These are three concerts recorded by SWR (Stuttgart radio), in public, at Schwetzingen and Ludwigsburg on 27 March 1954, 12 March 1960 and 26 May 1963 respectively. The SWR master tapes have been painstakingly remastered, as you might well imagine. At it seems that this is the first time that these concerts have been put on the market! But all that work, unfortunately, can't improve the tuning on the piano in the first 1954 concert, even if that problem is negligible when set against the quality of Claudio Arrau's playing and interpretation. For this first concert, the stand-out works are Beethoven's "Appassionata" Sonata, Schumann's Carnaval, and in the second we find Pour le piano by Debussy - in a delicious, dreamy tone that never gets misted over - followed by Jeux d'eau and a superbly spirited and quirky Alborada del grazioso by Ravel. The 1960 concert, played on a better instrument, was dedicated to Chopin: two Ballades, the fantasmagorical Sonata in B minor, and then the 24 Preludes. Finally, the 1963 concert - the longest yet, running for 90 minutes - was recorded in a hall with very different, slightly reverberating, acoustics, on a piano that really meets the artist's needs. The highlights are... really, the whole programme! We are treated to Sonata Op. 101 by Beethoven, Brahms's Handel Variations and the no-less-imposing Carnaval by Schumann - which makes up the second part of the concert, and for which the microphones were placed rather further away... These are three documents which are fundamental to an understanding of the art of this monumental pianist, who at the time of recording was at the height of his power. © SM/Qobuz