Piano Solo or Concerto Recordings that make you go "wow"

[Zhiliang]

Hi,

Have you ever have that feeling before, of listening maybe to a new work for the first time or recordings of the same piece which you have so many versions of, and in the midst of listening, you just go "wow" or "oh my god". A feeling that, YES, thats the way it should be, thats the way the composer would have wanted it to sound. It may be a technical feat or virtousity that simply astounds, or it may be a moment so beautiful that bring tears to your eyes, or it may be a moment where hair just stands on your back. A feeling that, takes away all your problems for a while, a feeling that seems to be "life changing or defining" though how over-dramatic that might sound. It may not need to be a great recording, neither would it even be legendary, but really something that just touches you, and make you feel something totally different. Would love to hear you share about that experience.

For me, it would be Pogorelich playing Chopin Scherzo No. 4, the middle lyrical section. I just love the way he paces the whole thing, the tempo though slow, was very heartfelt in its simplicity.

Another would be Sudbin's Rachmaninoff Piano Sonata No. 2, where it was like listening to it afresh. So clear were the lines, so transparent were the textures. The middle section was again one of the more touching renditions, in between some really virtuosic playing in the outer movements. The finale was such a bang, and when i thought he could not go any more louder, he proved me wrong again. And considering all these, he is still very young, a pianist and artist.

[FideLeo]

Andreas Staier and Christine Schornsheim in their "Mozart on a Stein Vis-à-Vis"

Apart from the instrument itself, which is a hybrid of 3-manual harpsichord and fortepiano,
Staier and Schornsheim play the Mozart Sonatas for 4-Hands as if they were virtuosic pieces.   
And then spice it with improvisations both by Mozart and by the performers themselves.

Wow from beginning to end. 

[val]

I had that feeling listening to Emil Gilels playing the Adagio of Beethoven's Sonata opus 106 or Friedrich Gulda playing the Arietta of the opus 111.

[Holden]

These really pushed my buttons

Hummel PCs - Stephen Hough

Scarlatti sonatas - Sergei Babayan and Yevgeney Sudbin

Brahms PC #2 - Richter/Leinsdorf

Chopin 1st Ballade - ABM

Ravel PC in G - ABM

Mozart Sonatas - Klara Wurtz

I could go on....

[Todd]

A few "wow" moments for me include:

Ivo Pogorelich playing Chopin's 1st and 3rd Scherzi and Ravel's Gaspard

Abbey Simon playing Ravel's Miroirs

Most of Friedrich Gulda's Beethoven sonata cycle (Amadeo) and his Schubert D845

Annie Fischer's take on Op 57

Rudolf Serkin and Eugene Ormandy in the Emperor

Leif Ove Andsnes' take on Schubert's D850 and Grieg's Piano Concerto

Vladimir Ovchinikov's recording of Liszt's Transcendental Etudes

[MN Dave]

Semi-recently, Gulda's LvB sonatas.

[ChamberNut]

Chopin - Scherzo No. 2 Rubinstein

Schubert - Fantasia for piano, 4 hands in F minor, D.940 (Guher & Suher Pekinel)

[Don]

Gieseking playing Schumann's Kreisleriana
Backhaus playing Schumann's Davidsbundlertanze
Bolet and Freire playing Chopin's Op. 28 Preludes
Tureck playing Bach's WTC
Sheppard playing Bach's Partitas for Keyboard
Hantai playing Bach's Goldbergs
Ross playing Handel's Suites for Keyboard

[springrite]

Gilels: Walstein

Pogorelich: Gaspard

Richter: Prokofiev PC 5

Hamelin: Alkan Trois Etudes, op 76

Levy: Liszt B minor

...and many others

[Timmyb]

Gilels playing Beethoven
Earl Wild playing the Rachmaninov concertos

[Sergeant Rock]

Richter's incomparable Rach 2 conducted by Wislocki

Hélène Grimaud's total identification with Beethoven's Piano Sonata in A flat op.110

Lilya Zilberstein's ultra slow, Mahlerian reading of Schubert's Gretchen am Spinnrade (arranged by Liszt)

Glenn Gould's affectionate and very romantic take on Richard Strauss's Piano Sonata in B minor op.5



Sarge

[dirkronk]

Scarlatti sonatas - Sergei Babayan and Yevgeney Sudbin

Brahms PC #2 - Richter/Leinsdorf

Agree completely with these. For my ears, OTTOMH...

Many, MANY Richter live performances have this effect on me (too many to list easily--but think Sofia, Prague, Aldeburgh, Spoleto, Leipzig).

The last long movement of the Beethoven Appassionata in a concert performance by Sergio Fiorentino, a long snippet once easily available on the internet but now (alas!) my link no longer works. Wish the whole performance was available--it may well be the fastest, most thrilling yet still amazingly well phrased and articulated version I've ever heard (and I'm taking into account Richter's several performances from 1959 and 1960 as well as Ernst Levy's).

Solomon--I could cite a number of concertos and solo works, but I'll single out his LvB Waldstein, where his simple exposition of the musical phrases coupled with the most sensitive and artfully done segues make for an emotionally rewarding experience.

