If you could see one pianist play from the history of piano, who would it be???

[lisztisforkids]

Liszt?, Chopin?, Hertz?, Who, and what would you want to hear them play, and why?

[spirithorn]

If I could stand beside the piano...
Frederic Chopin, playing his Op.10 and Op.25 Etudes, to hear exactly how he conceived them and to watch the physical mechanism of his playing.

[pianalex]

beethoven-before he went deaf!

[ted]

Waller

[arensky]

Chopin.

[thalbergmad]

I would like to see Dreyschock play the Revolutionary in octaves.

[gonzalo]

Definitely Liszt

[Ruro]

 Concerto:
Prokofiev performing one of his own, probably the Second one.

 Solo:
Prokofiev performing a Piano Sonata, probably the Sixth one.

[rohansahai]

Very tough one ...but here are some not SO common ones ...
Clara Schumann, Anton Rubinstein, Anna Yesipova (heard a lot about her double note technique), Leopold Godowsky ( !!!) ......to name a few.

[apion]

Brahms playing his piano concerti and Paganini Variations.

[dmk]

Schubert improvising

[allthumbs]

I would love to talk to Beethoven and watch him play.

[invictus]

rach for sure
maybe prok
brahms on concerto
chopin
liszt
moscowski

[zheer]

Rachmainooff playing the paginine varition.

[Teddybear]

Mozart, probably some concerto or sonata.

T

[pianistimo]

yes!  mozart and/ can i have one more?  clara schumann.  i think i might even pick clara over mozart out of curiousity for how she did so much (being married and having a family).    she was already quite a pianist when she married - but she must have continued practicing  a lot.

[g_s_223]

Debussy at his Bechstein would be interesting...

[etudes]

Liszt Brahms Chopin Alkan

[tompilk]

Rach playing all his piano works!!!! Heaven!!! I'd kill for that!!! Any maybe Liszt although his  technique, as far as i have heard, is less formidable...

[etudes]

god! forget Rachmaninov and Prokofiev

[da jake]

One requirement for this: the pianists would be up for requests. 

1. Bach
2. Liszt, Alkan, Chopin
3. Rachmaninov

I also think the Schubert suggestion is brilliant.

[rob47]

Horowitz's legendary conservatory graduation recital

[da jake]

HAHAH YES!!!!!  That would probably have been one of the most epic events in piano history. Imagine the DJ fantasy at that age.

[ramseytheii]

If I could stand beside the piano...
Frederic Chopin, playing his Op.10 and Op.25 Etudes, to hear exactly how he conceived them and to watch the physical mechanism of his playing.

Liszt has said from time to time that Chopin was not the best person to hear for all of his works.  I doubt that many people would play the Etudes publicly as Chopin did publicly, since it was well known that he was averse to the big, grandiose sound.
I think I would have to vote for Mozart, to hear how he played his solo works, and also, if he played the concertos, we would get the double pleasure of seeing him conduct as well.

Walter Ramsey

[lisztisforkids]

Probaly just watching Chopin in a very small group. Or Mozart improvising.

[mr david]

Samuel Feinberg.

[hodi]

Anton Rubinstein playing his piano concerto no.4 in D minor
mendelssohn playing his songs without words

[crazy for ivan moravec]

mosonyi 


just kidding... for me, it's chopin. i wanna hear what he really wanted.

[thierry13]

mosonyi 


just kidding... for me, it's chopin. i wanna hear what he really wanted.

The thing is, Chopin couldn't play like he really wanted it to sound. So if you want to hear how Chopin really wanted it to sound, you should hear Liszt play them, since even Chopin found Liszt better than himself for his works.

[crazy for ivan moravec]

yeah but i think we can find ideas which does not necessarily come in the most ideal sound that a composer executes. no question about it that liszt was always the best pianist to hear. but i think the way chopin would play it would still be different from how liszt would, and i think there a lots of things which will help us as to how to approach his works.

take for example rachmaninoff's or shostakovich's recordings playing their own works, they're not the best performances, but you hear the main ideas/intentions. the only thing about it is that you'd really have to know why they do such ideas... and hearing it in not the best shape of a pianist, there would be a lot of sifting to do with our listening.   

[stevie]

liszt above all

then alkan and chopin, rach...etc

i would most like to hear them improvise, especially liszt, i wonder if he really was as good as they say....

[systen]

Liszt, no doubt about that.

[steveie986]

I think Chopin is the most reasonable answer, since there are very few Chopin interpreters who actually play it the way Chopin intended it to sound. (Not that that's bad or anything, since it's possible to argue that Chopin's interpretation of Chopin isn't necessarily better than, say, Horowitz's.)

Except, however, for a certain Chinese pianist named Fou Ts'ong, whom Hermann Hesse called the only authentic interpreter of Chopin. But then again, what does Hesse know about Romantic music??? (It's alleged in his later life he denounced all music after J.S. Bach, with Beethoven being a particular example of atrocious music).

