The Portuguese pianist Maria João Pires is 80 today. Critics have turned handsprings over her Schubert and Chopin, but my favorite recordings are two made with Augustin Dumay.

Together, they hold me in their thrall with the three violin sonatas of Edvard Grieg. Who knew the unassuming Norwegian miniaturist harbored such volcanic passion? Okay, so there’s every possibility that theirs are not the most idiomatic interpretations, but who cares? I’ll take these above all others. Here’s a taste:

They also collaborated on a very fine collection of the Beethoven sonatas, perhaps more suited to their collaborative temperament. You can sample any of them here:

Dumay, now 75, also set down my preferred recording of Édouard Lalo’s “Symphonie espagnole.” I guess the French really do know how to cook.

Many (including myself) assumed the couple were married, but it turns out they were actually cohabitating. Following their split, they continued to play together and, according to Pires, remain good friends.

In 2006, Pires left Portugal to live in Brazil for 11 years, because of sustained negative publicity over an experimental primary school she established to introduce the arts into the lives of underprivileged children. She also tried to set up a program for sexually abused children, but claims she was stonewalled by the previously-cooperative Portuguese government, over the raging controversy. During her expatriation, the arts program continued to operate on her farm, overseen by a trusted friend. In the meantime, she initiated similar programs in Brazil.

With all the anxiety over the attacks in the press – which then invented a story that the reason for her move was so that she could be with her Brazilian lover (who did not exist) – she fell ill and had to undergo major heart surgery. She later dedicated one of her recordings to her medical team.

Pires returned to Portugal in 2017 and announced her retirement from the concert stage (after all, she had been performing in public since the age of 5), but every time she thought she was out, it seems, the instrument pulled her back in. There have been spills and injuries along the way – pianists are a lot like athletes – but she’s basically been back to concertizing since 2020.

There’s a video that’s been circulating on the internet for a number of years now, in which Pires shows up for a concert having prepared the wrong Mozart concerto and then delivers a note-perfect performance of the scheduled piece, despite not having played it for quite some time. Some combination of adrenaline, muscle memory, and/or the Force sees her through.

Personally, I’m not sure how such a mix-up is even possible, since, even in the modern world of fly-me-in artists, there’s usually at least one rehearsal. But it was a lunchtime concert, and they’re all world-class professionals, so there it is.

Pires claims a strong relationship with Buddhist philosophy. While she admits Buddhism influences her playing, with its sense of breathing, space, and quietness, she refuses to be pigeonholed as a Buddhist, stating that before anything else she is a human being.

Happy birthday, Maria João Pires. May your future surprises all be good ones!

Pires explains the source of the Mozart mix-up here:

Pires plays the Chopin Nocturnes, no studio trickery, live in concert: