best technique?

[quasimodo]

What is "the best technic " ?

If it's velocity and clarity, I would say Cziffra, Dinu Lipatti.
If it's touch, sound and tone control, Horowitz.

My favorite classical pianist however is Samson François. His technique was quite personal and completely in service of his musical expressivity.

[steinwaymodeld]

Just techinal wist

Marc-Andre Hamelin

no question asked.

[m]

What is "the best technic " ?

If it's velocity and clarity, I would say Cziffra, Dinu Lipatti.
If it's touch, sound and tone control, Horowitz.

My favorite classical pianist however is Samson François. His technique was quite personal and completely in service of his musical expressivity.

If it is velocity and clarity, I'd say--Rachmaninov
If it is touch, sound and tone control, I'd say--Rachmaninov
If it is personal technique, which is completely in service of musical expressivity, I'd say--Rachmaninov.

In 2 minutes 51 second he finishes everyone and with the last few chords stamps on the grave:

https://home.comcast.net/~markfuksman/Track16.mp3

[piano88]

Of living pianists, Argerich certainly must be considered to have the greatest technique. Couple that with her deep musicality gives her the complete package.
Kissin also has a great technique, but lacks in musicality. As does Lang Lang.
Of the dead, well, Horowitz is a name you'll hear a lot - also, Hoffman was in his time considered to have an unequalled technique.
Remember though, technique isn't everything. Music lies more in the heart.
AD

[brewtality]

Of living pianists, Argerich certainly must be considered to have the greatest technique.

not even. Marc Andre da doctah holdz da title

[piano88]

Speak english man!

[brewtality]

hahaha ok den, but first ima haffta call u out fo mispelling da alco pregnant cat's name 

[piano88]

I'm sorry, but I can't understand a word of what you say. It must be a nightmare to hold a conversation with you.

[piano_file]

Marc Andre Hamelin is the definitive virtuoso.His technique is that of a super-human.

[Alde]

Marc Andre Hamelin is the definitive virtuoso.His technique is that of a super-human.

I agree that Marc Andre has a phenomenal technique.

He must have sold his soul to the devil!

[musicsdarkangel]

Ashkenazy does have incredible, clean, precise, speedy, underrated technique.


Other then that, I would say Horowitz, Cziffra, Hamelin, Richter, Volodos.

[Bacfokievrahms]

 listen to me dear friend. the best technique is this one: the best technique!
  don't say it, cause i know what u're going to say. what am i talking about? am i insane? maybe! but i trully believe that the best techinque is our bset technique. which one is that? there's only you who knows.

word

[musicsdarkangel]

Hamelin has such ridiculous technique because he plays so much difficult contemporary music.  He's now on a Rach 3 tour....should be a walk in the park for him.



But actually, when I REALLY think about this question, my answer is Ashkenazy, because it comes so easily to him, he never misses a note, and always goes slower than he can play.

This blows my mind because his Rachmaninoff Rhapsody is 1000000 miles an hour, perfect, and musical.

[vic5]

I must admit that I perfer the techniques of the early recording artists.  IMO they seem to bring a bit more color to a wider range of compositions.  So I'll add 2 more that I'm surprised haven't been mentioned already.  Rachmaninov had incredible technique to go along with his genius music sense, and perhaps the most natural of them all was Josef Hoffman.  There is something in Hofmann's technique that I value more than anyone else's.

[sevencircles]

I agree about Hoffmann. The young Hoffmann could play scales more fluently and with better control then any other player I have heard including Hamelin.

Rachmaninoff said that the only people he ever heard that could beat him technically "in terms of speed mostly" was Hoffmann and Simon Barere (Barere had a much larger repertoire then most people believe).

Godowsky had a too limited repertoire and Tatum didn´t play classical works so they didn´t count I guess.

Speaking about Tatum. Do a Vitaminic.com search for Tiger Bag for instance. I think that even the superhuman Marc-André Hamelin would turn to a human if he tried to learn Tatum´s hardest stuff.

[musicsdarkangel]

man, Tatum rocks!

[thierry13]

Speaking about Tatum. Do a Vitaminic.com search for Tiger Bag for instance. I think that even the superhuman Marc-André Hamelin would turn to a human if he tried to learn Tatum´s hardest stuff.

Tiger Bag is a walk in the park for hamelin.

[sevencircles]

"Tiger Bag is a walk in the park for hamelin."

Maybe the studio version is. Tatum improvised a whole lot and sometimes he played it 10 times as impressive live!

