My Top 10 classical music pianists

[EuroChamp]

It's tricky, isn't it? I probably should have made it a top 15 or 20. Nice list by the way!

 

For a top 20 I could add:

 

Bill Evans

Maria João Pires

Oscar Peterson

 

corr.:

Ok, only classical, then i add:

 

Maria João Pires

Leif Ove Andsnes

Byron Janis

[AnotherSpin]

 

Top 10 in random order:

Alfred Brendel

Artur Schnabel

Claudio Arrau

Daniil Trifonov

Martha Argerich

Glenn Gould

Murray Perahia

Wilhelm Kempff

Sviatoslav Richter

Vladimir Horowitz

 

And I rate these names on top too. But only 10 where allowed:

Yevgeny Sudbin

Kristian Bezuidenhout

Michael Korstick

Emil Gilels

Peter Rösel

Ronald Brautigam

Mitsuko Uchida

 

Trifonov as a part of the top summit with Schnabel, Brendel, Kempf, Horowitz?..)) No doubt, everybody has and should have its own personal preferences, but in this case it is something, I would love to understand more – would you enlighten me? I listened several his recordings, and to my ears it is something close to recent Chinese-style (more technical than thoughtful), though not so sparkling or entertaining, as Lang, Yundi or Yuja could do, and sometimes plain boring, as 24 preludes from Carnegie.

[Musicophile]

Trifonov as a part of the top summit with Schnabel, Brendel, Kempf, Horowitz?..)) No doubt, everybody has and should have its own personal preferences, but in this case it is something, I would love to understand more – would you enlighten me? I listened several his recordings, and to my ears it is something close to recent Chinese-style (more technical than thoughtful), though not so sparkling or entertaining, as Lang, Yundi or Yuja could do, and sometimes plain boring, as 24 preludes from Carnegie.

My 2 cents: I'm still new to Trifonov and haven't included him into my list on purpose, as I'm not yet 100% sure about his future (very differently to the similarly aged Levit and Grosvenor, where I'm positive they will be great).

 

However, in a way he reminds me more of Horowitz than of the Chinese. Horowitz clearly also had his show-off moments.

 

Basically, for a 25 year old pianist, ranking him now is crystal-ball gazing (nothing wrong with that, but let's acknowledge the fact).

 

I'll certainly (assuming I'll still be blogging by then), review my personal top 10 list, and see if my judgment for Levit and Grosvenor turned out to be true.

 

And by the way, I kind of like his Preludes. It may not be the final say (Blechacz, Argerich and many others I'd actually prefer), but I wouldn't compare it to Lang Lang.

[semente]

I don't have a problem of your list of criteria for bog standard 19th c. piano works, but moving into 20th c. composers the difficulties of performing piano works of Ravel or Debussy such as the Gaspard, or Preludes (both books), requires a specialist. Using that criteria, my preferences are:

• Vincent Larderet
  
• Abdel Rahman El Bacha
  

... for Ravel

 

• Jean-Efflam Bavouzet
  

... for Debussy.

 

These are all 21 c. pianists who generally have better techniques and better recording sound quality, because all of their recordings have been made within the past 10 years.

 

The each of us arranges the major criteria is really quite personal.

 

I would order it in this manner :

 

- expressiveness

 

- technique

 

- recorded sound quality

 

Or to paraphrase Horowitz "I could polish, but I prefer excitement" (IIRC).

 

R

[semente]

As many already know, I think if Gould had done nothing but the first Goldberg recording, I would feel he deserved a place on my list just for that. The moment I first heard it, it just sounded completely right to me, the way this music should - must - be played. Of course I recognize others have very different reactions.

 

Glad others mentioned Goode's Beethoven, as I was going to, and I too feel Grosvenor is an up and coming young talent. I like Sudbin as well.

 

Someone else I'm interested in is David Fray.

 

Levit is an interesting case. His talent is undeniable, and I think his Beethoven is excellent. His Bach felt mechanical to me, however, so I'm taking a wait and see attitude.

 

There used to be a video on YouTube showing Gould editing his recordings.

Absolutely nuts. Pathologically obsessive if you ask me.

He would make each track from a dozen or more slices taken from different sessions.

It may sound "right" alright, but something is lost in that process... Spontaneity at least.

Might as well program a piece of software to play the piano.

 

R

[semente]

Of course I read your blog. Finally I tried to make my own top 10 list, what - in fact - is not easy and highly subjective.

 

Top 10 in random order:

Alfred Brendel

Artur Schnabel

Claudio Arrau

Daniil Trifonov

Martha Argerich

Glenn Gould

Murray Perahia

Wilhelm Kempff

Sviatoslav Richter

Vladimir Horowitz

 

And I rate these names on top too. But only 10 where allowed:

Yevgeny Sudbin

Kristian Bezuidenhout

Michael Korstick

Emil Gilels

Peter Rösel

Ronald Brautigam

Mitsuko Uchida

Thanks.

Some unknown suspects that I have to investigate.

