The 10 Most Important Keyboard Works To Have In Your CD Collection

[fuel925]

Just wondering what everyone thinks are the top 10 "must have" works for a pianist at whatever level to have in their CD collection. Examples would be Beethoven's 32 Piano Sonatas, Bach's WTC or Griegs Lyric Pieces.

[etudes]

Chopin Etudes - Pollini,Gavrilov,Cziffra

[fuel925]

Chopin Etudes - Pollini,Gavrilov,Cziffra

Nice choice, but what about the other 9

[frederic]

10?!?!? you gotta be kidding me....

[fuel925]

10?!?!? you gotta be kidding me....

No, why? Is that too much or too little?

[frederic]

way too little!

[fuel925]

way too little!

Well just say the top 10, or if you can't name the TOP 10, just name 10 important ones.

[pianalex]

beethoven sonatas  goode/brendel
mozart sonatas         uchida
haydn sonatas         brendel
schubert sonatas         kempff
bach goldbergs          hewitt
bach 48                      fischer
debussy preludes/etudes    gieseking/uchida
chopin preludes/mazurkas    cortot
scarlatti sonatas           pletnev
prokofiev sonatas         richter

[fuel925]

beethoven sonatas  goode/brendel
mozart sonatas         uchida
haydn sonatas         brendel
schubert sonatas         kempff
bach goldbergs          hewitt
bach 48                      fischer
debussy preludes/etudes    gieseking/uchida
chopin preludes/mazurkas    cortot
scarlatti sonatas           pletnev
prokofiev sonatas         richter

Nice choices! Keep 'em coming

[quantum]

1)  Beethoven 32 - Brendel
2)  Bach 48 - Hewitt (plus any other Bach recorded by Hewitt)
3)  Chopin Ballades - Zimerman / Tryon
4)  Scriabin 10 Sonatas - Laredo / Hamelin / Ashkenazy / Taub
5)  Debussy Preludes
6)  Scarlatti Sonatas - Pletnev
7)  Chopin Concerti - Zimerman
  Beethoven Concerti - Perahia
9)  Bach English Suites - Perahia
10) Messiaen - Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant Jesus - Osborne

[g_s_223]

Some I really like:

Chopin - Polonaise-Fantasie
Godowsky - Concert-Paraphrase on J. Strauss's 'Kunstlerleben'
Liszt - Sonata
Liszt - Années de pèlerinage I/II/III
Prokofiev - Concerto No.2
Rachmaninoff - Suites for 2 pianos I/II
Ravel - Gaspard
Ravel - Concerto for LH
Rzewski - TPUWNBD
Schubert - D989/D960
Schumann - Fantasy
Scriabin - 5th Sonata

[vladhorwz]

Tchaikovsky- Pletnev
Rach1,2,3,4-Rach
English Suites- Perahia
Vlad Horowitz- Hands of the Master 4 disc set
WTC- Richter
Nocturnes- Barenboim
Inven/Sin - Gould
Beethoven Sonatas- Serkin
chopin Ballades - Ax
Lyrical pieces (grieg) - Gilels

[jas]

In no particular order:
1. Beethoven Sonatas
2. Beethoven Concertos
3. Chopin Etudes/Preludes (would that be 2?)
4. Bach WTC
5. Prokofiev Concertos
6. Scarlatti Sonatas
7. Skryabin Preludes
8. Some Haydn or Mozart, I suppose.
9. Ravel's Gaspard de la nuit & L.H. Piano Concerto
10. Rachmaninoff Etudes/Preludes

I have only 7 of these, though.

Jas

[pianalex]

8. Some Haydn or Mozart, I suppose.


Jas

[pianalex]

that's nice

[jas]

that's nice

Well, I don't find either of them particularly exciting, but I realise that they're important. Not a bad thing to be familiar with.

Jas

[pianalex]

I'm guessing that you don't find them as exciting as the others to play, rather than listen to?  i know its a cd thread but any way.  i have to say stay with them both -  and if you are not rewarded then we will have to redifne the word music

[jas]

I'm guessing that you don't find them as exciting as the others to play, rather than listen to?  i know its a cd thread but any way.  i have to say stay with them both -  and if you are not rewarded then we will have to redifne the word music

It's the other way around, actually! In general, I enjoy playing Classical and Baroque music more than I enjoy listening to it. That's not to say I don't listen to any of it. I just prefer Beethoven-onwards. To be honest, I haven't really given Haydn and Mozart's piano music a proper chance (listening to it, that is) -- I don't really listen to it at all these days. Maybe I should.

Jas

[contrapunctus]

Ten Gould albums should cover it sufficiently.

[da jake]

My list is ranked in order of the greatness of the work. The stuff in brackets are suggestions.

Bach Goldberg Variations (Both Gould recordings)
Schubert Wanderer Fantasy (Richter, Hamelin live,
Liszt Sonata (Ho 32(?) rec, Gilels)
Beethoven Late Sonatas
Chopin Ballades, 1,4 (Cortot, Hofmann(!)
Alkan Opus 39 (Hamelin, Lewenthal for Festin)
Schumann 3rd Sonata (Horowitz, Berman)
Chopin Preludes
Chopin Sonatas 2,3
Scriabin Sonatas 2-5
Prokofiev Sonatas 3 (Gilels, no competition), 7 (Argerich, Sultanov, Gould for the last movement)

Sh*t...that's 11! (well, more actually) whatever.

[phil13]

Ten Gould albums should cover it sufficiently.

How did I know you would say that?  

Top 10...

Bach's English Suites
Bach P&Fs both books
Scarlatti Sonatas (50 minimum, 555 maximum )
Beethoven Sonatas
Chopin's Preludes
Chopin Mazurkas
Chopin's Sonata No.3, Barcarolle, Polonaise Fantasie, Fantasy in F minor and Ballade in F minor (1 set)
Medtner Sonatas
Rachmaninoff Etudes-Tableaux
Scriabin Etudes

That's my dream list.

Phil