[apion]

Except, however, for a certain Chinese pianist named Fou Ts'ong, whom Hermann Hesse called the only authentic interpreter of Chopin.

What about Lang Lang? 

[pianalex]

..and fou ts'ong greatly preferes scarlatti to Bach anyway ..

[jas]

The thing is, Chopin couldn't play like he really wanted it to sound. So if you want to hear how Chopin really wanted it to sound, you should hear Liszt play them, since even Chopin found Liszt better than himself for his works.

Are you talking about the comment he wrote in a letter about Liszt playing his etudes? I don't think that means he thought Liszt could play everything he wrote better than he could.
Surely one of his best students would be a better option? Carl Filtsch was his favourite, even though he died very young. And there were others who he would get to play his pieces to others when he didn't feel up to it himself. Can't remember who...

He got annoyed with Liszt for adding his own ornamentation when he was playing. A phenomenal pianist Liszt may have been, but I think someone taught by Chopin would be much closer to how he'd wanted his pieces played.

Anyway, my answer is Chopin!

Jas

[dinosaurtales]

I would love to be a fly in the room when Beethoven and Ries dashed back to his apartment, and Ries sat in a corner watching Beethove improvise and build the final movement to the Appassionata. 

[cfortunato]

I was about to say pretty much the same thing.  I would like to see Beethoven improvise.

[musicsdarkangel]

Lhevinne, Rachmaninoff, or Liszt.


that would take some major thought.

[sashalds]

A treat for me would definitely be to see Bach perform his works on a modern piano.  I think he would sound incredible!

[crazy for ivan moravec]

A treat for me would definitely be to see Bach perform his works on a modern piano.  I think he would sound incredible!

yeah, i can imagine the uneveness now, using his 4-5 4-5 fingering with scale figures.
but i do wonder how he would deal with dynamics... having such a different concept of color.. 

[dinosaurtales]

Beethoven.  I'd love to see how he would react to a modern piano!

[superstition2]

Roslavets playing his 3rd and 4th sonatas (lost). I'd hope to have a tape recorder so the pieces could be reconstructed.
Ornstein playing his 1st, 2nd, and 3rd sonatas (lost). Tape recorder for reconstruction.


Scriabin, premiere of 5th sonata (people were said to have fallen to his feet)
Scriabin graduation recital (premiere of the 1st sonata)
Scriabin practicing Don Juan, before he injured his hand
Scriabin premier of all other sonatas and piano concerto
Scriabin playing Beethoven's Tempest
Rachmaninov, premier of 2nd sonata
Rachmaninov, premier of 2nd concerto
Rachmaninov, 3rd concerto with Mahler conducting
Rachmaninov, 4th concerto premiere
Rachmaninov graduation recital
Rachmaninov playing Appassionata or Hammerklavier
Horowitz graduation recital (I believe he played the Rachmaninov 2nd sonata)
Horowitz playing for Scriabin as a child
Prokofiev, 2nd concerto premiere
Prokofiev examination with premier of 1st concerto
Prokofiev playing the 3rd symphony of Scriabin for two pianos by himself
Myaskovsky premiers of 2nd and 3rd sonatas
Tcherepnin, premier of 5th concerto (It took him 4 years after he wrote it before he could play it)
Liszt, premier of B minor sonata
Liszt, premier of mephisto waltz
Chopin, premier of 2nd sonata
Beethoven, premier of Tempest and Pathetique sonatas

[superstition2]

A treat for me would definitely be to see Bach perform his works on a modern piano.  I think he would sound incredible!

One critic says the modern piano is not suitable for the performance of some of his works, like the Goldberg Variations. They demand, according to him, a two manual harpsichord with one or more special effects.

[sevencircles]

Would love to hear Godowsky play his Chopin studies.

Any reports of Alkan the pianist.

I have not heard much about his piano playing.

[brahmsian]

Scriabin would be cool to see
I would have liked to see Gould play as well.

[crazy for ivan moravec]

Would love to hear Godowsky play his Chopin studies.

Any reports of Alkan the pianist.

I have not heard much about his piano playing.

he must be really good. finished (1st prize) paris conservatoire younger than cortot did (at 7, i think?). i think cortot finished at 9 years old. i don't know, now, i think im getting mixed up with the numbers.

[crazy for ivan moravec]

One critic says the modern piano is not suitable for the performance of some of his works, like the Goldberg Variations. They demand, according to him, a two manual harpsichord with one or more special effects.

i think what that critic said doesn't really matter... it's good information though. but most of us still love hearing that work on the piano.

[harmelodic]

I'm kind of surprised no mention of Josef Hofmann, who by many accounts was the greatest pianist of his time.  Even Rachmaninoff (who would be my second choice) voiced this opinion.

[musicsdarkangel]

Lhevinne.


Rachmaninoff.


Liszt.