This collection comprises all the live recordings of Martha Argerich at the Lugano Festival, joined by a sublime company of many other outstanding artists and featuring a broad variety of genres and works composed by Robert Schumann, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Maurice Ravel, Ludwig van Beethoven, Sergei Rachmaninov, Johannes Brahms and Dimitri Shostakovich.

Martha Argerich, born in Buenos Aires in 1941, has been described by Gramophone as “unquestionably one of the greatest pianists of all time, her legendary pianism, liquid-fire virtuosity and imaginative vitality unique in the annals of piano playing”.

Pianist magazine has written that: “Few other musicians spark such adoration among peers and juniors alike as does Martha Argerich.” Fellow Warner Classics pianist Stephen Kovacevich, who has been close to her for decades, says: “Her sound in wonderful. She has a gift and she must enjoy showing her gift – and that’s infectious.”

Argerich’s career has been unconventional and this adds to her charisma and mystique. Though her artistic range is wide, she has focused on a relatively small, though diverse repertoire. She prefers the less lonely pursuits of concertos, chamber music and repertoire for piano duo than solo recitals, and gives only a limited number of performances a year.

She is a generous mentor to young artists, notably through her Progetto Martha Argerich at the Lugano Festival in Switzerland, which has resulted in a number of albums in the Warner Classics catalogue.

The box comprises all (live) recordings made by Martha Argerich at the Lugano Festival, from 2002 to the last edition in 2016, and released by EMI Classics and Warner Classics. An impressive collection of 22 CDs without equivalent.

It includes a variety of genres: some solo piano music, lots of music for piano duo and among them many arrangements, chamber works and concertos.

The composers span the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, with Schumann, Mozart, Ravel, Beethoven, Rachmaninov, Brahms and Shostakovich being the most frequently performed.


The Lugano Recordings
Recordings from 2002-2016

CD 1: Mozart (76.17)
Piano Concerto no.20 in D minor, K466
- Orchestra della Svizzera italiana / Jacek Kaspszyk
Piano Sonata in C major, K545 (arr. Grieg for two pianos)
- Piotr Anderszewski (piano)
Piano Concerto no.25 in C major, K503
- Orchestra della Svizzera italiana / Jacek Kaspszyk

CD 2: Mozart (78.23)
Sonata for Piano Four Hands in D major, K381
- Maria Joao Pires (piano)
Sonata for Two Pianos in D major, K448 (375a)
- Sergei Babayan (piano)
Fantasia in F minor, K608 (arr. Busoni for two pianos)
- Lilya Zilberstein (piano)
Sonata for Piano Four Hands in F major, K497
- Cristina Marton (piano)

CD 3: Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven (70.52)
Mozart
Andante & Variations in G major for Piano Four Hands, K501
- Stephen Kovacevich (piano)
Haydn
Piano Trio in G major, Hob.XV:25
- Renaud Capuçon (violin), Gautier Capuçon (cello)
Beethoven
Violin Sonata in G major, op.30/3
- Renaud Capuçon (violin)
Trio for Piano, Clarinet and Cello in B flat major, op.11
- Marek Denemark (clarinet), Mark Drobinsky (cello)
Variations in E flat major on “Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen” from Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, WoO46
- Mischa Maisky (cello)

CD 4: Beethoven (79.32)
Piano Concerto no.1 in C major, op.15
- Orchestra della Svizzera italiana • Hubert Soudant
Piano Quartet in C major, WoO36
- Renaud Capuçon (violin), Lyda Chen (viola), Gautier Capuçon (cello)
Piano Trio in D major “Ghost”, op. 70/1
- Renaud Capuçon (violin), Mischa Maisky (cello)

CD 5: Beethoven (79.05)
Concerto for Piano, Violin, Cello and Orchestra in C major “Triple Concerto”, op.56
- Renaud Capuçon (violin), Mischa Maisky (cello)
- Orchestra della Svizzera italiana / Alexandre Rabinovitch-Barakovsky
Cello Sonata in G minor, op. 5/2
- Mischa Maisky (cello)
Fantasy for Piano, Chorus and Orchestra in C minor “Choral Fantasy”, op.80
- Coro della Radiotelevisione svizzera, Orchestra della Svizzera italiana / Diego Fasolis

