Midlands Classical Music Making

  ENTER A LIVING LEGEND  Munich Philharmonic at Symphony Hall ★★★★ We live in the age of celebrity when the runner-up in a television reality show is hailed as a star and 1970s singers performing their two hit singles on the revival circuit are labelled legendary. In the midst of this devalued currency the audience for this concert had the privilege of seeing an authentic living legend perform. Martha Argerich first appeared on the concert platform, aged eight, 77 years ago, triumphed in every competition she entered becoming a star when winning the International Chopin Piano Competition in 1965. Look at the cover photograph of her first recording made that year for EMI and you'll see a pouting beauty with a mane of black hair for whom the word "sultry" could have been coined. She made Bardot loom prim. But tempus fugit; the Martha Argerich who was greeted with cheers and applause from an enthusiastic Symphony Hall audience is 85-years-old, the mane is grey, in black and ...