 

R

[EuroChamp]

Trifonov as a part of the top summit with Schnabel, Brendel, Kempf, Horowitz?..)) No doubt, everybody has and should have its own personal preferences, but in this case it is something, I would love to understand more – would you enlighten me? I listened several his recordings, and to my ears it is something close to recent Chinese-style (more technical than thoughtful), though not so sparkling or entertaining, as Lang, Yundi or Yuja could do, and sometimes plain boring, as 24 preludes from Carnegie.

 

Hi!

Let me explain my (of course subjective) opinion a bit:

First, I agree with you about Lang, Yuja Wang and so on - they are boring for me, too. And I understand that it is brave to put Trifonov on the same level with the superstars of the last century. It would be easy to exchange his name with one of no.11-20.

But Trifonov is unique, he has that (necessary) character of a nerd, he goes his own way, different from all others today. For me his peak is the newest Liszt album, all my doubts are eliminated with that one. With his attitude he has higher possibilities than Andsnes, Levit, Grosvenor or Wunder, Tharaud, Shani Diluka. (Yes they are very good of course).

Trifonovs playing is touching, never boring, but always subordinated to the music. (e.g. Chopin PC1, which I listen at the moment right now.)

 

Not easy for me to find the right words in a foreign language, I tried it at least

[AnotherSpin]

Hi!

Let me explain my (of course subjective) opinion a bit:

First, I agree with you about Lang, Yuja Wang and so on - they are boring for me, too. And I understand that it is brave to put Trifonov on the same level with the superstars of the last century. It would be easy to exchange his name with one of no.11-20.

But Trifonov is unique, he has that (necessary) character of a nerd, he goes his own way, different from all others today. For me his peak is the newest Liszt album, all my doubts are eliminated with that one. With his attitude he has higher possibilities than Andsnes, Levit, Grosvenor or Wunder, Tharaud, Shani Diluka. (Yes they are very good of course).

Trifonovs playing is touching, never boring, but always subordinated to the music. (e.g. Chopin PC1, which I listen at the moment right now.)

 

Not easy for me to find the right words in a foreign language, I tried it at least

Thank you, I appreciate your effort to explain. I will be looking to hear forthcoming recordings from Trifonov. Today he is more technical than soulful, and his repertoire shows it as well as his fashion of playing. He seems to be trying too hard to grasp and interpret the piece as a whole and support his reading with some unifying idea. But, as per now Trifonov interpretations represent merely a juxtaposition of segmental parts and episodes. I agree with Musicophile comparison with Horowitz, some weakest qualities are here, as mannerism, but boy, he is a lightyears behind to get to Horowitz level, imho.

 

P.S.: I am listening now to Sudbin's early Scarlatti recording, this is something of a very different value.

[AnotherSpin]

 

(...)

And I rate these names on top too. But only 10 where allowed:

Yevgeny Sudbin

Kristian Bezuidenhout

Michael Korstick

Emil Gilels

Peter Rösel

Ronald Brautigam

Mitsuko Uchida

 

I agree with inclusion of Michael Korstick. While not excessively well-known and popular, he recorded one of the very best complete sets of Beethoven's Sonatas in 21st century. Brautigam's set is also excellent, but quite different.

[Jud]

I agree with inclusion of Michael Korstick. While not excessively well-known and popular, he recorded one of the very best complete sets of Beethoven's Sonatas in 21st century. Brautigam's set is also excellent, but quite different.

 

I'll have to check out Korstick's set. I like Goode's, but am always looking for other versions of this music.

[Jud]

There used to be a video on YouTube showing Gould editing his recordings.

Absolutely nuts. Pathologically obsessive if you ask me.

He would make each track from a dozen or more slices taken from different sessions.

It may sound "right" alright, but something is lost in that process... Spontaneity at least.

Might as well program a piece of software to play the piano.

 

R

 

Hi Ricardo. The Goldbergs that I'm speaking of were the first set, recorded in the 50s. I'm not sure the technology to do what he later became obsessed with even existed back then.

 

But whether it did or not, when that set of the Goldbergs hit the classical world like a bomb (there are documentaries I've seen where other classical artists speak of them in an awestruck "Where were you when you first heard them?" fashion), it wasn't because you could have programmed software to play that way. It was because they were sui generis in recorded music at the time.

[Musicophile]

I'll have to check out Korstick's set. I like Goode's, but am always looking for other versions of this music.

Wanted to try out Korstick who kind of flew under my radar, but doesn't seem like Oehms likes streaming (at least not on Qobuz).

 

Maybe it's because Oehms is owned by Naxos, which has their own streaming offer.

[Iain]

I don't have a problem of your list of criteria for bog standard 19th c. piano works, but moving into 20th c. composers the difficulties of performing piano works of Ravel or Debussy such as the Gaspard, or Preludes (both books), requires a specialist. Using that criteria, my preferences are:

• Vincent Larderet
  
• Abdel Rahman El Bacha
  

... for Ravel

 

• Jean-Efflam Bavouzet
  

... for Debussy.

