Martha Argerich has never handled her career the traditional way. She almost never does interviews. She stopped playing solo recitals in the '80s to focus on chamber music. And a recent profile in the Washington Post revealed that she prefers to sleep until 2 p.m. and practice in the wee hours of the morning.
Also, in 2017, she will make only two appearances on North American stages: one in Los Angeles, and one in Lunenburg, N.S.
She'll be visiting the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance to give masterclasses and play a concert of duets with LAMP's piano and chamber music professor Walter Delahunt. Delahunt has performed with Argerich before, and has played at her acclaimed annual festival in Lugano, Switzerland.
Argerich is one of the most acclaimed classical musicians alive. In spite, or possibly because, of her unorthadox approach to managing her career, she's been a global sensation since she recorded her first album for Deutsche Grammophon at the age of 19, which included this extremely rock 'n' roll performance of Prokoviev's Op. 11 Toccata:
Now 75, she recently recieved the Kennedy Centre Honours, and can be seen here gossiping with James Taylor while Al Pacino waits for somebody to tell him he can go home. Tickets for Argerich's Lunenburg concert are on sale today.
Follow Matthew Parsons on Twitter: @MJRParsons
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