The work has been part of her long life as a pianist from the outset: Martha Argerich was just seven years old when she gave her first public concert at the Teatro San Martín in Buenos Aires in early 1949, where she played Beethoven’s First Piano Concerto. You can listen to an audio recording of it on YouTube and never cease to be amazed by the child prodigy. But it is no less astonishing that 76 years later, at the age of 84, she still triumphs with this music by early Beethoven — and better than ever. Argerich’s virtuosity is untarnished, the runs sparkle, everything is perfectly in place, and her interpretation is enriched by so much knowledge and experience. To be able to hear her in Beethoven’s First is a guarantee of something good. This is an evening you won’t forget! And the second half of the concert will continue on a heavenly level. Daniel Harding, who is visiting Lucerne with his new orchestra from Rome for the first time, will conduct the Second Symphony, the most carefree of all of the Brahms symphonies. Even the composer’s close friends were amazed by how a composer known for his melancholy bent was inspired here to set blue sky and sunshine to music.
