Great Pianists of the 20th and 21st Century

[George]

I searched for a thread that deal with pianists in general, but couldn't find one. So, I am starting a new one.

To begin, I have pasted links to some of the great pianists websites/discographies below. This list is not meant to be comprehensive at all, they are simply the links that I already have bookmarked on my browser. I have omitted Sviatoslav Richter since he already has regularly updated thread of his own (I have posted links on his thread for him as well.) If you feel that any of these pianists merits having a thread of their own, let me know and I will omit their name from this thread. I wonder if having them all in one thread is wise, so let me know. Perhaps splitting them into two threads, one for 20th century and one for 21st century would work well too, just let me know. We'll see how this goes. 

Feel free to add links to some of your favorite pianists as well. I will add them to the list below periodically.

BTW, does anyone know what happened to Youngrok Lee's page? He once has some great info on a lot of pianists, but now the link doesn't seem to be working. 

Maria Yudina
Vladimir Sofronitsky
Kemal Gekic
Ivan Moravec
Michelangeli
Emil Gilels
Vladimir Horowitz
Alfred Cortot
Georges Cziffra
Glenn Gould
Angela Hewitt
Alfred Brendel
Nyiregyhazi
Martha Argerich
Claudio Arrau
Maurizio Pollini
Grigory Sokolov

and this:

Listen to Historical Pianists

[George]

Here is a bio I found for Cortot.  I am not familiar with him either as a pianist or as a conductor.  How was he as a pianist?  I am sure he was not in the same league as the great Sviatoslav Richter, but was he close?

http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/Cortot-Alfred.htm

Actually, I'd say that in Chopin, Richter wasn't in Cortot's league. Cortot recorded tons of Chopin, with great poetic beauty and spontaneity. His technique ay not have equalled Richter, but he more than made up for this in the exquisite beauty. The 5 Cortot Chopin Naxos CDs (available at MDT) are a great way to get great transfers of his Chopin performances. For Schumann, I'd say it's a toss up, but they both recorded a lot of Schumann and performed it incredibly well. The Biddulph CDs are a great way to hear Cortot's Schumann, but they are OOP. I have found a number of them on amazon. 

I haven't heard any of Cortot's recordings of other composers, but perhaps someone can chime in on this?

[aquablob]

Cziffra Memoirs, a long but worthwhile read.

[George]

Cziffra Memoirs, a long but worthwhile read.

Thanks, I will add this (and all future links for other pianists) to my OP.

[Peregrine]

Actually, I'd say that in Chopin, Richter wasn't in Cortot's league. Cortot recorded tons of Chopin, with great poetic beauty and spontaneity. His technique ay not have equalled Richter, but he more than made up for this in the exquisite beauty. The 5 Cortot Chopin Naxos CDs (available at MDT) are a great way to get great transfers of his Chopin performances. For Schumann, I'd say it's a toss up, but they both recorded a lot of Schumann and performed it incredibly well. The Biddulph CDs are a great way to hear Cortot's Schumann, but they are OOP. I have found a number of them on amazon. 

I haven't heard any of Cortot's recordings of other composers, but perhaps someone can chime in on this?

I'll have to part ways with you here, George. Whilst (begrudgingly) accepting that Richter wasn't the most natural of Chopin interpreters, I'ld still take his recordings any day over Cortot and when it comes to Schumann, then no competition; Richter all the way for me.

Although revered by many, I just don't get Cortot at all.

But hey-ho and all that!

[George]

I just don't get Cortot at all.

I felt this way last year about his Chopin until for some reason it clicked for me about a month ago. His Schumann clicked right away, I love it.

No need to agree on everything IMO. 

[B_cereus]

Glenn Gould:

http://www.glenngould.com/


btw does anyone remember Contrapunctus?

[George]

Glenn Gould:

http://www.glenngould.com/

Added, thanks! 

[Bunny]

I searched for a thread that deal with pianists in general, but couldn't find one. So, I am starting a new one.

To begin, I have pasted links to some of the great pianists websites/discographies below. This list is not meant to be comprehensive at all, they are simply the links that I already have bookmarked on my browser. I have omitted Sviatoslav Richter since he already has regularly updated thread of his own (I have posted links on his thread for him as well.) If you feel that any of these pianists merits having a thread of their own, let me know and I will omit their name from this thread. I wonder if having them all in one thread is wise, so let me know. Perhaps splitting them into two threads, one for 20th century and one for 21st century would work well too, just let me know. We'll see how this goes. 

