are anyone elses favourite pianists

[simonjp90]

pletnev, kissin & zimerman?

[pianisten1989]

Nah... Argerich, Gilels and Richter.. And Kempff....

[fbt]

Horowitz,Gilels,Michelangeli,Lipatti,Hofmann,Richter

[prongated]

pletnev, kissin & zimerman?

Well...

Pletnev, yes - I admire very much his commitment and dedication to music, perhaps more so than his actual playing (in the same way, I do like Richter very much, even though I don't like the way he plays)
Kissin, God yes!
Zimmerman, no - simply because I haven't heard enough of him, although what I've heard is very, very good indeed!

But my absolute favourite is definitely Arthur Rubinstein. His Brahms d minor concerto with Israel Phil and Mehta is, for me, absolutely otherworldly and unsurpassed.

[horowitzian]

pletnev, kissin & zimerman?

They are fine, but I'm more of an 'old school' person. Horowitz, Rubinstein, Cziffra, Gilels, Sofronitsky, Lipatti. You get the idea. 

[retrouvailles]

A very spontaneous list: Andsnes, Hamelin, Zimerman (despite his whackjob attitude lately), Gilels, Aimard, Hough, in no order. I suppose I'm more of a forward thinker than most people here, aside from my Gilels nomination. These days, however, I don't see myself that picky about pianists, for with much of the repertoire I listen to, I don't have much of a choice sometimes.

[simonjp90]

They are fine, but I'm more of an 'old school' person. Horowitz, Rubinstein, Cziffra, Gilels, Sofronitsky, Lipatti. You get the idea. 

I would be an old school person but I can't stand bad quality recordings

[thalbergmad]

It is better to have bad quality recordings than bad quality playing.

Thal

[point of grace]

Gilels, Rubinstein and stop counting

[horowitzian]

It is better to have bad quality recordings than bad quality playing.

Thal

Exactly my thoughts!  Not to say all of today's pianists are bad...I like Hamelin and Andsnes quite a lot too.

[simonjp90]

It is better to have bad quality recordings than bad quality playing.

Thal

is it though? If it's all crackly it distracts you from the music, and today there aren't really any performers who record with mistakes left in, so if you want to hear the music then I reckon a modern cd is better.

[pianowolfi]

Andsnes' Chopin sonatas are something I could carry every day with me. Never can get enough of it
Zimerman, yes
Pletnev is not a favorite of mine but I listen to him and I respect him very much.

Kissin rather not. But well...

Arrau (Yes some will stone me, but I don't care a sh**)

Brendel (yes some will stone me again, but so sorry, I have heard his Beethoven Sonatas live in the early eighties!)

Bolet!

Gilels!

Michelangeli!!!

Emanuel Ax...


Stephen Hough

..

[thalbergmad]

is it though? If it's all crackly it distracts you from the music, and today there aren't really any performers who record with mistakes left in, so if you want to hear the music then I reckon a modern cd is better.

Some of my old Paderewski 78's are of good quality. I can cope with the odd crackle.

No mistakes recordings are not human and when you hear the pianist live, this can lead to disappiontment.

Thal

[ahinton]

disappiontment.

Waht is taht?

Bset,

Alisztair

[mephisto]

Waht is taht?

Bset,

Alisztair

Disappointment is the feeling of dissatisfaction that follows the failure of expectations to manifest

[pianowolfi]

Waht is taht?

Bset,

Alisztair

Ohhh a Liszter?

[simonjp90]

Waht is taht?

Bset,

Alisztair

what the hell. It's a typo. Perhaps it was on purpose demonstrating the human errors he was talking about. Or should that be "about which he was talking"

[prongated]

is it though? If it's all crackly it distracts you from the music, and today there aren't really any performers who record with mistakes left in, so if you want to hear the music then I reckon a modern cd is better.

Quite the contrary, I personally enjoyed very much those old, crackly recordings exactly because I get so much music out of them. Listening to Schnabel's Beethoven and Schubert recordings gives me so much feeling of pure musical sense - the conviction, direction, and genuine artistic intent. In a way, I listen for different things in a modern CD (for example, the sound of the piano, the tone...which of course contribute to the music but isn't everything in music).

[point of grace]

Some of my old Paderewski 78's are of good quality. I can cope with the odd crackle.

No mistakes recordings are not human and when you hear the pianist live, this can lead to disappiontment.

Thal

totally... that happened to me with Valentina Lisitsa...

[ramseytheii]

A very spontaneous list: Andsnes, Hamelin, Zimerman (despite his whackjob attitude lately), Gilels, Aimard, Hough, in no order. I suppose I'm more of a forward thinker than most people here, aside from my Gilels nomination. These days, however, I don't see myself that picky about pianists, for with much of the repertoire I listen to, I don't have much of a choice sometimes.

Several people mentioned Hough but honestly I dno't hear it... saw him in masterclass and was very bored, and then heard a few recordings (Schumann) and thought them so boring and conservative, and his tone is frankly bland.  He just seems like a stodgy English pianist who wears a funny hat to give the impression of exoticism.

Talking about living pianists, I am surprised no one mentioned one of my favorites, Frederic Chiu, who has spectacular recordings of Liszt and Prokofiev, among others.

Aimard is a great pianist who thankfully knows which repertoire to stay away from, because it doesn't suit him.

