Martha Argerich received the Festival Brooch with Rubies
Martha Argerich has been honoured with the Festival brooch withrubies. The Directorate of the Salzburg Festival and Head of Concerts Axel Hiller presentedthis distinction to the pianist after her concert with Renaud Capuçon on 21 August.
“It is a great honour to present the Festival brooch with rubies to Martha Argerich. We are grateful that Martha Argerich has been artistically associated with the Festival for 55 years. The grande dame of the piano makes her every appearance a unique, unforgettable highlight. Ad multos annos,” the Directorate Kristina Hammer, Karin Bergmann, Lukas Crepaz and Axel Hiller applauded her. In 1971, Martha Argerich gave her first concert at the Salzburg Festival, performing with the Czech Philharmonic from Prague under the baton of Claudio Abbado.
The Festival brooch with rubies has previously been bestowed upon the Festival artists Cecilia Bartoli, Grigory Sokolov, Riccardo Muti, Christa Ludwig, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Zubin Mehta, Mariss Jansons, Daniel Barenboim, Franz Welser-Möst, Wolfgang Rihm and András Schiff.
Martha Argerich was born in Buenos Aires, taking piano lessons from Vincenzo Scaramuzza from the age of five. Hailed as a “child prodigy”, she was soon giving public concerts. She continued her studies in London, Vienna and Switzerland with Friedrich Gulda, Nikita Magaloff, Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli and Stefan Askenase. Her international breakthrough came when she won the Concours de Genève and the International Ferrucio Busoni Piano Competition in 1957 as well as the International Chopin Competition in Warsaw in 1965.
Martha Argerich appears regularly with the most important orchestras and festivals in Europe, Japan and the USA, and performs in Israel under the baton of conductors such as Zubin Mehta and Lahav Shani. Her chamber music partners have included regular collaborators such as Nelson Freire, Ivry Gitlis, Mischa Maisky, Gidon Kremer and Daniel Barenboim, whom she recorded with as well: “It does me good to be part of an ensemble.” She is particularly renowned for her interpretations of virtuoso piano compositions of the 19th and 20th centuries.
In 1996, Martha Argerich was created an Officier des Arts et des Lettres; in 1997, the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome made her an honorary member. In 1998, she became the artistic director of the music festival in Beppu, Japan; in 1999, she founded the International Piano Competition and the Festival Martha Argerich in Buenos Aires, and in 2002 she initiated the Progetto Martha Argerich in Lugano. The French Ministry of Culture and Communication honoured her with the title Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2004. In 2005, the Japanese Emperor inducted her into the Order of the Rising Sun and the Japan Art Association awarded her the prestigious Praemium Imperiale. In December 2016, Barack Obama included her in the Kennedy Center Honours in Washington DC. In October 2018, she received the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.
