The best pianist /composer. Ever.

[pianissimo123]

Who do you think has the best musicality? The best technique? The biggest aptitude for music?
Which composer was the ultimate?  Speak out. Let everyone know who your favorites are..and why. 

[mike1515]

Without any doubts, J.S. Bach...

[gyzzzmo]

Mozart, for his diversity and quality. That is as a composer ofcourse. There is no point in saying 'who was the best pianist ever', since there is no way of objectivly comparing (for example) Liszt with Sokolov.

[point of grace]

Rachmaninoff!!!

[wert718]

ME!

jk, Beethoven or Liszt.

[magio]

For me, the most gifted pianists in the world(except for me ) are the pianists who make even the world's most difficult piano pieces ever sound very easy under their fingers!
From men:
Evgeny kissin
From women:
Valentina Lisitsa
For instance:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bz_iA8TSDtI
She plays it as if it was a piece for beginners!
 

[m2r]

It either has to be bach or mozart hands down.

[fleetfingers]

I am glad to see that others responded with Mozart (it seems like everyone usually says Chopin). Mozart is definitely my favorite. Every once in a while, I will focus on another great composer - whom I also love - and I even think for a while that they are my new favorite. But, I always gravitate back to W.A.M. I've been watching some youtube videos of violinists lately - mainly concertos - and I am not familiar with the pieces. Several times, I have thought to myself, "Ooh, I love this one," only to notice that it's a Mozart piece. It's amazing to me that he was able to come up with so many lovely melodies.

[angierc]

I would say Liszt... He's both a great composer and pianist..
but Rachmaninoff is one of the best in both composing and piano..

[sevencircles]

There are many old people on this forum apparently. 

At least one that is more then 260 years old and couple of  persons that are more then 220 year old 

Sorry I couldn´t resist but the only pianists we can comment  are pianists recorded not even Liszt was recorded, not even on a pianoroll 

[retrouvailles]

There are many old people on this forum apparently. 

At least one that is more then 260 years old and couple of  persons that are more then 220 year old 

Sorry I couldn´t resist but the only pianists we can comment  are pianists recorded not even Liszt was recorded, not even on a pianoroll 

Yes, thank you for saying exactly what I was thinking. Anyone who says any composer from before the era of recording is the best pianist/composer is obviously not understanding the question.

Here are some picks of mine: Marc-André Hamelin, Magnus Lindberg, Stephen Hough, Leopold Godowsky.

[overfjell]

Why are people saying Bach? He never composed for piano D:

For me, the greatest piano composers; Rachmaninoff, Liszt, Debussy, Alkan and Scriabin.

[carbe]

I have to say Chopin. He has made extremely many genial pieces. I love his music.

[retrouvailles]

Why are so many people mentioning composers that lived before the recording era (Liszt, Chopin, Beethoven, etc)? These people are impossible to mention, for there is no one alive who could have heard them play.

[ch101]

chopin and liszt. chopin for his beautiful melodies and liszt for combining virtuosity and musicality so perffectly

[pianorigami]

In my opinion, the best composers are Chopin, Debussy, and Gershwin

[jimbo320]

Hmmm..., Probably a toss up between Bach and Mozart......

[retrouvailles]

Wow, no one seems to be reading any of the previous posts, nor the original post. You can't name someone who lived before the recording era!

[jimbo320]

Wow, no one seems to be reading any of the previous posts, nor the original post. You can't name someone who lived before the recording era!

Wow, where in the original post does it read recording era ?? 

[retrouvailles]

The original post implies that it is possible to listen to the pianist/composers in recordings, and that isn't possible with all of these composers who lived before the recording era (Bach, Beethoven, etc).

[jimbo320]

!?  For the better part of civility I speak no more...

[pianoplayjl]

Romantic period: Liszt, Alkan and Thalberg.

[pianoplayjl]

Top 10: Excluding Liszt, Thal and Alkan


Beethoven: From what I heard, a great pianist and an improviser too, who could snap piano strings at will and dazzled audiences with his playings.

Mozart: probably the greatest child prodigy I heard of and had a gift of composing.

Hummel: I heard that Beethoven considered Hummel to be a rival and the second best pianist after him. I think he was also a student of Mozart.

Tausig: I think he was said by many to be the only person with a technique that was comparable to that of Liszt, particularly his octave technique.

Rachmaninoff: his large hands were an advantage because he could play big chords and large stretches with little difficulty.

Scriabin: Don't knwo much but judging by how well he plays his own pieces, he a damn fine pianist.

Brahms: Hailed by Schumann as his successor. Don't know much about his technique.

Czerny: I don't know about him but he taught the greatest pianist ever and left behind a stash of technical exercises which many consider fundamental to a pianist.

Hamelin: his transcriptions are excellent and has a large repertoire.

Chopin: I don't know....

JL

[pbryld]

Stephen Hough is the best mix of everything.

[sevencircles]

John Ogdon should be mentioned I think. At least before his mental breakdown 

A better pianists then composer without any doubt.

[pianoisthebest23]

Rachmaninoff, Liszt and Mozart

[ca88313]

.

[cuberdrift]

By general consensus, Bach and Liszt respectively.

Horowitz for best classical pianist of the recorded era.

[perfect_pitch]

Was it really worth necro'ing a 5 year old thread???

[compline]

Was it really worth necro'ing a 5 year old thread???

Well perhaps Admin should lock defunct threads!

 

.

[perfect_pitch]

It's just, it's usually a tactic a lot of spammers have been using to insert hyperlinks into threads - usually by picking old threads and just typing a random reply as well.

[transitional]

That's not even a question, it's Bach for approximately 99.9648329057893107532% of pianists. (Well maybe a bit less, but just to get a general idea...)