Pianists who are as interesting to hear talking as they are playing

[leonidas]

Not intended to be a joke about how uninteresting a pianist's playing is(though good humour is always welcome)...just opening up this topic , thinking about some of the great insights in writing some of the great past pianists gave, and even some of the pianists here on the forum...their posts sometimes give no indication of what their playing is like, and sometimes they do.

It's perfectly possible too to greatly admire someone's playing but personally dislike them, thought it's better to get aquainted with their playing first, or your first impressions may forever be tainted .

[debussy symbolism]

Greetings

Very interesting post. Whilst I am sure that many if not all pianists definately have something to say, I am particularly inclined to mention here those that are less reticent in nature and have left us with great lectures and/or written word. The two pianists that come to mind are Glenn Gould and Leonard Bernsten. Gould's interests were in no way limited to music and he often makes interesting parallels between the music he is playing and the music's connection to the outside world. Berstein has left us with the "Unanswered Question" lectures and they speak for themselves. Of course there are more pianists that I haven't mentioned here that do have many things to say.

[leonidas]

Oh I have a DVD collection of Bernstein's quasi-lectures, he was so excited and passionate about music, he never sounded bored one bit.
And in this case, it wasn't just the words he spoke, but the way he said them.

[debussy symbolism]

Oh yes definately. In the lecture about the musical dispute between Stravinsky and Schoenberg, which plays the Mahler's 9th, Bernstein almost makes you believe that the future of society is on the edge. Very interesting and very effective.

[soliloquy]

Lang Lang's grasp of the English language (or lack thereof) is almost as hilarious as his grasp of musicality (or lack thereof).

[leonidas]

Funny.

[thalberg]

Oh yes definitely. In the lecture about the musical dispute between Stravinsky and Schoenberg, which plays the Mahler's 9th, Bernstein almost makes you believe that the future of society is on the edge. Very interesting and very effective.

Mwahaha.  Stravinsky saw Schoenberg in a social gathering and described his facial expression as "angry, tortured, and burning." 

[debussy symbolism]

Yes that and/or this:
http://www.pianoworld.com/ubb/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=015589;p=0is

[hwangs]

Glenn Gould 

A genius and a nut at the same time.

[rob47]

Evgeny Kissin because he.......................


















is never talking..........................























for the SAKE........................................................of talking.

[rob47]

actually that joke's not funny any mo

[leonidas]

Rob, it wasn't what you said, but how you said it that revived the comedic spirit in that classic Kissin joke.

[etudes]

Robert Levin 

[dnephi]

for the THAKE of Muthik

[pianovirus]

Some of many pianists I like to hear not only playing but also talking are Brendel (e.g. in his book 'Thinking about music'), Schiff (e.g. on the Beethoven sonatas), and Hamelin. In general, I think by far the majority of pianists have very interesting things to share, so I would actually like to hear more from them.
One pianist I don't enjoy to hear talking is Helene Grimaud -- the last couple of times I saw her, it was almost completely about her damn wolves mixed with some pseudo-philosophic statements...