Martha Argerich is an Argentine classical concert pianist. Argerich is noted especially for her interpretations of the works by composers such as Chopin, Ravel, Liszt, Prokofiev, and Schumann, and is generally regarded as one of the greatest living pianists.

Pianist Martha Argerich and cellist Mischa Maisky perform compositional works by Franz Schubert and Robert Schumann on this audiophile release. The reissue of classical music masterpieces by ESOTERIC has attracted a lot of attention, both for its uncompromising commitment to recreating the original master sound to improve sound quality. This series marks the first hybrid SACD release of historical recording selections that have been mainstays of the catalog since their initial release.

Warner Classics is pleased to release the 12th annual 3-album set of highlights from the Progetto Martha Argerich in Lugano, described in The Times (London), as “community music-making on a deluxe scale, with performers and listeners mutually uplifted by music’s wonders.” The recordings celebrate the musical fruits of a project in which young artists join seasoned performers, including Martha Argerich herself, to explore wide-ranging chamber music and orchestral repertoire, both well-known and rarely heard.

Warner Classics is pleased to release the 11th annual 3CD set of highlights from the Progetto Martha Argerich in Lugano, “the delightful festival where youth meets experience and both benefit” (Gramophone). The Times described Argerich’s Lugano Festival as “community music-making on a deluxe scale, with performers and listeners mutually uplifted by music’s wonders”. In addition to Argerich, the performers in 2013 included many familiar names from previous Live from Lugano releases. Among the performers who took part in the series for the first time are the violinist and Queen Elisabeth Competition winner Andrey Baranov and the pianists Thomás Alegre, Alessandro Mazzamuto, Maria Meerovitch.

A concert by Martha Argerich is always sensational, sometimes grandiose, and occasionally the audience experiences a truly stellar event. Going through the archives of Bavarian Broadcasting, the feeling was unanimous, and many “ear witnesses” themselves remembered the concerts: on these evenings Argerich was in top form, collaborated with two congenial conductors, inspired the orchestra and drew inspiration from it. In short: these live recordings should, indeed must be heard! Especially with this artist, the medium of live recording is especially valuable. Before an audience in the sold-out hall, there developed a knack for communication and spontaneous music-making with a downright personal appeal to the listener.

A concert by Martha Argerich is always sensational, sometimes grandiose, and occasionally the audience experiences a truly stellar event. Going through the archives of Bavarian Broadcasting, the feeling was unanimous, and many “ear witnesses” themselves remembered the concerts: on these evenings Argerich was in top form, collaborated with two congenial conductors, inspired the orchestra and drew inspiration from it. In short: these live recordings should, indeed must be heard! Especially with this artist, the medium of live recording is especially valuable. Before an audience in the sold-out hall, there developed a knack for communication and spontaneous music-making with a downright personal appeal to the listener.

Pianists Martha Argerich and Sergei Babayan have recorded two selections from Prokofiev’s music for stage and screen in magnificent two-piano transcriptions by Babayan. The new album features Babayan’s twelve-movement transcription of numbers from the ballet Romeo and Juliet and his seven-movement suite transcribed from Prokofiev’s incidental music for Hamlet and Eugene Onegin, film score for The Queen of Spades and opera War and Peace.

In August 2015, the 70th anniversary of the American bombing and the end of the World War II, Martha Argerich co-starred with the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra conducted by Kazuyoshi Akiyama. The monumental live performance is here.

Martha Argerich has been described as “unquestionably one of the greatest pianists of all time”. She recorded a Chopin recital for EMI (now Warner Classics) in 1965, shortly after her victory in the prestigious Chopin Competition, but it only became available in 1999, when it appeared on CD. For Argerich's 75th birthday on 5 June, it finally sees its first release on LP, the format originally intended.