greatest virtuoso pianists of 19th century

[antichrist]

how many do you know?

Alkan>Liszt=Thalberg?

 were there more?

[ronde_des_sylphes]

There were too many distinguished virtuosi to name. The most obvious omission from the three you have mentioned would be Chopin, but other names would be Hummel, Moscheles, Herz, Kalkbrenner, Dreyschock, Henselt, Fumagalli, Gottschalk, Anton Rubinstein, von Bulow, Tausig, Pabst and Saint-Saens.

Quite remarkably, if you open this page:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/10/26/arts/music/20081026_EARLYRECORDINGS_FEATURE.html

you hear Pabst playing in the background (1895 recording).

[ramseytheii]

how many do you know?

Alkan>Liszt=Thalberg?

 were there more?

I'm always reluctant to respond to these, where the original post contains so little effort to find out anything other than "someone tell me."  But let's not forget to mention da Pachmann, who Wagner said would be a greater pianist than Liszt, and Liszt said played Chopin's works better than Chopin himself.

Anyone who has doubts about da Pachmann based on his later eccentric endeavours, need only listen to his piano roll recording of Liszt's Don Juan fantasie, to hear the greatness.

Walter Ramsey

[michel dvorsky]

I'm always reluctant to respond to these, where the original post contains so little effort to find out anything other than "someone tell me."  But let's not forget to mention da Pachmann, who Wagner said would be a greater pianist than Liszt, and Liszt said played Chopin's works better than Chopin himself.

Anyone who has doubts about da Pachmann based on his later eccentric endeavours, need only listen to his piano roll recording of Liszt's Don Juan fantasie, to hear the greatness.

Walter Ramsey

de Pachmann was indeed tremendous, even judging by his late recordings that present him past his technical prime.  He was sloppy, but still had wonderful leggiero technique. You've heard his non-piano roll recordings, right Ramsey? His Liszt-Verdi is among the best I've heard.   He was given a lousy rap by humorless pseudo-historians like Harold Schoenberg who mistook a wonderful sense of humour for an absence of seriousness as a musician.

Anyways.  To paraphrase Dr. Evil, the virtuosos of the 19th century really were all that and a bag of potato chips, girlfriend.