 

These are all 21 c. pianists who generally have better techniques and better recording sound quality, because all of their recordings have been made within the past 10 years.

 

 

BTW, I'm looking for recent recording of Liszt and Satie. Any recommendations for pianists who play these works on recent recordings?

 

This is intended as an addendum to my post from yesterday.

 

Denis Matsuev is s pianist you should closely monitor.

 

I blindly downloaded this last summer, mainly for the Stravinsky and Shchedrin Piano Concertos:

https://mariinsky.nativedsd.com/albums/MAR0587-rachmaninov-piano-concerto-no-1-stravinsky-capriccio-shchedrin-piano-concerto-no-2

 

I predict Matsuev has a very bright future, as I was stunned by all three works.

[AnotherSpin]

I predict Matsuev has a very bright future, as I was stunned by all three works.

It puzzles a lot how different we are, for me Matsuev, whom I saw live is a no-no recommendation. But, this is a beauty of life. Everybody has its own world and there is no sense in comparing. Or attempting to find a solid points valid for anyone.

[EuroChamp]

I'll have to check out Korstick's set. I like Goode's, but am always looking for other versions of this music.

 

I do not know, if they will ship to you. The Korstick on SACD is very cheap here:

https://www.jpc.de/s/korstick

[EuroChamp]

I am listening now to Sudbin's early Scarlatti recording, this is something of a very different value.

 

I bought the Sudbin today on Qobuz and will listen to him in the next days. Another great Scarlatti performer is Gottlieb Wallisch (I own Keyboard sonatas Vol.11 by Naxos).

 

Discovering Jean-Efflam Bavouzet (Haydn) right now:

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f15-music-general/album-evening-7578/index447.html#post595603

[AnotherSpin]

I bought the Sudbin today on Qobuz and will listen to him in the next days.

Please note there are two Scarlatti sonatas recordings from him separated by decade. I believe both are very good, but there are some differences.

[EuroChamp]

Please note there are two Scarlatti sonatas recordings from him separated by decade. I believe both are very good, but there are some differences.

 

Thank you. I bought the new one (and own the 2004 version)

[sphinxsix]

For a top 20 I could add:

 

Bill Evans

 

Oscar Peterson

+1

As for Scarlatti sonatas - I like Pletnev (I quite recently discovered them). I'm also quite impressed with (arranged for guitar):

 

 

errr...sorry..pianists only, right.?

[EuroChamp]

I cannot help, but love my Gottlieb Wallisch playing Scarlatti over the Sudbins. Sorry, I am a noob

 

 

But Sudbin is very, very good. And the BIS sound is great.

[Bryan]

Might as well program a piece of software to play the piano.R

 

Zenph Re-Performance recordings come to mind.

[Old Listener]

Pianists whose recordings are my go-to choices for music that I love:

 

Leon Fleisher - Beethoven, Brahms, Grieg Concerti

Malcolm Bilson - Mozart Concerti

John O'Conor - Beethoven Sonatas

Lili Kraus - Mozart Sonatas, Schubert, Beethoven Concerti

Rubinstein - lots of Chopin, Brahms and other things

Brendel - Haydn and Schubert Sonatas, Beethoven Sonatas, Mozart Concerti, Brahms & Dvorak with Walter Klien

Rudolf Serkin - various concerti and sonatas. Schubert Trout Quintet

Walter Klien - Mozart Sonatas & Concerti, Brahms

Robert Casadesus - Mozart Concerti with Szell

 

more specialized:

 

Eugene List - Gottschalk!

[AnotherSpin]

Pianists whose recordings are my go-to choices for music that I love:

 

Leon Fleisher - Beethoven, Brahms, Grieg Concerti

Malcolm Bilson - Mozart Concerti

John O'Conor - Beethoven Sonatas

Lili Kraus - Mozart Sonatas, Schubert, Beethoven Concerti

Rubinstein - lots of Chopin, Brahms and other things

Brendel - Haydn and Schubert Sonatas, Beethoven Sonatas, Mozart Concerti, Brahms & Dvorak with Walter Klien

Rudolf Serkin - various concerti and sonatas. Schubert Trout Quintet

Walter Klien - Mozart Sonatas & Concerti, Brahms

Robert Casadesus - Mozart Concerti with Szell

 

more specialized:

 

Eugene List - Gottschalk!

 

+ for Lili Kraus and Leon Fleisher - both are excellent, and their life stories add nicely to their greatness.

[Musicophile]

+ for Lili Kraus and Leon Fleisher - both are excellent, and their life stories add nicely to their greatness.

 

Agree on Fleisher but must admit I hadn't yet heard about Lilli Kraus, will have to check her out.

[Jud]

I do not know, if they will ship to you. The Korstick on SACD is very cheap here:

https://www.jpc.de/s/korstick

 

Thank you - those prices are indeed very, very good. While doing a little research into how he sounds on these (very good - I like the fact that he has his own style), I ran across these, where he is an accompanist, that also are very intriguing:

 

Presto Classical - Irnberger Complete Beethoven Violin Sonatas series - Buy music CDs & DVDs online