Favorite Solo Piano Recordings

[Todd]

I'll start with Albéniz:

Iberia - Michel Block, Esteban Sánchez, Alicia de Larrocha (Hispavox), Kotaro Fukuma

España - Esteban Sánchez, Michel Block, Gonzalo Soriano

[Mandryka]

Yes, Lang Lang's Goldberg Variations revealed you. 

Absolutely. There's only one!

[Verena]

There are sooo many of them. Off the top of my head:
Gould live in Salzburg
Rubinstein Chopin
Youri Egorov Bach 6th Partita
Richter Well-tempered Clavier
Edwin Fischer Well-Tempered Clavier
Ugorskaja Schubert
Kit Armstrong Byrd Bull
Pogorelich Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition
Richter / Gavrilov Handel Suites

[vers la flamme]

Louis Lortie - Ravel Piano Works

Volume 1
Volume 2
Music for Four Hands (with Hélène Mercier)

I agree! Love these recordings

[Holden]

I could go on forever on this topic but will limit myself to what immediately comes to mind

Schubert D 960 - Richter
Schumann Fassingsschwank, C Major Fantasy, Papillons
Field Nocturnes - Noel Lee
Scarlatti Sonatas - Babayan
Bach/Busoni Chaconne - Kissin and Grimaud (such different performers
Beethoven Waldstein - Serkin (1952)
Beethoven Appassionata - Gilels Moscow 1960
Chopin Etudes - Ashkenazy Moscow
Beethoven Op111 - Arrau (Classic archives DVD)
Chopin Piano Works - Solomon
Bach WTC - Richter
Hamelin Etudes - Hamelin
Sokolov All Chopin recital in Amsterdam 2005
Schumann Fantasy in C - Fiorentino
Carnegie Hall recital - Bolet (GPOTTC)
Liszt B Minor Sonata - Cziffra
Schubert Moments Musical - Gilels
Grieg Lyric Pieces - Gilels
Beethoven Op 109, 110 Myra Hess
Beethoven Diabelli Variations - Arrau

There, I'll stop at twenty.

[Verena]

I could go on forever on this topic but will limit myself to what immediately comes to mind

Schubert D 960 - Richter
Schumann Fassingsschwank, C Major Fantasy, Papillons
Field Nocturnes - Noel Lee
Scarlatti Sonatas - Babayan
Bach/Busoni Chaconne - Kissin and Grimaud (such different performers
Beethoven Waldstein - Serkin (1952)
Beethoven Appassionata - Gilels Moscow 1960
Chopin Etudes - Ashkenazy Moscow
Beethoven Op111 - Arrau (Classic archives DVD)
Chopin Piano Works - Solomon
Bach WTC - Richter
Hamelin Etudes - Hamelin
Sokolov All Chopin recital in Amsterdam 2005
Schumann Fantasy in C - Fiorentino
Carnegie Hall recital - Bolet (GPOTTC)
Liszt B Minor Sonata - Cziffra
Schubert Moments Musical - Gilels
Grieg Lyric Pieces - Gilels
Beethoven Op 109, 110 Myra Hess
Beethoven Diabelli Variations - Arrau

There, I'll stop at twenty.

Schumann Fassingsschwank, C Major Fantasy, Papillons: you probably favor the Richter recording?

[nakulanb]

I really enjoy Alice Sara Ott's albums.

[SimonNZ]

I really enjoy Alice Sara Ott's albums.

I don't know the the rest of her discography but really like her album of Liszt's Transcendental Etudes

[Mandryka]

Someone put me on to her Chopin Waltzes recently, I think Dry Brett Kavanaugh -- very nice, a really thoughtful pianist. She also recorded a transcription of Rite of Spring with Francesco Tristano which I remember enjoying.  And there was a Waldstiein too . . .


Francesco Tristano is someone the  nakulanb may enjoy exploring -- the homage to Glenn Gould recording. Classical inspired ambient improvisations.

[Florestan]

One that blew me away very recently:



featuring the very best D899/1 I've ever heard.

[AaronSF]

Well, this will date me!

Debussy Preludes, both books: Paul Jacobs
Debussy Images, Books I & II: Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli
Ravel, Gaspard de la nuit: Martha Argerich
Schumann, Fantasie in C: Vladimir Horowitz (live)
Schumann, Phantasiestücke: Martha Argerich
Schumann, Kinderscenen: Vladimir Horwitz
Schubert, Sonata in Bb, D960: Mitsuko Uchida
Rachmaninov, Preludes, both books: Howard Shelley
Prokofiev, Sonatas: Boris Berman
Scriabin, Sonatas 5, 9, & 10: Vladimir Horowitz
Mozart, Piano sonatas: Mitsuko Uchida
Mendelssohn, Songs Without Words (selected): András Schiff
Liszt, Sonata in B minor: Jeanne-Marie Darré
Chopin, Piano Sonata in Bb minor: Martha Argerich
Chopin, Waltzes: Artur Rubenstein
Chopin, Scherzi: Ivan Moravec
Chopin, Nocturnes: Nelson Freire

And so many more!

