prokofiev, alkan and other virtuoso pianocomposers and the pianist

[ignaceii]

Hello,
I wonder for sometime about the question what does someone make a master pianist.
First of all the prokofiev concertos.
The lady stars of today play them. Competition winners to.
But are there masters whom I prefer who perhaps can play them but don't in practice or cannot.
Andre Hamelin can play anything. But I don't like him in Haydn for instance.
But my favourite above all the rest is Andras Schiff. Perhaps he played the most difficult 2nd prokofiev when he was young, or not at all. The same with Brendel.
Richter only played the 1st and 5th.
For me it is not a reference, but you wonder should they be able to perform it on stage.
My favourite of course plays another music period, but even Bartok is difficult. No problem for Schiff.
The youngsters show off with virtuosity but are far behind in musicality.
I like my Schiff without rach 3 and prok 2 and 3. But who knows he knows them to.
I would like to ask him.

[j_menz]

Why should anybody play everything, and, more particularly, why should anybody play something they don't personally like/get?

[ignaceii]

You are right.
But perhaps as challenge, that they to can master those top-virtuoso pieces.
It is known of Richter that he stayed in bed the whole day and longer because he couldn't manage one of the sjostakovitch preludes. So somewhere he must have been frustrated.
So with his choice of prokofiev concertos. But still, he was one of THE greatest that ever lived.
So ok. I agree.

[awesom_o]

Why should anybody play everything, and, more particularly, why should anybody play something they don't personally like/get?

I think these are the really important questions people should be asking.

Instead, they're always asking 'which is harder, x or y' and 'what should I play next'......

[faulty_damper]

I think these are the really important questions people should be asking.

Instead, they're always asking 'which is harder, x or y' and 'what should I play next'......

They do it because they want to know their capabilities.  It's an indirect way of getting bonus points since playing piano doesn't give you feedback like in video games.

[ignaceii]

But it can heapen that a marvellous pianist would like to be able to play say Prokofiev in concert but don't has the "circus" hands to play all those "excentric" chords all over the keyboard.
I just keep repeating that some pianists become the crème de le crème in classical and romantic repertoire but have to decline from working the devil russians.
No problem for me. But it could be frustrating.
On the other hand if they can play the Godowsky-Chopin etudes who cares anymore.