My list:

1. Complete works of Prokofiev (okay, I cheated): I always thought she is a FANTASTIC Prokofiev player. WOW. I love how she does the 1st and 3rd concerto, the various sonatas she played, Toccata, etc.
2. Brahms' 2nd concerto: I bet this would have just been tremendous and fantastic on every level.
3. Brahms' F minor quintet: Most intense Scherzo EVER!
4. (EDIT) I changed my mind. Ravel's left hand concerto.
5. Saint-Saens' 5th piano concerto: She most definitely has the chops for all the technical hurdles and then some, and her phrasing in the 1st movement would have been golden, as well as the soft and delicate touch in the exotic second movement. Finale would give me the biggest adrenaline rush and sweep me to another world.

How about you guys?

I don't have her discography committed to memory, so she may have done some of these, but...

1. Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue
2. Scriabin - Sonatas #2, 4, or 5
3. Solo Rachmaninoff, or the 2nd Concerto
4. Something Spanish, like Albeniz' El Albaicin or Granados Allegro de Concierto
5. More Ravel, Miroirs or Tombeau

Beethoven's Second Piano Concerto that she was scheduled to perform at the concert I had tickets for.

I don't really know her repertoire so these are guesses.

1. Another fast Scarlatti Sonata(I think she only plays one)
2. Schumann Fantasy
3. Rachmaninov Etudes Tableux
4. Schumann Bunte Blatter
5. De Falla Fantasia Baetica

Alkan Sonatine
Ligeti etudes
Liapunov Lezghinka
Persichetti 10th Sonata
Ginastera 1st Concerto

By the way, there is a recording of her playing the Brahms two-piano sonata with Zilberstein, which is close to playing the quintet.

Bar none, Rachmaninov's 'Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini'. It would be ideal for her, can you imagine that? The mind boggles.

pianoloverus, Argerich recorded the Schumannn in her early days, I love that recording, so passionate. It meant a lot to me as a teen.

Yes it is hard to be sure, so for me the question has to be "want to hear" rather than "wish she played".

1. Liszt Tarantella
2. Liszt - Hungarian Rhapsody #9
3. Chopin Introduction and Rondo Op16
4. Grieg - Ballade in G minor
5. Grieg - all the lyric pieces

I totally agree on the Liszt Tarantella, and also with the Rachmaninoff Rhapsody. For the Rachmaninoff, fortunately we have Phillipe Entremont and William Kapell.

I understand! Anything Argerich plays would be of interest. I'm grateful we got the Shostakovich.

Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Beethoven 4th Concerto
Beethoven 111
complete Bach partitas ... heck any bach.. her bach is fantastic!
Prokofiev 2nd concerto

I completely agree about the Scriabin Sonatas, Kreisler. I've always thought that she would have been an amazing Scriabin interpreter.

If I had to choose one piece for her to play, I think it would be the Rachmaninoff Sonata No. 2, Op. 36. There are very few interpretations out there of the piece (Horowitz, Weissenberg, maybe Ashkenazy and a few others) that really do it justice (at least for me). I think hers would have definitely been added to this list.

Not happening, surely you know what is involved here?

And as for Prokofiev 2, well that is not important. If she wished to waste her time with it, good on her. But most of the praise of that concerto on this board tends to come from the youth with whom technique is the means to an end, and therefore it must be important. Sorry, compared to Prokofiev 3, his 2nd concerto is a joke.

The same ones who insist on the BIG cadenza in Rach 3, even if Argerich knew better, as -apparently- the composer did too.

yes but this is a wish thread

I am not sure on her repertoire, i'm sure she has played some of the works suggested, but recordings do not exist.

1. Beethoven Piano Concerto 4

2. Schubert: Impromptu #2 In A Flat, Op. 142, D 935

3. Beethoven 29 Piano Sonata

3. Beethoven Romance cantabile for piano, flute, bassoon, oboes & string orchestra

4. Mendelssohn: Rondo Capriccioso In E, Op. 14

Wow, that Mendelssohn would be AWESOME.

EDIT: And Variations Serieuses! And the piano concertos!

Well of course, but I don't need to hear Argerich in Prokofiev 2, and I would never wish for it.

From what I have read, she knows those concertos -can you imagine?- but they were not recorded due to other competing versions in the catalogue.

But too bad...

FWIW, I strongly disagree, my friend. I happen to like the 3rd more, but I think the 2nd is a masterpiece. (As are 1, 4 and 5 too!)

I got to know #2 many years ago, before I had any inkling that it was such a staple of the competition repertoire. I'd never have guessed back then, listening to all 5 concerti, that #2 would turn out to be more popular than some of the others. It's like being back in 4th grade, before you know who's going to wind up being popular in junior high.

-J

I can't stand the big cadenza either.

Competing versions? By whom?

But don't you basically disagree with everything I post here?

(Sometimes it seems that way)

Kapell He's literally my favorite pianist, along with Lipatti and Terence Judd... those damn airplanes and suicidal thoughts!

As for lovely Martha, I think more Messiaen would be fabulous. Her Visions de l'Amen with Rabinovitch is excellent and suits her temperament beautifully; perhaps Il de feu or (heart be still) Vingt regards?!

Alkan would be fascinating... what a thought! Her need for speed would serve her well here.

