Pianistic Perfectionism

[Ten thumbs]

Playing every note correctly is one thing, tempo another. Although there never can be a perfect tempo, i do feel that andante and andantino should be at a walking pace, not a jog and definitely not a slow march - andante is not adagio. Similarly with moderato, which should be quicker but not fast, and to the beat, ie 2:2 time has twice as many bars to the minute as 4:4 time. Allegretto is faster again but still not allegro. I have heard performances that ignore these markings and I don't enjoy them. One thing that does give a good impression though is the playing of difficult passages without any hesitation or slowing.

[ChamberNut]

ive heard some of gilels beethoven it's rather safe & bland too, nothing that remarkable, and he's not that adventurous in terms repertoire either - mainly sticking to the small narrow set of old stuff that's been played and recorded by so many others ad nauseum.  

James, I thought you didn't listen to Beethoven?

[Florestan]

Two different La Campanella:

Emil von Sauer

Evgeny Kissin

Which is more to your liking, I wonder?

[Aeolian harp]

ive heard some of gilels beethoven it's rather safe & bland too, nothing that remarkable, and he's not that adventurous in terms repertoire either - mainly sticking to the small narrow set of old stuff that's been played and recorded by so many others ad nauseum.  

I thought he had a fairly wide repertoire.

Safe & bland? Maybe some of his studio stuff. But he was definitely a risk taker, as can be heard in a number of recordings especially live.

[MishaK]

ive heard some of gilels beethoven it's rather safe & bland too, nothing that remarkable, and he's not that adventurous in terms repertoire either - mainly sticking to the small narrow set of old stuff that's been played and recorded by so many others ad nauseum.  

You need to have your ears checked. Sorry, but this is not even a matter of opinion. You can have an opinion that you don't like what Gilels does and still recognize his musicianship, but your criticism is simply off the chart. You are either not listening to the same thing as the rest of us, or something isn't neurologically being transmitted correctly.

No, the OP asked for pianistic perfection, which is far from being the same thing. Indeed, he mentioned Zimerman, which would be my first choice for "pianistic perfection", Gilels being the second.

I think everyone else understood perfectly fine what the admiral meant and if there was any doubt it was cleared up in the subsequent discussion.

[George]

ive heard some of gilels beethoven it's rather safe & bland too, nothing that remarkable,

Have you heard the early Beethoven from the his green Brilliant box? He sounds like another pianist, rough around the edges, bold playing that takes chances.

i have heard PLENTY of beethoven.

I assume that you mean "a lot" when you say plenty, but plenty to some could be very little.