The late Maurizio Pollini passed away on March 23, 2024, at the age of 82, marking the end of a career spanning more than 60 years. He was one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century. Few pianists can boast having established benchmark recordings for almost all the major keyboard composers. Whether it was Beethoven, Chopin, Schubert, or Schumann, Maurizio Pollini stood out as a leading interpreter.

A joyful winner of the prestigious Chopin Competition in Warsaw in 1960, he recorded the composer's Piano Concerto No. 1 with Paul Kletzki that same year. Here, we present a much rarer recording from the same year with the same conductor, this time live with the Orchestre National de France, and another live recording made in Italy eight years later. Given that the sound quality of both recordings was just barely acceptable, the restoration required extensive work, and we are very pleased with the result.