Feel free to add links to some of your favorite pianists as well.

BTW, does anyone know what happened to Youngrok Lee's page? He once has some great info on a lot of pianists, but now the link doesn't seem to be working. 

Maria Yudina
Vladimir Sofronitsky
Kemal Gekic
Ivan Moravec
Michelangeli
Emil Gilels
Vladimir Horowitz
Alfred Cortot
Georges Cziffra

and this:

Listen to Historical Pianists

This seems to be a list of mostly dead pianists -- and you seem to have forgotten Arthur Schnabel, Artur Rubinstein, Rudolph Serkin, and Annie Fischer as well.  I am debating whether Alexis Weissenberg also belongs on the list.  oops!  How about Claudio Arrau?  He's also dead.

Perhaps we should have a thread reserved for living pianists. I'm sure Moravec and Gekic will appreciate the more stimulating company.  I'm sure there are many younger lions of the keyboard who should get some recognition.

[George]

This seems to be a list of mostly dead pianists -- and you seem to have forgotten Arthur Schnabel, Artur Rubinstein, Rudolph Serkin, and Annie Fischer as well.  I am debating whether Alexis Weissenberg also belongs on the list.  oops!  How about Claudio Arrau?  He's also dead.

I haven't forgotten any of those pianists. As I said in my OP, I have posted the links for those pianists that I have a website/discography for. If you have links for these pianists, post them and I will add them to the list.

Perhaps we should have a thread reserved for living pianists. I'm sure Moravec and Gekic will appreciate the more stimulating company.  I'm sure there are many younger lions of the keyboard who should get some recognition.

As I said in my OP, we'll see how it goes. As of yet, I don't see the advantage of separating living and dead pianists.

[aquablob]

btw does anyone remember Contrapunctus?

B_cereus: Does anyone remember Contrapunctus?

aquariuswb: The only memories worth having are those that are "pure." Those are of the highest order. Just like Johann Sebastian Bach's music, which is pure. Only Glenn Gould understood this.

Bach: How right you are, aquariuswb! What good is music if it is not pure? My music is the purity of essence; the essence of purity. Glenn Gould knew this. You know this, also. You are wet wise behind beyond your ears years!

aquariuswb: Well, that's putting it mildly, but I do thank you.

[B_cereus]

very good!

[Mandryka]

Can we have a special section for oddballs -- with Nyiregyhazi at the top?  Websites at

http://www.marymaclane.com/nyiregyhazi/ and  http://www.nyiregyhazi.org/

[B_cereus]

Martha Argerich: http://www.argerich.org/

Claudio Arrau: http://arrauhouse.org/content/homepage.htm

[Opus106]

http://www.angelahewitt.com/
http://www.alfredbrendel.com/

http://www.langlang.com/landing

Dead pianists are a set of completed stories. There's nothing new apart from a recording company releasing previously un-released material. As for those living and performing, they might start playing new repertoire or genre, and maybe even involve themselves in politics!

[George]

Thanks for the links guys!

If you put it in the format I used for the OP, with the name only showing as a link, it will make organizing this thread easier. 

[Jay F]

Thanks for the links guys!

If you put it in the format I used for the OP, with the name only showing as a link, it will make organizing this thread easier. 

Alfred Brendel

[George]

I am already beginning to see that this thread could just turn into a long list of pianists with links to their webpages.

I had hoped we would have a discussion about each of these pianists, listing your favorite recordings, describing why you think they belong on the list, discussing how piano playing has changed over time, etc.

If this doesn't happen, I think it would be wise to lock the topic and instead encourage you guys to start a thread for your favorite pianist (like I did with Richter and MN Dave did with Kempff), perhaps choosing ones that don't get discussed enough here at GMG. I think that this focus would help us to begin discussing some of the more neglected pianists and make the threads more substantial. Like I said earlier though, we'll see how this goes.

[George]

Alfred Brendel

Thanks, I have added him to the list.

[Bunny]

Maurizio Pollini
Grigory Sokolov