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Episode details

Radio 3,05 Sep 2026,149 mins

Series2026

Martha Argerich Plays Beethoven

BBC Proms

Available for 34 days

Live at the BBC Proms: Martha Argerich, the Munich Philharmonic and Lahav Shani perform Farrenc's Overture No 2, Beethoven's Piano Concerto No 2 and Brahms' Symphony No 4. Presented by Ian Skelly, live from the Royal Albert Hall, London. Louise Farrenc: Overture No 2 Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto No 2 in B flat major c.7.45pm Interval: The pianist Joanna MacGregor talks to Ian Skelly about Martha Argerich's legacy as the world's greatest living pianist. c.8.05pm Johannes Brahms: Symphony No 4 in E minor Martha Argerich (piano) Munich Philharmonic Lahav Shani (conductor) Yuja Wang calls her the ‘pure goddess’ of the piano, to others she’s simply the world’s greatest living pianist: Martha Argerich is back at the Proms, joining Lahav Shani and the Munich Philharmonic for the singing beauty and light-hearted delight of Beethoven’s Second Piano Concerto. Brahms’s final symphony offers glimpses of warmth and joy, but always shrouded in melancholy. One critic compared the work to gazing into a deep well: ‘The longer we look into it, the more brightly the stars shine back…’ The concert opens with Louise Farrenc’s dramatic Overture No. 2.

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Tracklist

  1. Track
    Artist
  2. 1.
    Overture No. 2
    Overture No. 2
    Louise Farrenc
  3. 2.
    Piano Concerto No. 2
    Piano Concerto No. 2
    Ludwig van Beethoven
  4. 3.
    Mother Goose Suite
    Mother Goose Suite
    Maurice Ravel