Your favourite recording for each piece

[Aurelio]

Some of "top 1" recordings, in my opinion, are:

Liszt Sonate - ZIMMERMAN
Beethoven Pathetic Sonate - EMIL GILELS
Ravel Jeux D'eau - MARTHA ARGUERICH
Chopin Scherzo No. 1 in B minor - HOROWITZ
Chopin  Barcarolle in F sharp - SHURA CHERKASSKY
Balakirev Islamey - ANDREI GAVRILOV
Liszt Hungarian Rhapsodies - MISHA DICHTER
Mussorsky Pictures... - RICHTER
Debussy Preludes - ZIMMERMAN
Albeniz Iberia Suite - ALICIA DE LARROCHA

By the way:

Is Albeniz music played or listened out of Spain?

[Chiyo]

I like Pollini's Chopin Etudes and Rubinstein's Chopin Ballades.

[jeff]

"Is Albeniz music played or listened out of Spain?"

absolutely!

[erik-]

Liszt Sonate - Martha Argerich
Beethoven Pathetic Sonate - Rudolf Serkin
Mussorsky Pictures... - Ivo Pogorelich
Debussy Preludes - Samson Francois

Beethoven piano sonatas & concerti - Claudio Arrau

Chopin Ballades - Krystian Zimmerman
Chopin Etudes-Preludes-Polonaises - Maurizio Pollini
Chopin Sonatas 2 & 3 - Vlado Perlmuter

Bach Toccata BWV 911-Partita BWV 826-English Suites BWV 807 - Martha Argerich
Bach Goldberg Variations - Glenn Gould 1981

Rachmaninov Suites for 2 pianos, Op.5 & 17 - Martha Argerich & Alexandre Rabinovith
Rachmaninov concerto n. 3 - Martha Argerich

Tchaikovsky concerto n. 1 - Martha Argerich

Schumann Kreisleriana - Martha Argerich
Schumann Carnaval - Arturo Michelangeli
Schumann Sonata n. 2 - Martha Argerich

[Diabolos]

Hey there.

Well, Albeniz is certainly, just as Granados, played and listened to out of Spain - have heard it quite often in Germany.

Idil Biret did an excellent job recording Chopin's works, especially the Waltzes and Ballads; and Murray Perahia's recordings of the Grieg and Schumann piano concertos are awesome. Fleischer's recordings of the Beethoven concertos are, apart from their quality, some of the best you'll find.

Regards,

[Pianofan]

Liszt Sonata - Martha Argerich
Beethoven Pathetic Sonata - Friedrich Gulda
Chopin Scherzo No. 1 in B minor - Maurizio Pollini
Chopin  Barcarolle in F sharp - Vladimir Ashkenazy
Bach Well-tempered Clavier - Edwin Fisher

Scarlatti sonatas- Ivo Pogorelich
Chopin Ballades - Krystian Zimmerman
Chopin Preludes - Martha Argerich
Chopin Sonata 3 - Martha Argerich
Chopin Etudes - Maurizio Pollini
Chopin Impromptus - Nocturnes : Claudio Arrau

Rachmaninov concerto n. 3 - Martha Argerich
Tchaikovsky concerto n. 1 - Martha Argerich
Schumann Carnaval - Sergey Rachmaninoff
Schumann Sonata n. 2 - Martha Argerich

These are my opinions.  

[Irock1ce]

goddamnit whats up with u guys spelling pathetique as pathetic.. makes it sound so stupid..  

[AMR]

Here are some interesting obscure recordings that are REALLY worth listening to.

Ernst Levy is a pianist who is just recently getting the attention he deserves.  His recordings of the Liszt Sonata, the late Beethoven Sonatas, and the Appassionata, among some other things are revelations.  Of course, if you are one of those "urtext" people who think that Beethoven is supposed to be metronomic without any tempo fluctuations, and with no dynamic range, despite the fact that Beethoven himself was free with his tempi, according to almost all accounts of his playing, then you shouldn't waste your time with this.  But if you want to be enlightened with some of the most riveting and profound playing ever put on disc, then you should absolutely check this out.

Islamey-Simone Barere, which is pretty common, but there is a live Horowitz recording that's really hard to find, but possible, and absolutely worth looking for.

[dj]

hey call me insane but, how about rachmaninoff's recordings of his own concertos?