CD 6: Bach, Schubert, Mendelssohn (75.22)
JS Bach
Violin Sonata in C minor, BWV 1017
- Tedi Papavrami (violin)
Schubert
Variations in A flat major for Piano Four Hands, D813
- Alexander Mogilevsky (piano)
Mendelssohn
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, opp. 21 & 61 (excerpts) (arr. for two pianos)
- Cristina Marton (piano)
Piano Trio in D minor, op.49
- Renaud Capuçon (violin), Gautier Capuçon (cello)

CD 7: Chopin & Liszt (78.27)
Chopin
Piano Concerto no.1 in E minor, op.11
- Orchestra della Svizzera italiana / Jacek Kaspszyk
Introduction & Polonaise in C major, op.3 for piano and cello
- Gautier Capuçon (cello)
Liszt
Les Préludes, S97 (arr. Liszt for two pianos)
- Daniel Rivera (piano)
Réminiscences de Don Juan, S656 (after S418) (arr. Liszt for two pianos)
- Mauricio Vallina (piano)

CD 8: Schumann (77.59)
Kinderszenen, op.15
Fantasiestücke, op.73 for piano and cello
- Gautier Capuçon (cello)
Violin Sonata no.1 in A minor, op.105
Violin Sonata no.2 in D minor, op.121
- Renaud Capuçon (violin)

CD 9: Schumann (76.45)
Piano Concerto in A minor, op.54
- Orchestra della Svizzera italiana / Alexandre Rabinovitch-Barakovsky
Fantasiestücke, op.88 for piano, violin and cello
- Renaud Capuçon (violin), Gautier Capuçon (cello)
Piano Quartet in E flat major, op.47
- Renaud Capuçon violin • Lyda Chen viola • Gautier Capuçon cello

CD 10: Schumann (74.21)
Andante & Variations for Two Pianos in B flat major, op.46
- Gabriela Montero (piano)
Piano Quintet in E flat major, op.44
- Dora Schwarzberg (violin), Renaud Capuçon (violin), Nora Romanoff-Schwarzberg (viola), Mark Drobinsky (cello)
Violin Sonata no. 1 in A minor, op.105
- Géza Hosszu-Legocky violin
Fünf Stücke im Volkston, op.102 for cello and piano
- Gautier Capuçon (cello)

CD 11: Schumann, Liszt, Brahms (71.37)
Schumann
Adagio & Allegro, op.70 for piano and cello
- Gautier Capuçon (cello)
Six Canonic Etudes, op.56 (arr. Debussy for two pianos)
- Lilya Zilberstein (piano)
Fantasiestücke, op.73 (arr. for flugelhorn and piano)
- Sergei Nakariakov (flugelhorn)
Liszt
Concerto pathétique, S258 (after S176) (arr. Liszt for two pianos)
- Lilya Zilberstein (piano)
Brahms
Variations on a Theme by Haydn, op.56b (version for two pianos)
- Polina Leschenko (piano)

CD 12: Brahms (56.46)
Sonata for Two Pianos in F minor, op.34b (arr. of Piano Quintet, op.34)
- Lilya Zilberstein (piano)
Variations on a Theme by Haydn, op.56b (version for two pianos)
- Nicholas Angelich (piano)

CD 13: Tchaikovsky, Smetana, Zarębski (77.38)
Tchaikovsky
The Nutcracker: Suite, op.71a (arr. Nicolas Economu for two pianos)
- Mirabela Dina (piano)
Smetana
Sonata in E minor for two pianos, eight hands
Rondo in C major for two pianos, eight hands
- Lilya Zilberstein (piano), Anton Gerzenberg (piano), Daniel Gerzenberg (piano)
Zarębski
Piano Quintet in G minor, op.34
- Dora Schwarzberg (violin), Lucia Hall (violin), Lyda Chen (viola), Gautier Capuçon (cello)

CD 14: Saint-Saëns, Debussy, Ravel (76.14)
Camille Saint-Saëns
Le Carnaval des animaux
- Andrey Baranov (violin), Michael Guttman (violin), Lyda Chen (viola)
- Alexandre Debrus (cello), Enrico Fagone (double bass), Alfred Rutz (flute)
- Corrado Giuffredi (clarinet), Lilya Zilberstein (piano), Gregorio Di Trapani (percussion)
Debussy
Petite Suite for piano four hands
- Cristina Marton (piano)
En blanc et noir for piano four hands
- Stephen Kovacevich (piano)
Ravel
Piano Concerto in G major
- Orchestra della Svizzera italiana / Jacek Kaspszyk

