Who Are Your Top 10 Favorite Classical Pianists?

[guru_of_time]

*See topic name*

In alphabetical order

Martha Argerich
Van Cliburn
Andrei Gavrilov
Vladimir Horowitz
Mikhail Pletnev
Ivo Pogorelich
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Sviatoslav Richter
Artur Rubinstein
Arcadi Volodos

Notice how most are Russian lol

Who are your favorites?

[pianonut]

richter
pollini
michelangeli
my teacher (carl cranmer)
pogorelich
murray perahia
argerich
jean-jves thibaudet
barry douglas
barry douglas

[Bouter Boogie]

10 pianists I really admire:

Zimerman
Richter
Horowitz
Pollini
Perahia
Kissin
Argerich
Pletnev
Anda
Lugansky

I can actually mention a lot more, but you asked for 10, so..

[Waldszenen]

1. Richter
2. Horowitz
3. Rachmaninoff
4. Gilels
5. Cortot
6. Rubinstein
7. Schnabel
8. Michelangeli
9. Hofmann
10. Arrau

[shasta]

Ashkenazy
De Larrocha
Moravec
Arrau
Argerich
Roge
Kissin (young)
Cherkassy
Istomin
Volodos
Hamelin

[janne p.]

(in alphabetical order)

Vladimir Ashkenazy
György Cziffra
Emil Gilels
Glenn Gould
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli
Benno Moiseiwitsch
Olli Mustonen
Maurizio Pollini
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Sviatoslav Richter

[stevie]

cziffra (number 1)
hamelin
lugansky
pogorelich (never boring, takes risks and by virtue of talent - they pay off)
richter
berezovsky
horowitz
lang lang (yes, seriously)
gavrilov
rachmaninov(listen to his own performance of the rach1 1st mvt cadenza to hear why)

[Mozartian]

I've replied to like 5 of these before I think, but amazingly no one has mentioned my most favoritests yet in this thread so-

Kapell
Lipatti
Fiorentino

Michelangeli
Zimerman
Pollini (for his schumann)
Horowitz
Gilels
Cziffra

[musicsdarkangel]

1.  Ashkenazy
2.  Alexeyev
3.  Horowitz
4.  Van Cliburn
5.  Arrau
6.  Ohlsson
7.  De Larrocha
8.  Cziffra
9.  Hamelin
10.Wild



(Number one would be my teacher)

[ako]

1. Argerich
2. Rubenstein
3. Richter
4. Pollini
5. Gould
6. Cortot
7. Hess
8. Schnabel
9. Rachmaninoff
10. Pogorelich

[Jacey1973]

I find it difficult to list pianists i've never seen live - like Askenazy or Rachmaninov. I understand that you can listen to their recordings but it is not really the same as seeing a full performance - stage presence etc - plus with pianists i've seen more than once i haven't enjoyed every single one of their performances.

I'd say out of the pianists i've seen live:

Brilliant - Alfred Brendal, John Lill, Freddy Kempf, Imogen Cooper, Roy Howat

Pretty amazing -Stephen Hough (except when he did Rach 3), Barry Bouglas

Ok/alright - Edvard Kunz, Bernhard Roberts,

There are many others but i really can't remember them all...maybe their playing wasn't memorable enough.

Oh yeah i forgot to mention about the time i saw Liszt and Thalberg play in 1837...

[quantum]

Perahia
Ashkenazy
Zimmerman
Hewitt, Angela
Demidenko, Nikolai
Petchersky
Lipatti
Kissin
Horowitz
Volodos

[tater_tot]

Be warned, this is in no particular order.

William Kapell
Arthur Rubinstein
Paul Jacobs
Marc-Andre Hamelin
Stephen Hough
Gilbert Kalish
Ivan Moravec
Alfred Brendel
Sviatoslav Richter
Ignaz Friedman

[thalberg]

Perahia
Argerich
Goode
Richter
Schnabel
Gould
Michelangeli
Lipatti
Grimaud
Kocsis

[prometheus]

Brendel
Richter
Hamelin
Gould
Arrau
Demidenko
Zimerman
Gilels
Ogden
Hough

I know there are probably better pianists out there but I don't really know them.

[stevie]

i believe cziffra is that man youre looking for 

[brewtality]

1) Vladimir Horowitz & Josef Hofmann (the greatest pianists imo)

2) Georges Cziffra (I love his tone, technique and style)

in no particular order;

Emil Gilels (golden tone, fantastic octaves)
Sergei Rachmaninoff (the gorgeous rach 1)
Arthur Rubinstein (Mazurkas, ballade 1)
Alfred Cortot (pure poetry)
Marc-Andre Hamelin (for exposing me to non standard rep, for this I am eternally grateful)
Dinu Lipatti (for his Chopin waltzes, the only pianist besides Hofmann who makes these sound interesting)
Sergio Fiorentino (the more I hear of him the more I love him, I'd buy all his APR cds if they weren't so damn expensive)

Honourable mentions: Noel Mewton-Wood, Walter Gieseking, Moriz Rosenthal, Boris Berezovsky (though I HATE his Rach 3)

[vladhorwz]

Horowitz
Argerich
Richter
Cziffra
Sultanov
Rubinstein
Casadesus (Robert)
Pletnev
Kissin
Tesh  

[da jake]

1. Horowitz
2. Cziffra
3. Gilels
4. Hofmann
5. Gould
6. Lipatti
7. Rachmaninov
8. Richter
9. Hamelin
10.Moiseiwitsch

[Waldszenen]

1) Vladimir Horowitz & Josef Hofmann (the greatest pianists imo)

I agree.