Lili Kraus--much of her older Mozart sonata cycle commands emotional appeal, as do many passages from her Mozart piano cti. 12 & 18 with Monteux.

Clara Haskil--hell, just pick any Mozart concerto she did...especially with Markevitch or Fricsay.

Elly Ney--no, not her early work, which is competent to very good; try instead her recordings when she was a very old woman. (And try to ignore whatever you know about the despicable political beliefs of her younger days.) Her Schubert Wanderer Fantasy, for example, is unique pretty much from first note to last. As for her Beethoven sonatas (the Waldstein comes to mind), she no longer has it in her to present these "of a piece" with the fluidity between sections that they need--but in her presentation of the music, episode by episode, there are times when her phrasing is so astoundingly insightful that a single familiar run of notes seems utterly "new" and imbued with greater depth of meaning than I'd ever suspected. At such times, I've had tears well up in my eyes and a lump instantly appear in my throat.

Annie Fischer--both her Beethoven 3rd concerto and (perhaps especially) the two Mozart rondos that once partnered it in LP form. Every note a treasure.

Leon Fleisher/Szell vs. Gilels/Ludwig in Beethoven's 4th concerto. Actually, both are required listening...Fleisher/Szell for power "wow" and Gilels/Ludwig for poetry "wow."

Barere--the man was a pianistic personification of "wow."

I too could go on.


Dirk

[Zhiliang]

I would add one more...

The Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 by Gilels and Jochum - I remember how noble it sounded under Gilels, never prissy or sentimental, and i missed my bus stop on that occation.

[samuel]

Richter's incomparable Rach 2 conducted by Wislocki

yes, i love how richter slows down just before the repeat of the alla marcia section in the first movement. so far he's the only pianist i've ever heard do that and i think it really adds an extra sense of drama to the climactic first movement march.

Brahms PC #2 - Richter/Leinsdorf

yes, another stunning richter performance.

also...

michelangeli's grieg piano concerto on bbc legends.

moravec's beethoven recordings from the 60s.

fleisher's brahms piano concerto no. 1 with szell.

lipatti's schumann piano concerto with karajan and chopin b minor sonata.

rubinstein's chopin nocturne op. 48 no. 1 (1965)

argerich's chopin piano concerto no. 1 with abbado and liszt sonata.

this...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwfOuTncmW4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcIRitW0XcM

and that's all i can think of for now.

[rubio]

These really pushed my buttons

Mozart Sonatas - Klara Wurtz

I have the Uchida, and I'm medium satisfied with it. So I wonder if it's due to the music or the performances. How does Klara Wurtz compare to Uchida interpretation-wise?

[Sergeant Rock]

yes, i love how richter slows down just before the repeat of the alla marcia section in the first movement. so far he's the only pianist i've ever heard do that and i think it really adds an extra sense of drama to the climactic first movement march.

Exactly! And I love how it sounds like Richter is struggling to free himself from Wislocki's rigid tempo in the recap. It almost sounds like a Concerto for Piano against Orchestra. Unique 


Sarge

[rubio]

Some knockout performances from the top of my head:

Annie Fischer/Fricsay, Beethoven PC3 (DG)
Alfred Cortot's Chopin Preludes (1943, Andante)
Luisada's Chopin Mazurkas (DG)
Rachmaninoff's Chopin Piano Sonata 2 (1930, Andante)
Rubinstein's Chopin Andante Spianato et Grande Polonaise (1935, Andante)
Igor Zhukov's Chopin Piano Sonata 3 (not commercial recording)
Schnabel's Schubert D959 and D960 (Pearl)
Rachmaninoff's Schumann Carnaval (1929, Andante)

I'm sure I have forgotten many - especially Chopin performances.

[hautbois]

Gilels - Grieg - Lyric pieces. These really said something to me.

Howard

[Novi]

I had that feeling listening to Emil Gilels playing the Adagio of Beethoven's Sonata opus 106 or Friedrich Gulda playing the Arietta of the opus 111.

Absolutely. I think the Arietta is one of the most beautiful things written ever. Gulda gets played a lot here, but I also like Arrau on EMI Classics DVD for a different take to Gulda's. He's slower and heavier perhaps, but heart wrenchingly beautiful. It's mesmerising watching him play.

Some kind person has posted it on youtube.

Exactly! And I love how it sounds like Richter is struggling to free himself from Wislocki's rigid tempo in the recap. It almost sounds like a Concerto for Piano against Orchestra. Unique 

Sarge

Richter really is quite demonic there. I also think you get the 'Piano v Orchestra' thing in the Brahms PC 2 with Leinsdorf.

[dirkronk]

It almost sounds like a Concerto for Piano against Orchestra.

Well, after all, as any Latin student can tell you, that IS the original meaning of the word concerto:

con ("with") + certo (certare..."to fight, contend, struggle, do battle" or alternatively "to debate")

The original implication was always one of struggle and fighting. The much more civilized connotation of "act together" or "decide together" came centuries later.


Dirk (whose 5-1/2 years of classical Latin occasionally come in handy)