By the way. Anybody know about an online videoclip of Hamelin playing?

[thierry13]

www.dasdc.net : you'll find a lot there.

[sevencircles]

Checked out the page. How come almost everybody has porno avatars and joke around on that forum?

[orlandopiano]

"Tiger Bag is a walk in the park for hamelin."

Maybe the studio version is. Tatum improvised a whole lot and sometimes he played it 10 times as impressive live!

By the way. Anybody know about an online videoclip of Hamelin playing?

I am very familiar with the genius of Art Tatum, and while his improvisational ability and sheer speed were incredible, his technique was no where close to Hamelin's.

[sevencircles]

I don´t think Hamelin can improvise as technically hard stuff as Tatum could.

Is www.dasdc.net just a jokesite or do they have videolinks that actually work?

[moose_opus_28]

Argerich, Richter, Hamlin, and Volodos would top my list.  Horowitz is my favorite pianist, regardless of not having the best technique.

[brewtality]

I believe Horowitz's technique was superior to all pianists you listed except Hamelin. 
Other great technicians include Hofmann (i think he was superior to hamelin in scales, arps), Rosenthal and Cziffra.

[Bouter Boogie]

Definitely Horowitz and Richter

[daniel patschan]

I also think that Hamelin has the greatest technique today. But for sure - there is no perfection, even not in his playing. I heard him play the Totentanz some weeks ago and he hit wrong keys three times. When he played in Germany two or three month ago, he had to restart the first Godowsky-Chopin study due to a total loss of control over what was going on. Andrei Gavrilov, Konstantin Scherbakov and Bernd Glemser posses an almost comparable technique (after my opinion).

[mrchops10]

I don´t think Hamelin can improvise as technically hard stuff as Tatum could.

I love Art Tatum and think him one of the finest pianists of the century, but he wasn't exactly an improviser. Actually, people who heard him from night to night said it sounded almost the same, his intepretations were so "worked out." Still, it's awesome to play transcriptions of his actual solos. It's obvious that, same as when playing Rachmaninoff or Chopin or Liszt, this is the piano-writing of a great pianist, it is so thoroughly idiomatic and, once understood, comfortable. This can clearly only come from great technique. And besides, add to that how visionary he was, technically and musically, and his raw talent and relative lack of formal training, it is impossible to deny he was a major technique. No serious pianist would consider what he did a "walk in the park."

[arensky]

All factors weighed and considered....

Hofmann
Michelangeli
Gould
Rachmaninov
Hamelin

[smith101]

Before you make up your mind about who has the best technique consider these two:

First, the  late Glenn Gould set a control standard I'm not sure anyone has surpassed.  On his Bach recordings (played without pedal) you can hear absolutely perfect duration control of every note whether legato, staccato, or between.  He gives each voice its own touch using duration, and so separates them for the listener.  Truly amazing.   Sustain pedal crushers disguise all their inadequacies in this area.   

Second,  listen to Byron Janis/ Charles Munch recording of the Rach. 3rd concerto.  Blistering pace, yet every note is annunciated and every phrase perfectly shaped.   

I can't think of any recorded examples of this,  but Rachmaninoff was legendary for his half pedaling technique,  allowing effects many other pianists never even think about.   

[opus10no2]

Chopin etudes are very good means of comparing technique. Of those that made recordings of the complete set, Gavrilov, Cziffra, Browning, Zayas (& maybe Penneys?) stand out as having the best technique.

ps. Horowitz most definately did NOT have the best technique.

A terrific debut, quite so.

Hamelin curiously has not recorded any Chopin etudes, and I find it very hard to argue with his technical and testicular fortitude.

On his recent DVD though, his technique appears to be in decline(or was simply a bad day for him), so ruling him out of having the best technique in the world at present - I'd say Ingolf Wunder, among other, have a chance at the title.

[sevencircles]

he had to restart the first Godowsky-Chopin study due to a total loss of control over what was going on.

Really?!!!

What did he say?

[cygnusdei]

but i do have to say that argerich is far and away the best female pianist ive ever heard - technically and musically.

I have a recording of Evelyne Brancart playing the Liszt Paganini etudes and the Brahms Paganini variations. I'll be damned if they weren't as close to technical perfection as they get.

[ronde_des_sylphes]

Egon Petri's Brahms Paganini Variations was recorded in ONE TAKE.

I'm not convinced that Raymond Lewenthal's technique was significantly inferior to Hamelin's.

Michelangeli, Cziffra and Rachmaninov are my personal favourites, but there are plenty others who have produced remarkable performances.