[bwv772]

In no particular order:

Zhu Xiao-Mei, for her Bach, Scarlatti, Schubert and anything and everything else
Horowitz, for everything
Hamelin, for everything
Gould, for insights into the baroque
Pires, for her Mozart
Perahia, for almost eveything
Hough, for his Liszt
Uschida, for her Mozart and Schubert


Worse, for me:

...Pollini.

[jerry xie]

(any order)
glenn gould(for bach,bizet,sibelius&cpe bach)
horowitz(for scarlatti,clementi&bach/busoni and rachmaninov)
rosalyn tureck(bach!!!!!!)
solomon(for mozart&bach/liszt)
murray perahia(for bach)
cary chow(my teacher,he's coooool)
marc-andre hamelin(i only heard his playing of max reger&i luv it)
giliels(spelling right???)for beethoven and grieg
andras schihf(for bach&mozart)
argerich(for liszt)
least favorite:
horszowski
li yundi(my previous teacher is good friend of his teacher)he's very good, but 2 young...

[dlu]

In no particular order:

Horowitz (bleh)
Rachmaninoff
Rzewski
Aimard
Gould
Kuerti
Zimerman
Hamelin
Francois
Richter
Moiseiwitsch

ok...that's 11...and...yeah...I could think of more...

DLu

[stevie]

i am a HUGE fan of marc-andre hamelin, but even still i am very surprised he is on virtually everybody's list!

https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php/topic,11341.0.html

vote for him here, if enough people do, hell win an award!!! 

[jerry xie]

Hamelin---i love you!!!yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
he's the only good french musician!!!

[pseudopianist]

1. Cziffra
2. Hamelin (If not shared first place. I love both of them so much)
3. Richter
4. Freddy Kempf
5. Martha Argerich
6. Yundi Li
7. Jeno Jando
8. Idil Biret
9. Angela Hewhit
10. Horowitz

[trix]

In no particular order as I like them for different reasons and for different composers:

Horowitz
Richter
Berman
Gulda
Rachmaninoff
Ashkenazy
Bachauer
Browning
Vasary
Pollini
Noaves
Hobson

oooops! oh you did say 12 right? (if not kill the last two).

[stevie]

1. Cziffra
2. Hamelin (If not shared first place. I love both of them so much)
3. Richter
4. Freddy Kempf
5. Martha Argerich
6. Yundi Li
7. Jeno Jando
8. Idil Biret
9. Angela Hewhit
10. Horowitz

naxos is cheap, i see.

why is freddy so high up your list?

[Skeptopotamus]

Aimard
Ashkenazy
Berman
Bolet
Cziffra
Hamelin
Jalbert
Pace
Rzewski
Volodos

[pseudopianist]

naxos is cheap, i see.

why is freddy so high up your list?

Yeah Naxos is cheap but that doesn't stop them from giving us some great recordings. Jeno Jandos WTC is probaly the best I've heard along with Richter and when it comes to Biret, she has a wonderful touch even if she screws up a lot of pieces.

Freddy's Transcendetal etudes is the number one reason and of course his Rachmaninov, his 2nd Rach Sonata is the best recording I have heard to date. A great pianist.

[chromatickler]

christiaan kuyvenhoven
van clitburn
howard na
john rusnak
idil biret
pogorelich now
geoffrey douglous madge
hamelin
steven turnbull
perahia

[pseudopianist]

christiaan kuyvenhoven
van clitburn
howard na
john rusnakidil biret
pogorelich now
geoffrey douglous madge
hamelin
steven turnbull
perahia

i had no idea

[stevie]

christiaan kuyvenhoven
van clitburn
howard na
john rusnak
idil biret
pogorelich now
geoffrey douglous madge
hamelin
steven turnbull
perahia

howard na? yes ive heard of him, one of the winners in the american chopin competition, notable for his abhorrence of technical fireworks, he is reputed to take 'Islamey' at an adagio pace, resulting in a grandiose 30 minute long donkey.

kuyvenhoven? yes, the 3rd prize winner at the liszt competition this year, phenomenal performances, amazing accuracy in the sonata.

john rusnak has a phenomenal technique too, he managed to breathe new life into the chopin etudes, and reached amazing spiritual heights in his goldberg variations.

steven turnbull is one of those names that rings a bell, but i cant put my finger on who he is, can you elaborate on whats so good about him?

