“Unquestionably one of the greatest pianists of all time” is how Gramophone magazine has described Martha Argerich. Her relationship with the label goes back to 1965 and her victory at the International Chopin Competition in Warsaw. Over several decades it has produced a rich catalogue of live and studio recordings, embracing a repertoire that spans three centuries, a diversity of genres, and collaborations with such figures as Charles Dutoit, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Gidon Kremer, Mischa Maisky and Itzhak Perlman. The complete recordings for EMI Classics, Teldec, Erato and Warner Classics are featured in this box.

Martha Argerich is a pianist of transcendent gifts and her special joy in musical collaboration is the key to the second part of this collection: the complete live recordings made at Switzerland’s Lugano Festival between 2002 and 2016 and released by EMI Classics and Warner Classics. Argerich is heard in solo works and concertos, but above all in intimate partnership with fellow instrumentalists, performers she sees as her musical “family”.

This new boxset puts together in 46 CDs all the recordings made by Martha Argerich for EMI Classics, Teldec, Erato and Warner Classics, from 1965 to 2020.

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”. Her relationship with Warner Classics and all its past and present labels has lasted more than 50 years, and began with the legendary 1965 Chopin recording.

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 is 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 gives only a limited number of performances a year and in the past was notorious for cancelling concerts at short notice if she felt she was not in peak form.

She is a generous mentor to young artists, notably through her former Progetto Martha Argerich at the Lugano Festival in Switzerland.

The new box is divided into two parts.

The first part (24 CDs) comprises all the recordings from the EMI Classics, Teldec, Erato and Warner Classics catalogues (except those from the Lugano Festival). It includes both live and studio recordings and a variety of genres: solo piano music, music for piano duo, chamber works and concertos. All are presented with their original coupling and cover artwork.

The second part (22 CDs) 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. It features a wide variety of genres: solo piano music, lots of music for piano duo and among them many arrangements, chamber works and concertos. These Lugano recordings were mostly originally released as an annual 3-CD boxset – with Martha performing only a part of them – representing the highlights of the previous year’s festival concerts.