Why didn't i know about these pianists?

[cziffra]

I'd like to take this opportunity to a) brag about my father's ability to find music and b) to stimulate a discussion of several quite underrated pianists

For those of you who are regular pianoforum visitors, you may remember my father from such posts as:
https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,2118.0.html
and
https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,1823.0.html.

Well, he's done it again.  Two days ago he managed to purchase the complete boxed set of the Silverline Classics DVD collection (20 dvd's) for a total of 80 Australian dollars.  This means that i now own this collection:
https://www.dvd-galaxis.de/genre-detail-no-150631-silverline.classics.dvd.collection.20.dvds.html

Anyway, i naturally got stuck in to the task of watching these dvd's, and i of course started with the pianists.

DVD 13, the Zolan Kocsis recital, i have mentioned earlier, since i bought it separately some time ago.  The post can be found here:
https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,5743.0.html


DVD 5: Nelson Freire plays Saint Saens Concerto no 2.
What a machine!  THis guy is simply breathtaking! He plays with such energy and enthusiasm, and he has a phenomenal technique to boot.   I was also impressed by the fact that he took the second two movements very quickly, as i have always wanted to hear them. 

DVD 6: Stephen de Groote Chopin concerto 2
Not quite as overpowering a personality but nevertheless quite breathtaking.  He never seemed to do anything wrong, technically or musically.  It always sounded just right.  He was excellen at balancing the sounds of one section with another so that nothing sounded out of place. 

DVD 7 Mikhail Rudy plays Mozart Concerto 21
Now this is a serious musician.  It was obvious that he treasured and valued Mozart;'s music immensely and wasn't about to do anything to desecrate his name, and so the performance is really quite breathtaking.  It was so good, in fact, that i was compelled to like mozart...i have never liked mozart.  I once saw a live performance of a mozart piano concerto and it appeared only as a novelty.  So for Mikhail Rudy to change my opinion of Mozart is a really commendable achievement.

DVD 8 Tzimon Barto plays Chopin concerto 1
Once i stopped laughing over  the man's enormous mullet i soon realised i was witnessing another very special musician.  He was so good he made me forget all about the slightly embarrising performance of the orchestra in the opening exposition.  I don't know if it was just the melodramatic hand gestures but he seemd to have a sparkling tone that didn't seem possible.  In the second movement especially he would take extreme care in the playing of one note, and it was really magical.  I was also struck by his very rhythmic 3rd movement, a fresh and original interpretation which i thought wass pulled off very successfully.

DVD 11- Bernd Glemser plays Strauss' Burlesque
Technically phenomenal, and obviously passionate about the music.  I don't know if it's my bias against a naxos performer or even perhaps the intriguing oddness of the music but it was hard to be fully enthusiastic about this performance.  It was undoubtedly very good, but i found myself listening to only a few bits, which were truly sensational, and sort of losing focus in the in-betweens.

So, my question to you is, where have these pianists, Mikhail Rudy, Stephen de Groote, Tzimon Barto, Bernd Glemser and Nelson Freire, been all my life!? I don't think ive ever seen any of them discussed on the forum, and yet they are all quite amazing.

[BoliverAllmon]

there are several reasons why you haven't heard of them. Really don't feel like mentioning them. It just goes to show you that there are tons more phenomenal musicians than just the handful that are mainstream.

boliver

[Noah]

So, my question to you is, where have these pianists, Mikhail Rudy, Stephen de Groote, Tzimon Barto, Bernd Glemser and Nelson Freire, been all my life!? I don't think ive ever seen any of them discussed on the forum, and yet they are all quite amazing.

The real question is, where have you been all your life? You really should have heard of Rudy, Glemser and most of all, Nelson Freire (if only for being best mates with Martha Argerich)!

[cziffra]

To be honest, i do own Glemser's recordings of the rachmaninoff concertos, which were superlative, and i did once borrow Nelson's Great Pianists of the 20th Century compilation once, which i did think was spectacular.  (especially the young recording of totentanz and the hungarian rhapsody no...10 was it?) 

Nevertheless, they still do fall behind the headlines of the piano world and i was curious to know why such great musicians are not acknowledged properly.  I mean, Martha Argerich is good, no doubt, but why does she overshadow Nelson Freire so much?  And just because she is so good, does that mean it should then be less likely for me to own Mikhail Rudy's recordings?  If i hadn't bought this boxed set i doubt i would have ever heard of him.  I certainly would have been more likely to buy an Argerich cd than a name i didn't know.