Hamelin is definitely one of the most interesting repertoires, I heard him live and was very disappointed.  The only things that were interesting were bizarre things that nobody had ever heard of, and I wonder if they were only interesting because we didn't know how they were supposed to sound.

Your list of mostly living pianists is admirable.

Walter Ramsey

[slow_concert_pianist]

Depends on period composer

Bach baroque - Gould
Scarlatti - Kilpatrick, Poglorich
Haydn - Brendal
Mozart - Barenboim
Beethoven - Schnabel, Richter
Chopin - Argerich, Rubenstein, Godowsky
Liszt - Howard, Bolet, Kissin (just - takes a lot of liberties)
Russian romantics - Bereskovsky, Horowitz
Debussy - ?
Ravel - Ravel
Prokofiev - Richter, Prokofiev, Horowitz
Albeniz - Uchida

Of course there are scores of great pianists not mentioned, but (as a generalisation) the above "stand out" for me.

[thalbergmad]

He just seems like a stodgy English pianist who wears a funny hat to give the impression of exoticism.

Having an English name does not seem to assist in becoming a recognised pianist. Houghs performances at the Proms last year were beyond boring, funny hat or not.

Thal

[m]

Depends on period composer

Bach baroque - Gould
Scarlatti - Kilpatrick, Poglorich
Haydn - Brendal
Mozart - Barenboim
Beethoven - Schnabel, Richter
Chopin - Argerich, Rubenstein, Godowsky
Liszt - Howard, Bolet, Kissin (just - takes a lot of liberties)
Russian romantics - Bereskovsky, Horowitz
Debussy - ?
Ravel - Ravel
Prokofiev - Richter, Prokofiev, Horowitz
Albeniz - Uchida

Of course there are scores of great pianists not mentioned, but (as a generalisation) the above "stand out" for me.

Sorry, quite a few names do not look familiar:

Kilpatrick
Poglorich
Brendal
Rubenstein
Bereskovsky

[arturfan]

pletnev, kissin & zimerman?

yes,no,no

[point of grace]

i like zimmerman... his performances of several piano concertos that i studied were really good.

[smithreeseii]

Barenboim, Ashkenazy, Buchbinder, Arrau, Kempff, Cliburn, Serkin.

[orangesodaking]

Hamelin, Gilels, and Laplante are the three that I really enjoy right now.

[pianist7]

Ashkenazy, Richter, Agerich, Horowitz, maybe Rubenstein...all the greats

[harmonica]

I heard Rubenstein several times in the 60's and 70's and became a great fan. He was truly a citizen of the world and lived for piano playing.
Richter was a legend who played like a God.
I love Cziffra because he had the heart of a lion. He survived inhuman treatment in the interment camps and returned to play with abandon.

[jinfiesto]

Old School: Cherkassky, Gieseking, Richter(sometimes)

Newer: Perahia, Hough, Nakamatsu, Pletnev (one of my teachers studied with him), Hamelin(sometimes), Argerich ftw.

[ponken]

pletnev, kissin & zimerman?

I love Zimerman, ecpecially his interpretation of Chopin's barcarolle. Kissin has amazing technique but sometimes he plays the pieces faster than they are supposed to be just to show off. But I still like him.

My favourite pianists to watch is Yundi Li and Boris Berezovsky.

[pianisten1989]

No mistakes recordings are not human and when you hear the pianist live, this can lead to disappiontment.

Thal

Totaly agree. I don't really see why they record pieces to (almost) perfection, when there is no way they'll be able to play like that in concert. It's quite stupid...

[richard black]

Plenty of the above-named would be on my favourites list. Surprised not to see anyone else mention Backhaus: I hope it's just oversight! And did anyone suggest Rachmaninov yet? I'll also name John Ogdon, Ronald Stevenson, Elisso Virsaladze, Myra Hess, Igoumenoff (Igumanov etc. - can't remember his first name), Benno Moiseiwitsch...

I suppose if I had to name just one as my favourite, it would be Moiseiwitsch.

[simonjp90]

howard shelley is my favourite at the moment

[prongated]

Totaly agree. I don't really see why they record pieces to (almost) perfection, when there is no way they'll be able to play like that in concert. It's quite stupid...

And it kinda sucks that that is what international piano competitions demand these days...

[ponken]

And it kinda sucks that that is what international piano competitions demand these days...

I agree too.

[steinwayb]

Agerich, Gilels, Gould, Arrau, Uchida, Brendel, Nojima,Pollini.

Rather ecletic list- let me narrow it down

Brendel- Beethoven Sonatas, Schubert. The pianist i listen to most
Gilels- Betthoven and just about anything else he plays
Gould- Bach- there is none of the common controversy in this choice for me.
Uchida- mozart and Schubert sonatas. Also interestig Debussy etudes and Chopin Sonatas.
Nojima- Unbeievable recordings, of both, Liszt Seleted Tansendental Etudes and great Sonata in B minor and Ravel. Unbeatable recording of Gaspard. He is fearless.
Jon Nakamatsu- His Rachmoninoff Concertos our becoming my favourite

[fifthelegy]

Zimerman, Richter and Rubinstein are among my favourites as well. Haven't heard enough of Kissin. Horowitz is not bad either, but sometimes he plays a bit harshly, like for some of the Chopin pieces, or is it just me?
My dad loves Yundi Li.

I'm seeing Ashkenazy conducting the Sydney Symphony Orchestra later on this year! Excited :D But not as excited as I probably would have been if he were actually playing