In Commemoration Of The Composer's Centennial, Rachmaninoff The Complete Piano Concertos And The Paganini Rhapsody

Released in 1973 by Angel Records, this four-disc box set was produced to mark the centennial of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s birth. The collection features the Argentinian-American pianist Agustin Anievas performing the composer's complete piano concertos alongside the Paganini Rhapsody. The project was conceived as a comprehensive tribute, bringing together Anievas with the New Philharmonia Orchestra under the baton of three different conductors—Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Moshe Atzmon, and Aldo Ceccato—to capture the vast emotional range of Rachmaninoff’s late-Romantic works.

The design of the set reflects the aesthetic sensibilities of 1970s classical box sets, favoring a formal and dignified presentation suitable for a centennial commemoration. Angel Records, the domestic arm of the EMI classical division, aimed to provide a definitive and accessible survey of these cornerstones of the piano repertoire. Upon its release, the set was noted for Anievas's technical command and the atmospheric support of the New Philharmonia, positioning the collection as a standard entry in the discographies of the era's mid-career concert pianists.