Schumann Piano Concerto; Symphony No.4
December 2006 Reviewed by: Wes Marshall Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

First and foremost, this is an opportunity to see the mercurial Argentine pianist Martha Argerich. Over the years, Ms. Argerich has gracefully transformed herself from a fiery, emotive sex-symbol (still some of the hottest classical record covers ever came from her early recordings with EMI and DG) to the person most able to succeed Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli and his great juxtaposition of perfection and drama. Her professional recording career has gone on an impressive 46 years, and, despite the passing time, her technique is secure, her fingers lightning fast, and her sense of rhythm, whether in achingly slow passages or the fiercest allegro, is flawless. With improved recording and this DVD’s absolutely top-shelf sound, we finally get the opportunity to really hear her astonishing dynamic shading.

At the end of this spectacular performance, the audience gives her three solid minutes of applause, with no signs of letting up until Maestro Chailly asks them to sit down, and Argerich offers a Schumann miniature as an encore. After the excitement of the Concerto, she reduces the volume to a bare hush and the audience becomes completely silent. Not even a cough. Argerich ends her recital with the sound quietly waning from her piano as she holds the final note for an extra beat. It’s a moment of high drama.

Chailly keeps a firm clamp on the orchestra during the Concerto. I actually wished for a little more life. It seemed almost as though the orchestra and conductor had performed Schumann one too many times (this was Schumann’s home orchestra when he was alive). All such concerns evaporate as soon as they launch into Symphony No.4. Everyone comes alive, the sound reverberates around the surround channels, and Chailly breaks a visible and aural sweat.

The picture is just short of high definition in its clarity and richness. All the better to catch every single nuance of Argerich’s technique. Watch the last movement of the Concerto as director Michael Beyer finds just the right rhythm and angles for covering every interesting movement Argerich makes. He avoids overemphasizing head-shots and seems to find those moments of key technique, like the way Argerich hits the big notes or leans into the piano to hear the quiet ones.

Argerich has seldom been willing to go before the camera for a commercially released recording. Amazon lists only two other DVDs, one of the Schumann Concerto from 1977 (with a second-tier orchestra) and a chamber music DVD from 1982. Her fans collect bootlegs of TV appearances around the world and covet and trade them with the same rapt attention to completeness as (Grateful) Deadheads. This DVD will be manna for her many admirers.

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