Martha Argerich (born June 5, 1941) is a pianist of Argentinian origin.

Argerich was born in Buenos Aires, and initially studied with her mother, who was a piano teacher. She gave her debut concert at the age of eight, playing a concerto by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The family moved to Europe in 1955, and Argerich studied with Friedrich Gulda in Switzerland. She later studied with Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli. In 1957, she won two major piano competitions within a few weeks, and her career as a professional pianist began.

Argerich has not played solo concerts since the early years of her career, instead playing concertos, chamber music and accompanying instrumentalists in sonatas. She is noted especially for her recordings of 20th century works by composers such as Sergei Rachmaninov, Olivier Messiaen and Sergei Prokofiev, with her most famous record coupling Prokofiev's third piano concerto with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's first. The orchestra on that recording was conducted by Charles Dutoit, to whom Argerich was married from 1969 to 1973.

Recordings

Argerich took the musical world by storm in 1960 at the Chopin Competition in Warsaw. In the same year, she made her first recording, including works by Chopin, Brahms, Ravel, Prokofiev, and Liszt -- a very ambitious and successful program (DG 447430). A few years later, in 1965, she recorded Chopin's Sonata 3, Polonaise Opus 53, and other short works (EMI 56805). Both this and the DG debut disc make excellent introductions to this performer.

Argerich's other early recordings, including the Liszt Sonata (also on DG 447430), a Ravel Concerto (DG 447438), Bach's Partita 2, and Prokofiev's Concerto 3 (Philips 456700), are highly prized for their energy and enthusiasm. Her live Rachmaninoff Concerto 3 with Chailly from 1982 is legendary for its wild abandon but is not for everyone (Philips 466673). She is subject to the same criticism as Horowitz, namely, that her playing is often about herself and not about the composer. Still, her performances are exceptional for their persuasiveness and risk-taking.