Who's your favourite pianist?

[Bouter Boogie]

Hi everyone!
I'm new here and when I looked around at the Forum a couple of times, I saw a lot of topics about favourite composers/concertos/and stuff..
Just wondered.. Who's your favourite pianist then??

Me myself I luv Zimerman and Kissin 

[brokenagraffe]

Arrau, Richter, Horowitz are my top 3 choices. followed by Gould, Lipatti, and Rachmaninoff.

[Daevren]

Probably Arrau, Pletnev, Richter, Gould, Hamelin, Sokolov, Zimerman and some other guy I forgot.

And I shouldn't forget Chick Corea and Art Tatum.

[edit] I did forget Gilels.

[Goldberg]

In rough order, Cziffra, Gould, Lipatti, Michelangeli, Rubinstein, Fiorentino (he'd probably be higher if I had more recordings!), and indeed Tatum though I do want some more exposure to other jazz pianists.

I like many other pianists significantly as well, but those are the ones that truly stand out, and whom I am most familiar with.

[stormx]

Arrau and Pletnev, among many others 

[Allan]

Tatum, Horowitz, Cziffra.





____________________________
 "I can play as fast as you, but I can't keep up with you!"
                Horowitz to Art Tatum

[thalbergmad]

Cziffra. I have a recording of him playing the Grand Galop Chromatique by Liszt. Most amazing thing i have ever seen.

[aquariuswb]

Pollini, Gilels, Arrau, Casadesus, Michelangeli

At least that's how I feel right now. Ten minutes from now, who knows?

[Goldberg]

Cziffra. I have a recording of him playing the Grand Galop Chromatique by Liszt. Most amazing thing i have ever seen.

Seen? Have you *seen* a video of it, or have you just heard a recording? And which recording? All of his GGC recs, or at least all the ones I've heard, are impossibly excellent, but it is universally accepted that his most electrifying performance was the one he played in Tokyo in '64. 3 minutes 18 seconds, and as far as I can tell he didn't leave out or hit any wrong notes. In the video you can even see him flash a few devillish grins towards the audience, all of whom must have been too stunned to breathe!!

In the same recital he also played a thrilling 6th Hungarian Rhapsody (his last encore of the night), amongst other things like Chopin's Fantasie and 4th Ballade and Liszt's Spanish Rhapsody...

Anyway, even with technical things like the GGC aside, I am completely "in love" (no, not romantically) with Cziffra. His extemporaneous approach to the music has left an astounding effect on my own psychology, to put it frankly.

Sorry to divert the thread a bit--don't mean to turn this into a Cziffra praise-a-thon or, what would be worse, bash-a-thon because I know there are armies who hate him for some reason.

So I'll throw Kuerti's name into the mix of favourite pianists. His Beethoven is some of the best I've heard to say nothing of his Schubert.

[Awakening]

Cziffra is a true virtuoso, and I love him for that, but I sometimes find his interpretations sickening in how devoid of emotion they are, due in large part to his need to play everything as fast as is humanly (or even inhumanly) possible.  For example, take a look at some of his Chopin etudes (10/4 anyone?).   

[musicsdarkangel]

Ashkenazy

[paris]

Ivo Pogorelic, Zimmerman, Ashkenazy, Gilels, Martha...

[eusebius32]

Stephen Hough

[musicsdarkangel]

Actually, I think recently, Horowitz has been added to my list, as well as Cziffra.

[pseudopianist]

Ricther, Biret, Martha Agereixchcvsss| Angela Hewhit,Cziffra

[thalbergmad]

Seen? Have you *seen* a video of it, or have you just heard a recording? And which recording? All of his GGC recs, or at least all the ones I've heard, are impossibly excellent, but it is universally accepted that his most electrifying performance was the one he played in Tokyo in '64. 3 minutes 18 seconds, and as far as I can tell he didn't leave out or hit any wrong notes. In the video you can even see him flash a few devillish grins towards the audience, all of whom must have been too stunned to breathe!!

In the same recital he also played a thrilling 6th Hungarian Rhapsody (his last encore of the night), amongst other things like Chopin's Fantasie and 4th Ballade and Liszt's Spanish Rhapsody...

So I'll throw Kuerti's name into the mix of favourite pianists. His Beethoven is some of the best I've heard to say nothing of his Schubert.

My DVD was recorded in Paris 1963. Cziffra played the GGC so fast his fingers were just a blur.

[steinwayguy]

Richter, Gilels, Kempff, Arrau, Rubinstein, Cortot, Schnabel, Goode

Spare me: Mei-Ting Sun, Lang Lang, Kissin, Argerich, Gould, and Horowitz (sometimes)

[MattL]

Oldies:
Rachmaninov 1st
Ashkenazy  2nd
Pletnev 3rd

Newbies:
Griammaud 1st
Yundi li 2nd
Yeah thats it
It seems there are no really promising newbies on the piano out there.

[willfarnaby]

Glenn Gould

[Rach3]

Gould, Horowitz, Richter, and myself are top candidates.

[thracozaag]

Cziffra is a true virtuoso, and I love him for that, but I sometimes find his interpretations sickening in how devoid of emotion they are, due in large part to his need to play everything as fast as is humanly (or even inhumanly) possible.  For example, take a look at some of his Chopin etudes (10/4 anyone?).   