[jeremyjchilds]

(in alphabetical order)

Vladimir Ashkenazy
György Cziffra
Emil Gilels
Glenn Gould
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli
Benno Moiseiwitsch
Olli Mustonen
Maurizio Pollini
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Sviatoslav Richter

I agree

[pseudopianist]

steven turnbull is one of those names that rings a bell, but i cant put my finger on who he is, can you elaborate on whats so good about him?

true

[m]

christiaan kuyvenhoven
van clitburn
howard na
john rusnak
idil biret
pogorelich now
geoffrey douglous madge
hamelin
steven turnbull
perahia

From what I heard Madge is a phenomenal sight-reader. Rumours, he performed his first reading of Chopin-Godowsky complete etudes right on stage. The performance was put straight on 4CD set, and is a very valuable document.
His fresh insights in Opusclavicembalum explain popularity of the recording (live from the concert).

john rusnak has a phenomenal technique too, he managed to breathe new life into the chopin etudes, and reached amazing spiritual heights in his goldberg variations.

I can see his undoubtful artistic inspiration revealed in Goldberg Variations, but Chopin Etudes

Why are they so fast???... I have to admit, his pedal work sometimes is quite amazing.

[stevie]

yes igor, he adds an almost proto-schoenbergian feel to them.

[chromatickler]

steven turnbull is one of those names that rings a bell, but i cant put my finger on who he is, can you elaborate on whats so good about him?

well, most people seem to think he's just another helfgott without the talent. but to me it's not about how well he can play (if at all), but what grave obstacles he had to overcome to become what he is today. such courage and determination really touches me, and shows what you can accomplish if you truly set your heart to it. a while ago i saw a news story of a pianist with 2 fingers on each hand. she played chopin's fantasie impromptu with such heartfelt expression that i was brought to tears. she revealed the honesty and dignity in the music. often times i suppose, turnbull's music speak to me in much the same way.

[alhimia]

It's really amusing for me to see that nobody mentioned my two favourite pianists: Jorge Bolet and Radu Lupu 

I also admire Pires and like very much Severin von Eckardstein (young generation) and Frederic Meinders (very unknown Dutch pianist)

[janne p.]

van clitburn

Seriously, Van Clitburn? ;----D

[joachimf]

(No spesific order)

Vladimir Ashkenazy
Artur Rubinstein
Glenn Gould
Sigurd Slåttebrekk (for his individuality)
Leif-Ove Andsnes
Martha Argerich (the temperament...)
Vladimir Horowitz

I know it's not ten but I haven't been able to really listen to that many yet =) (I have listened to others but I don't really "know" them yet...)

[chromatickler]

Seriously, Van Clitburn? ;----D

[stevie]

It's really amusing for me to see that nobody mentioned my two favourite pianists: Jorge Bolet and Radu Lupu 

I also admire Pires and like very much Severin von Eckardstein (young generation) and Frederic Meinders (very unknown Dutch pianist)

bolet is INCREDIBLE, i havent heard that much of his earlier recordings though, so i left him out of my list.

he has incredible delicacy and colour in his tone(especially in soft passages), equalled by VERY few.

[stevie]

well, most people seem to think he's just another helfgott without the talent. but to me it's not about how well he can play (if at all), but what grave obstacles he had to overcome to become what he is today. such courage and determination really touches me, and shows what you can accomplish if you truly set your heart to it. a while ago i saw a news story of a pianist with 2 fingers on each hand. she played chopin's fantasie impromptu with such heartfelt expression that i was brought to tears. she revealed the honesty and dignity in the music. often times i suppose, turnbull's music speak to me in much the same way.

i'll have to check out his recordings, could you give me a lead or any recommendations?

[pseudopianist]

i'll have to check out his recordings, could you give me a lead or any recommendations?

His 25/12 is supposed to be the fastest ever recorded, at least what I know of.

[stevie]

His 25/12 is supposed to be the fastest ever recorded, at least what I know of.

WOW!  he must have phenomenal technique!

[arensky]

                                        Off the top of my head, 



                                       1. Horowitz
                                       2. Kapell
                                       3. De Larrocha
                                       4. Michelangeli
                                       5. Rubinstein
                                       6. Richter
                                       7. Gould
                                       8. Argerich
                                       9. Ashkenazy
                                       10. Hoffman

[thierry13]

Hamelin---i love you!!!yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
he's the only good french musician!!!

First of all I don't know if by french you mean who speak french or comes from France, but anyway, he doesn't come from France. Second, he's far from being the only good french musician.

[Waldszenen]

Hamelin is Canadian, so I suppose you can say he's of French descent.


And Bolet is really cool.

[prometheus]

He's from Montreal, yes. But his english is good.

A friend of mine had a relation with a guy from Montreal (yes extremely long distance). She lived there for half a year and his parents couldn't speak any english. And their french was funny too.