Israel Philharmonic Orchestra

Summit meeting - There is a black and white photo of a little girl in a light-colored frilly dress, her hair as dark as her eyes, her hands resting on the piano keyboard. This photo adorns the cover of a historical recording at
, which also reads: "Beethoven, Concerto No. 1 op. 15" - played by the 7-year-old Martha Argerich. Even her first teacher tried to capture the mystery of her exceptional talent with the image that her fingers were able to lift the keys like tentacles with suction cups instead of striking them. Just as Beethoven's music has transcended the centuries, so too has the art of the legendary pianist outshone the decades of her world career: lightness and virtuosity paired with narrative depth, an indomitable willfulness, the resilience of a predator, a force of nature.

Her path leads her to Beethoven's piano concertos time and time again - as recently in her collaboration with Lahav Shani, chief conductor of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and the Rotterdams Philharmonisch Orkest, and from 2026/27 also chief conductor of the Munich Philharmonic. The fact that the grande dame and the young high-flyer have formed a new dream team was also demonstrated in joint piano recitals.

The fact that Shani succeeded in getting Martha Argerich to perform as a soloist with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra can also be seen as an accolade. The Albert Concerts thus herald a veritable summit meeting. In addition to Beethoven, the program includes works by Modest Mussorgsky, in particular his famous, vividly imaginative "Pictures at an Exhibition". Originally composed for first-class pianists, they were congenially orchestrated by Maurice Ravel using the exuberant color palette of the early 20th century.

Program:
Mussorgsky, Prelude "Dawn on the Moskva" from "Khovanshchina" (arr. Rimsky-Korsakov)
Beethoven, Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major op. 15
Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition (arr. Ravel)

Martha Argerich, piano
Lahav Shani, conductor
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra

With the kind support of theFreunde und Förderer der Albert Konzerte e.V.

EUR 149,- / 135,- / 115,- / 89,- / 69,- incl. fees

Martha Argerich | Photo © Adriano Heitmann