wish the acoustics had been a bit better, especially for the string section. While their playing seems to be flawless, it just bleeds a bit from one note to the next, providing the only real drawback to an otherwise engaging concert experience.

The DVD

Video:
A nice enhanced 1.78:1 transfer makes this a joy to watch. Coverage is exceptional, especially in the case of Argerich, with some really stupendous close-ups of her hands racing over the keys. The concert lasts long enough for the daylight to dim into dusk and eventual darkness, but contrast is strong throughout.

Sound:
Three soundtracks, each excellent, are offered: standard LPCM stereo, DD 5.1 and DTS 5.1 Even in the LPCM stream, separation is top-notch. The 5.1 soundtracks may be a bit of overkill here, but separation and fidelity are excellent on both.

Extras:
None are offered.

Final Thoughts:
Argerich deserves to be better known to the world at large and this 2005 concert can help fill that publicity gap. Prokofiev's two early works are a joy to listen to, and with Schumann and Beethoven bringing up the rear, how can you go wrong? Recommended.

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"G-d made stars galore" & "Hey, what kind of a crappy fortune is this?" ZMK, modern prophet