[Holden]

Schumann Fassingsschwank, C Major Fantasy, Papillons: you probably favor the Richter recording?

Yes, forgot to put the performer in. It's a EMI CD. That said, while the Fantasy is great I prefer Fiorentino. For the other two works I'll stick with Richter

[Verena]

Yes, forgot to put the performer in. It's a EMI CD. That said, while the Fantasy is great I prefer Fiorentino. For the other two works I'll stick with Richter

I love Fiorentino's Fantasy, too. Also Arrau live.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Thank you for mentioning this album. I like it as well as his de Falla album!   

[amw]

Schubert - Sonatas D850, 959, 960, Impromptus - Artur Schnabel
Schumann - Kreisleriana, Kinderszenen - Martha Argerich
Schubert - Sonata D960, Beethoven - Sonata Op. 111 - Zoltán Kocsis (DVD)
Schumann - Fantasy in C, Beethoven - Sonata Op. 57 - Claudio Arrau (1959)
Brahms - Piano Pieces Op. 76 and 118 - Arcadi Volodos
Chopin - Ballades, Beethoven - Sonata Op. 109 - Maria Tipo
Prokofiev - Sonata no. 7, Beethoven - Sonata Op. 10 no. 3, Mozart - Sonata K. 576, etc. - Martha Argerich (1960s)
Prokofiev - Sonata no. 8, Scriabin - Sonata no. 10 - Yuja Wang
Schumann - Kreisleriana, Fantasy, Kinderszenen - Annie Fischer (BBC Live)
Medtner - Complete Piano Sonatas - Marc-André Hamelin
Mozart - Complete Fortepiano Sonatas - Paul Badura-Skoda
Beethoven - Diabelli Variations x2 - András Schiff
Schumann - Kreisleriana, Humoreske, Fantasy, Symphonic Etudes - Vladimir Ashkenazy (1966/1972)
Ravel - Miroirs, Gaspard de la Nuit - Anna Vinnitskaya
Ravel - Tombeau de Couperin, Stravinsky - Trois mouvements de Petrouchka - Yeol Eum Son
Chopin - Etudes - György Cziffra
Collected Deutsche Grammophon recordings - Géza Anda
Bach - Goldberg Variations - Pavel Kolesnikov
Messiaen - 20 Regards - Pi-Hsien Chen
Szymanowski - Sonata no. 3, Masques, Metopes - Roland Pöntinen
Beethoven - Piano Sonatas op. 90, 101, 106, 109, 110, 111 - Peter Serkin
Scarlatti - Selected piano sonatas (EMI, MDG) - Christian Zacharias

I'm probably leaving out a large number of important pianists because my brain isn't working very well right now. Have tried to limit to one recording per pianist, also with limited success.

[Mandryka]

Some favorites:

Bach: The Art of Fugue, Geoffrey Douglas Madge
Beethoven: Op. 106, Rudolf Serkin
Beethoven: Op. 111, Wilhelm Kempff  (DG mono 1950'es)
Chopin: Nocturnes, Bart van Oort
Bartok: For children, Geza Anda
Hindemith: Ludus Tonalis, Hans Petermandl

The Madge is very good, I agree.

[staxomega]

Messiaen - 20 Regards - Pi-Hsien Chen

I wasn't aware she recorded this, added to my must hear. I did a comparison a while back including Loriod (Erato, didn't have Vega ripped at that house), Jean-Rodolphe Kars, and it was Steven Osborne that came out on top.

[Florestan]

One that blew me away very recently:

[Mandryka]

I wasn't aware she recorded this, added to my must hear. I did a comparison a while back including Loriod (Erato, didn't have Vega ripped at that house), Jean-Rodolphe Kars, and it was Steven Osborne that came out on top.

Did you include Paul Kim? I like Osborne too, by the way. Paul Kim was Joyce Hatto, and I liked him too.

[staxomega]

Did you include Paul Kim? I like Osborne too, by the way. Paul Kim was Joyce Hatto, and I liked him too.

No, sorry. Aimard was the fourth. It was a months long process and a measly four pianists ate up so much time.