  It's absolutely baffling to me that you could come to this conclusion (being "devoid of emotion") regarding Cziffra's playing when he is perhaps the most emotional of all time.  A particularly touching moment is at the end of the Op. 34 a minor waltz in a dvd from Hungary several years before his death.  Perhaps he was thinking of his deceased son, but at the final statement of that waltz theme something magical and amazing happens.  Brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it.

koji (STSD)

[Goldberg]

Of course being entirely enthralled with Cziffra, I agree. I also recommend listening/watching him play the HR6 at any time (though the most emotional I've seen is from the Theatre des Champs-Elysse (sp?) on the EMI Classics DVD, Georges Cziffra). The Bb minor section is by far the most touching in his hands compared to everyone else I've heard. He is only transformed into 100% technical virtuoso when the time is appropriate, like in the GGC, and even then he is not even close to being devoid of so-called "musicality." It might just take more listening to him, though. There was a time when even I didn't like him very much..

[hodi]

horowitz,volodos,zimerman

[musicsdarkangel]

  It's absolutely baffling to me that you could come to this conclusion (being "devoid of emotion") regarding Cziffra's playing when he is perhaps the most emotional of all time.  A particularly touching moment is at the end of the Op. 34 a minor waltz in a dvd from Hungary several years before his death.  Perhaps he was thinking of his deceased son, but at the final statement of that waltz theme something magical and amazing happens.  Brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it.

koji (STSD)

I agree, I have the Cziffra DVD, and his interpretations really are heartfelt.

[thracozaag]

And since we're listing favourites:

(deceased)

Kapell
Lipatti
Gilels
Horowitz
Rachmaninoff
Moiseiwitsch
Friedman
Sofronitsky
Levy
Fiorentino
Cziffra
Bolet
Cortot
Katchen
Hoffman


(living)
Katsaris
Austbo
Kuerti
OTT
Zimerman
Sokolov

koji (STSD)

[Bacfokievrahms]

Sokolov

Holy sh*t . I just rescued that guy from the Russians on hard mode.

[dancingfingers]

My pianiste-du-jour is Murray Perahia; he's consistently smooth, subtle, and expressive, with a lovely warm tone. His Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven are perfect.

Other favorites of mine: Horowitz, Rachmaninoff, Gould, Martha Argerich, Stephen Hough, Ashkenazy, Richard Goode

[andyaeola]

As well as Art Tatum and Chick Corea, I'd add George Shearing and Oscar Peterson to my jazz favourites.

To pick only one classical music player, Dinu Lipatti.


Andy

[chromatickler]

BARERE

fo da moment

[Demidoff]

Glenn Gould
Samson Francois
John Ogdon
Alfred Cortot
Martha Argerich
Robert Casadesus

... And I would like to join the Cziffra-is-unemotional side.

[Chrysalis]

ashkenazy, hoffman and rach

[Mozartian]

hrm.... in no particular order, after kapell and lipatti (who are 1 and 2, respectively)

Kapell
Lipatti
Gilels
Argerich
Zimerman
Richter

..can't choose just one.
I need to find some recordings of Cziffra... I've actually never heard him before. Don't shoot! *runs*

[Bouter Boogie]

*Sh0ots* 

J/k..

If you're trying to find recordings of Cziffra, try his Hungarian Rhapsodies.. I think they're played very well by Cziffra 

[Ecthelion]

Pogorelich, Kempff, Gilels, Gilels, Gilels, Gilels...

[pianiststrongbad]

Too many favourites to list.  My favourite from recordings is probably Richter.  My favourite that I have seen live is Olga Kern.

[theodopolis]

It is always interesting to see when bringing out evidence to support the opinion that Cziffra's playing has pure speed as the top priority, his Chopin Op.10 No.4 is the inevitable concrete proof.

It is my usual assumption that whoever brings out this example must never have seen the film Richter: The Enigma.
There is a complete filmed rendition of the fourth Etude under the Richter's fingers that easily matches Cziffra's in velocity, if not even quicker.

I find it unreasonable that so many gloss over this pianist's lyrical musicality, his unmatched pedalling technique and his continuation of the dying tradition of the improviser-pianist, to create a picture of a Bon Viveur who played nothing but Liszt with superficial technique and at unmusical speeds.

An interesting aspect of both Cziffra and Richter is that they developed as young musicians, not in the shelter of the conservatories of Europe, but making pittance wages as accompanist for a circus and local opera company respectively.

Thanks
Theodopolis

(P.S. Richter is my favourite pianist, to answer the original topical question.)

[pianonut]

i like most of the above named, but heard a new one on the radio today. i think they said his name was kupau or kupov, kupav or something. anyway, in russia, where he grew up and attended school he asked the prof's if he could break the rules and ONLY study chopin.  he learned all the ballads, all the nocturnes, all the waltzs. and i heard him play today and loved it.  BUT, he plays brahms the same way and i hated the brahms (2nd intermezzo)  i think my teacher has a better way of playing it, more evenly.

[musicsdarkangel]

Who cares about Richers op 10 no 4......listen to his Feux Follet 


Yeah... he's got underrated, massive technique like Cziffra. 

You know, I really dislike what Richter and Cziffra did with that op 10 no 4 etude, but IMO, if no pianist has done something with a work before (dynamics, tempo), which may appeal to some people, I think it should be done.

[haydn]

MOZART !! I really like Beethoven too !!