Improvising on famous themes, can any of today´s pianogiants do that well?

[sevencircles]

Often when I play the piano i prefer to improvise and create variations on famous themes rather then playing it as it is written.

A few days ago I heard Marcel Dupré improvising double-fugues on youtube  , a . I am not a big Organ fan but Dupré was almost superhuman in my opinion.

I have heard that Leslie Howard is great when it comes to improvising on themes, but I have heard nothing that proves that.

You rarely hear about modernday classical musicians doing mindblowing improvisations and that is sad I think.

Any specific pianist that comes to mind when it comes to improvising really complex variations on wellknown themes?

[richard black]

Wayne Marshall, an extraordinary musician who seems equally at home on organ and piano (and conducting) is a very fine improviser.

[birba]

There are a few around.  If you look up at the ad for Gabriela Montero - I am getting sick of that picture, though - you'll see she takes requests from the audience and improvises on them. (Her claim to fame was performing at Obama's investiture).  Definitely cultivate that talent.  I think something like that helps your playing in everything you do.

[sevencircles]

There are a few around.  If you look up at the ad for Gabriela Montero - I am getting sick of that picture, though - you'll see she takes requests from the audience and improvises on them. (Her claim to fame was performing at Obama's investiture).  Definitely cultivate that talent.  I think something like that helps your playing in everything you do.

Many clips on youtube and she seems to be really good at it, a bit too jazzy for my taste perhaps.

[latrobe]

Hi!

A few weeks ago in the French Riviera I heard the most incredible improvisationalist . . . Harry Harris . . . Very well worth listening to or perhaps engaging for concerts or a masterclass. He blew us all away with his vast knowledge of the whole repertoire and his ability to put it all together on the spot . . . His website is www.harrythepiano.com and I don't recommend performers lightly - but in view of this thread's topic, a mention of Harry cannot be missed.

Best wishes

David P

[birba]

I had never heard of him.  Really enjoyed that clip.  He's phenomenal.  I wonder how he is in playing straight classic.

[musicioso]

[birba]

Very impressive! I wish he had kept the steady rhythm throughout, though, - it would have been even more spectacular.
I just googled him.  I wasn't familiar with the name.  He's also a jazz pianist which also explains his familiarity with this type of improvisation.  He also looks like a fun chap to hang around! 

[demented cow]

There was an Australian pianist called Geoffrey Tozer who, like Gabriela Montero, used to devote half his concerts to improvisations on themes suggested by people in the audience. I have a cassette of him doing this, and it is pure genius. Somebody said 'Moonlight Sonata in the style of Rachmaninov' and he morphed the moonlight into Rach 2, making it sound so logical that you wonder why nobody had done it before. Then he was asked to improvise a double fugue on the letters from the names BACH and CAGE, which he did. He is under-documented on the internet. Here is a recording of him doing Liszt HR 2 with what sounds like an improvised cadenza:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyxre4d00jk
Here is his wikipedia page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Tozer
It also says he could also sightread and sight-transpose even orchestral scores. He does seem to have been able to play the piano.

[birba]

I had never even heard of the man.  What a shame he had to leave us at such an early age.  He must have been an extraordinary pianist.  It was interesting to read about the "stinging" eulogy read at his funeral.  It's not the first time I've heard about the exclusive cliqueiness of the australian musical culture.  Controlled by a few and closed to many.
Any comments from those australian members?