Ligeti and Ginastera, YESSSS....

Interesting!

Let's see...

-- Scriabin Sonata 9
-- Chopin Polonaise in F# minor
-- Beethoven Op. 110
-- Chopin Ballade 4
-- Mozart "Little Gigue" in G major

Ginastera is the obvious one - the First Sonata and First Concerto. She kills the Danzas Argentinas, but we want more!!

+1

and

Bach WTC1
Bach WTC2

I'm afraid these are two areas we will have to respectfully disagree. Actually, three areas... Mahler is a fine composer.

There seems to be an almost mystical aura (or should I say 'awe'?) surrounding Prokofiev 2, and I suppose I might be more comfortable with it had the composer not gone on to write a 3rd concerto, IMO, one of the most sublimely conceived works for piano and orchestra, as perfect as music can be.

My list:

8th sonata - Prokofiev
All ligeti etudes
Complete esquisse d'oisseaux - Messiaen

Well, this far exceeds 5 pieces^^

The thing is that she plays (as almost anything she plays) these "types" of music so well!

Depending on your point of view, her interpretations of the following might be either painful(but still interesting) or absolutely brilliant:

Mozart Fantasia in C minor K475
Schubert "Wanderer" Fantasy
Franck Symphonic Variations

Oh yes, Schubert Wanderer Fantasy is another good one.

I wish Argerich would not play.

I wish you would not post on this board. You clearly have nothing to offer. If you do not like Argerich, then good on you, but don't be foolish about it.

This board never ceases to amaze (/shock) me.

So I wasn't hallucinating? Cheers, mate!

No you weren't. However, it can get quite psychedelic (actually, psychotic) in here at times.

Five more -

Medtner: Sonata op. 30
Ruebke: Sonata
Villalobos: Rudepoema
Griffes: Sonata
Rachmaninoff/Kreisler: Liebesfreud

Btw, I would love to hear her play some Debussy! I wouldn't know what to expect and I'd be very interested in finding out what it sounds like! Actually, I'm quite sure it will be great, based on this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iH8kFrGnqc

So I'd like to hear her play the Preludes and Etudes by Debussy. Please let me know if she's already recorded them!

Is there a fund set up to help people with broken ears? Because I would donate to it to prevent posts like this.

1. Beethoven Hammerklavier
2. Busoni Fantasia Contrapuntistica
3. Bach Goldberg Variations
4. Sorabji Toccata No.1
5. Rachmaninov Sonata No. 1 or 2 (original version)

Not being a merchant, I can't offer anything other than my opinions.

Are you talking about this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLJ48osG7wY

Which pianists do you like? I'm very interested in your opinions on this subject.

wr, those are awesome suggestions. I am not really familiar with some but I would LOVE to hear her in those Ligeti Etudes.

I also often wonder what she might sound like in the Rachmaninoff or Chopin cello sonatas if she played along with Isserlis. I think he would tame her speed demons a bit and she would set his passionate side on greater fire. And they would produce gorgeous sounds.

So hard to not cheat on this...
Ginastera (sonatas etc.)
Granados/Albeniz - I think her playing is naturally passionate and nuanced enough to give Alicia a run for her money...
Beethoven's 4th concerto
Rachmaninoff - 2nd sonata
Ravel - Miroirs

Anyone else notice the lack of Liszt on this list?

-Daniel

And the lack of Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Villa Lobos, Scarlatti, and Chic Corea.

Not from everybody!

I didn't think he meant everybody's list. If he did, then he missed the two Liszt pieces I put down (or he's blocked me). I put down a Chopin piece myself.

Liszt is generally well served by recordings.. it's natural to want to hear Argerich in some more unusual literature, seeing how her recordings of pieces like Ginastera's Danzas Argentinas, Falla's Noches en los Jardines de Espana, Bartok's Third Concerto and the first violin sonata, etc are quite successful..

Oooh, here's some Tchaokovsky I wish she would put her mind to: the Second Concerto, in G major. THAT would be something to hear...

Agreed. I found some suggestions intriguing, and some baffling. Hammerklavier?? I love Martha, and I adore the sonata, but I can't put 2 and 2 together there...

-Daniel

Nor I, but it would be intriguing.

The suggestions in this thread have been fun, and anything Argerich plays could not help but be of interest, we have seen what she has done with Messiaen, Scriabin, (R)Strauss and Shostakovitch.

But I still go back to my original request: why has Argerich not played the Rachmaninov Rhapsody? The piece seems ideal for her, and a decent recording might exceed the composer's and go right to the top of the pile.

Honestly, I can't think of anything. Maybe Prok 2, but I've heard enough of her to more or less know what to expect with anything I've not heard already.

Forgive my ignorance; what is involved there?

For my part, I was searching around to see if she had recorded Scriabin Sonata no. 2, and was very disappointed not to find anything.

Here is one of argerichfan's posts from a previous thread:

Fascinating!

I had never heard that. Nor did I know she was so superstitious.

Don't worry -- I don't know if any of the rest of us did either!

I'm guessing it was quite an inside thing.

Not sure about five pieces, but I really, really, really wish she played Prokofiev's 2nd Concerto.

I'd love to see how she would handle the cadenza of the first movement, since no one seemingly can play it live accurately.

The Gonk by Herbert Chappell. Everyone should play it