Martha Argerich’s exhilarating early recordings, released here for the first time, include sonatas by Mozart and Beethoven that appear nowhere else in her discography; Prokofiev’s Third Sonata is also a recording première. This set displaying the young virtuoso includes her first recordings of Ravel’s Gaspard and his Sonatine, as well as Prokofiev Seventh Sonata, full of mystery and verve. They show her to be an eloquent and imaginative artist at the age of 18, already at the peak of her abilities. This release documents some of the radio recordings she made for North German (NDR) and West German Radio (WDR) in 1960 and 1967 and is released in time for her 75th birthday celebration on 5th June 2016.

Track listing:

Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 7 in D major, Op. 10 No. 3

WDR Cologne, 8 September 1960

Mozart: Piano Sonata No. 18 in D major, K576 ‘Hunt’

WDR, Cologne, 23 January 1960

Prokofiev : Toccata in D minor, Op. 11

NDR Hamburg, 16 March 1960

Piano Sonata No. 3 in A minor, Op. 28

NDR Hamburg, 16 March 1960

Piano Sonata No. 7 in B flat major, Op. 83

WDR Cologne, 31 October 1967

Ravel: Gaspard de la Nuit

NDR Hamburg, 16 March 1960

Sonatine

WDR Cologne, 8 September 1960