[la_carrenio2003]

You're not insane at all, dj, I agree: Rachmaninoff playing Rachmaninoff is top stuff.
I also love:
Prokofieff 8th sonata -Gilels
Scarlatti sonatas - Horowitz
Mozart - Horowitz
Neuhaus and Horowitz playing Scriabin
The whole Chopin by Rubinstein except for the mazurkas-Horowitz again
Gustav Leonhard playing Goldberg variations in harpsichord and Glenn Gould in piano but in the 2nd recording of 1981
Kissin playing the Rachmaninoff etudes-tableaux
Gilels for Beethoven's concerti
Shostakovich playing his own stuff -kill me but I don't like Nicolaeva-
Robert D. Levin for Bach's English suites
Schiff for the Bach's French suites
Richter for the Bach's WTC, Prokofieff's 5th concerto,Schumann's Noveletten, Chopin etude op.10 no.4, Liszt etudes, Beethoven's Diabelli variations and Eroica variations
Kill me again, but for me the best performer of the Chopin etudes is Elizo Birzaladze -from Georgia-,I don't know is available on CD but I never heard somebody like her
Lazar Berman for Liszt concerti
For Chopin concerti, Cecile Licad
Brendel for late Beethoven's piano sonatas
Argerich for Ravel's Gaspard de la nuit
Messiaen by Roger Muraro
I'll better stop or you certainly will kill me...

[eddie92099]

Martha Argerich is the best at whatever she plays without exception! But for what she doesn't play, John Ogdon's Alkan Concerto is exceptional and Zimmerman's Debussy preludes also. Additionally, Cziffra's liszt is quite something (the Grand Galop Chromatique has never been faster!),
Ed

[tph]

I think a serious can of worms has been opened on this thread!!  All right, here goes:

Bach: WTC I - Richter
        Italian Concerto - Gould
   Goldberg Var. - Gould (1981)
        Partita no. 4 - Alexis Weissenberg
Bach/Busoni: Chaconne - Alexis Weissenberg
                     Nun Komm Der... - Horowitz
Bach/Liszt: Prelude & Fugue in A minor -
                                                 Weissenberg
Bach/Siloti: Prelude in B minor - Gilels      
Mozart: Complete Piano Sonatas - Walter Klien
            Concerto for two pianos,
            Two Piano Sonata in D - Brendel & Klien
Beethoven: 32 Piano Sonatas,
                   5 Piano Concertos - Anton Kuerti
Chopin: Piano Concertos,
  Complete Nocturnes,
  Ballades,
            Sonatas,
            Waltzes,
            Barcarolle (in competition),
            Andante Spianato & Grande Polonaise,
            Etudes Op. 10/8, Op.25/4,6 - Dang Thai Son
Liszt: Sonata - Pogorelich
        Concertos - Richter
        Dante Sonata - Mykola Suk
        Transcendental Etudes - Boris Berezovsky
        Mephisto Waltz - Horowitz
Brahms: Sonata No. 3, Ballades, Op. 10 - Grigory Sokolov
             Haendel Variations - Anton Kuerti
             Piano Concertos - Gilels
Schumann: Symphonic Etudes,
                  Papillons,
                  Piano Concerto - Perahia
Schumann/Liszt: Widmung - Van Cliburn (in concert)
                          Fruhlingsnacht - Josef Lhevinne
Schubert: "Wanderer" Fantasy - Richter
                Fantasy in F minor - Gilels & daughter
Mendelssohn: Rondo Capriccio - Anton Kuerti
Scriabin: Sonata no. 2 - Pogorelich
             Sonata no. 3 - Sokolov
             Sonata no. 5 - Horowitz
Berg: Sonata, Op. 1 - Kuerti
Tchaikovsky: Concerto no. 1 - Van Cliburn
Glazunov: Sonata No. 1 - Kuerti
Rachmaninov: Preludes - Richter
                      Paganini Rhapsody - Ashkenazy
                      Sonata no. 2 - Horowitz
                      Moments Musicaux - Lazar Berman
Ravel: Sonatine
          La Valse (radio broadcast) - Dang Thai Son
          Concerto in G - Argerich
          Gaspard - Pogorelich
Debussy: Estampes,
               Preludes Bk. 1 - Dang Thai Son
               Etudes - Uchida
Mussorgsky: Pictures - Yakov Kasman
Stravinsky: Petrouchka - Kasman
Shostakovich: Preludes and Fugues - Ashkenazy
Franck: Prelude, Choral, and Fugue - Samson Francois
Balakirev: Islamey - Boris Berezovsky
Prokofiev: Sonata No. 1 - Valentina Kamenikova
                Sonata No. 3 - Gilels
                Sonata No. 8 - Sokolov
Ginastera: Danzas Argentinas - Argerich

All I can think of right now!    

tph