Martha Argerich (Great Pianists of the 20th Century)

In Argerich's landmark account of the Ravel triptych Gaspard de la Nuit, for example, you're almost tempted to forget what an Everest these pieces represent to the most intrepid virtuoso, so gripping are the poetic conjurings. Unpredictability and magnetic presence define Argerich's style, but not at the price of distortion. There isn't a track of filler on this collection, which displays Argerich's range from the glistening, mirrored surfaces of Ravel's Sonatine to a Rachmaninoff Third pushed to the breaking point and back again (in the legendary live recording with Riccardo Chailly--an essential performance of the work), as well as her extraordinarily immediate, vital Bach. Quick tempos and imaginative finger weightings convey personality without pointing away from the music. And in the Liszt Piano Concerto No. 1, Argerich's visceral imagination can actually make the score sound better, richer in substance, than it is. One of the top-drawer collections in the entire Philips series, this set offers a portrait of an artist who will involve you in the passion of music making more deeply than you may have thought possible. --Thomas May