CD 15: Ravel & Debussy (79.15)
Ravel
Gaspard de la nuit
La Valse (arr. Ravel for two pianos)
- Sergio Tiempo (piano)
Ma Mere l’Oye for piano duet
- Alexander Mogilevsky (piano)
Piano Concerto in G major
- Orchestra della Svizzera italiana / Alexander Vedernikov conductor
Debussy
Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune (arr. Debussy for two pianos)
- Stephen Kovacevich (piano)

CD 16: Rachmaninov (78.58)
Symphonic Dances, op.45 (arr. Rachmaninov for two pianos)
- Nelson Goerner (piano)
Suite for Two Pianos no.1 in G minor, op.5
- Lilya Zilberstein (piano)
Suite for Two Pianos no. 2, op.17
- Gabriela Montero (piano)

CD 17: Prokofiev & Rachmaninov (60.55)
Prokofiev
Symphony no.1 in D major, op.25 “Classical” (arr. Rikuya Terashima for two pianos)
- Yefim Bronfman (piano)
Violin Sonata no.2 in D major, op.94bis
- Renaud Capuçon (violin)
Rachmaninov
Six Morceaux, op.11 for piano four hands
- Lilya Zilberstein (piano)

CD 18: Bartók (65.27)
Romanian Folk Dances, Sz.56 (arr. Székely for violin and piano)
- Géza Hosszu-Legocky (violin)
Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion, Sz.110
- Stephen Kovacevich (piano), Louis Sauvetre (percussion), Danilo Grassi (percussion)
Sonata for Violin and Piano no.1, Sz.75
- Renaud Capuçon (violin)

CD 19: Shostakovich (66.23)
Shostakovich
Concerto for Piano, Trumpet and Strings, op.35
- Sergei Nakariakov (trumpet), Orchestra della Svizzera italiana / Alexander Vedernikov
Concertino for Two Pianos in A minor, op.94
- Lilya Zilberstein (piano)
Piano Quintet in G minor, op.57
- Renaud Capuçon (violin), Alissa Margulis (violin), Lyda Chen (viola), Mischa Maisky (cello)

CD 20: Shostakovich, Poulenc, Janáček, Lutosławski (56.06)
Shostakovich
Piano Trio no.2 in E minor, op. 67
- Maxim Vengerov (violin), Gautier Capuçon (cello)
Poulenc
Piano Sonata for Four Hands, FP8
- Dagmar Clottu (piano)
Janáček
Concertino for Piano, Two Violins, Viola, Clarinet, Horn and Bassoon
- Lucia Hall (violin), Alissa Margulis (violins), Nora Romanoff-Schwarzberg (viola)
- Corrado Giuffredi (clarinet), Zora Slokar (horn), Vincent Godel (bassoon)
Lutosławski
Variations on a Theme by Paganini for two pianos
- Giorgia Tomassi (piano)

CD 21: Weinberg, Lutosławski, Pletnev 62.01
Weinberg
Violin Sonata no.5, op.53
- Gidon Kremer (violin)
Lutosławski
Variations on a Theme by Paganini for two pianos
- Mauricio Vallina (piano)
Pletnev
Fantasia elvetica
- Alexander Mogilevsky (piano), Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana / Mikhail Pletnev

CD 22: Falla, Mores, Bacalov, Guastavino, Piazzolla (77.38)
Falla
Noches en los jardines de Espana
- Orchestra della Svizzera italiana / Alexander Vedernikov
Mores
Taquito militar (arr. Ale Petrasso for two pianos)
- Ale Petrasso (piano)
Bacalov
Portena (Latitud 34°36'30") for two pianos and orchestra
- Eduardo Hubert (piano),  Orchestra della Svizzera italiana / Alexander Vedernikov
Guastavino
Tres romances argentinos
- Mauricio Vallina (piano)
Piazzolla
Tre tanghi (arr. Eduardo Hubert for two pianos)
- Eduardo Hubert (piano)