Keyboardists that never disappoint.....

[Bogey]

That's the problem with a thread like this. Expectations of perfection can never be met, so Pierre who is a magnificent harpsichordist gets eliminated.

The only keyboardist (pianist - not typist) I ever heard of who was always perfect was Joyce Hatto.

Bunny and others,

I guess I should have stated my objective up front when starting this thread, as a few posters indicate that they are having a bit of an issue with its dogmatic nature, of which I can see their point.  So here it is:

The point of the thread was to assist me when I am looking through hundreds/thousands(?) of cds in the used shops I haunt.  What I plan on doing is making a hard copy list of those keyboardists members here find to be their creme de la creme.  Sometimes I have limited time to sample these used cds, so I have to make a quick decision to buy or leave for the next peruser.  This list that is being generated will assist me greatly when limited time to sample is an issue....if I see a recording from one that was recommended, but do not have time to sample, I will probably buy it.  So Hantai is not necessarily eliminated because Don has posted that with the one exception noted, he highly values his performances.  Hope this clears things up a bit and please keep posting.

[dtwilbanks]

Bunny and others,

I guess I should have stated my objective up front when starting this thread, as a few posters indicate that they are having a bit of an issue with its dogmatic nature, of which I can see their point.  So here it is:

The point of the thread was to assist me when I am looking through hundreds/thousands(?) of cds in the used shops I haunt.  What I plan on doing is making a hard copy list of those keyboardists members here find to be their creme de la creme.  Sometimes I have limited time to sample these used cds, so I have to make a quick decision to buy or leave for the next peruser.  This list that is being generated will assist me greatly when limited time to sample is an issue....if I see a recording from one that was recommended, but do not have time to sample, I will probably buy it.  So Hantai is not necessarily eliminated because Don has posted that with the one exception noted, he highly values his performances.  Hope this clears things up a bit and please keep posting.

You are going to get a lot of names, my friend.  Maybe all of them. 

[Bogey]

You are going to get a lot of names, my friend.  Maybe all of them. 

Also a good point....scratch my last post....

Hantai....he gone!

[Don]

Also a good point....scratch my last post....

Hantai....he gone!

Except that you'll miss both of his wonderful Goldbergs (Naive and Mirare). 

[George]

Bunny and others,

I guess I should have stated my objective up front when starting this thread, as a few posters indicate that they are having a bit of an issue with its dogmatic nature, of which I can see their point.  So here it is:

The point of the thread was to assist me when I am looking through hundreds/thousands(?) of cds in the used shops I haunt.  What I plan on doing is making a hard copy list of those keyboardists members here find to be their creme de la creme.  Sometimes I have limited time to sample these used cds, so I have to make a quick decision to buy or leave for the next peruser.  This list that is being generated will assist me greatly when limited time to sample is an issue....if I see a recording from one that was recommended, but do not have time to sample, I will probably buy it.  So Hantai is not necessarily eliminated because Don has posted that with the one exception noted, he highly values his performances.  Hope this clears things up a bit and please keep posting.

Strangely, someone like me, who tends to take everything far to literally (I would have made a great lawyer) understood fully what you meant at the beginning. 

I'd say if you get 5 rec's (or more) for a particular pianist, then that's a name to put on the list.

I'd also say that sometimes a pianist who disappoint isn't the best person for the job.

So, the way I have approached (may not work for you) this issue is to keep a running list of recordings that I am after. I bring this list to the store and use it to guide me. By following other people's recommendations, I have found a few (as I am aware you have) pianists/conductors that I value so highly that I will buy without seeing a review or even sampling. As I continue to follow recommendations, this list grows and grows and my taste becomes clearer and clearer with sucessive years. These days I am rarely dissapointed with things that I buy, but then I really don't take any risks either. As I think I have told you before, guidebooks (plus online reviews) have been very helpful as well. I now have 4 or 5 different ones. When 2 or 3 of them agree on a recording, then it goes on my list. However, I've noticed that if I take this process too far, I end up taking the fun out of it.

[Bunny]

Keyboardists (not typists) who have rarely disappointed me:

Andreas Staier
Ronald Brautigam
Leon Fleisher
Krystian Zimerman
Vladimir Horowitz
Earl Wild
Arthur Rubenstein
Artur Schnabel
Pierre Hantaï
Christophe Rousset
Alexandre Tharaud
Roslyn Tureck
Wanda Landowska
Annie Fischer
Ivan Moravec
Maurizio Pollini
Edwin Fischer
Bill Evans
Martha Argerich (a bit of a gamble, but when she's good she's beyond great)
Leif Ove Andsnes
Yefim Bronfman
Christine Schornsheim
Trudeliese Leonhardt
Gustav Leonhardt
Bob van Asperen
Scott Ross
Celine Frisch
Jos van Immerseel
Malcolm Bilson
Ottavio Dantone
Diego Fasolis (great work on Brandenburg 5th Cto.)
Charlotte Nediger
Maggie Cole



This is more than you need, and not all of them are going to show up in the used cd stores, but these are some of the names that would catch my attention.

Edit:  A few more names have come to mind:

Richard Goode
Stephen Hough (For solo piano music, he rarely puts a finger wrong)
Alicia de Larrocha
Blandine Rannou

[Dancing Divertimentian]

The point of the thread was to assist me when I am looking through hundreds/thousands(?) of cds in the used shops I haunt.  What I plan on doing is making a hard copy list of those keyboardists members here find to be their creme de la creme.  Sometimes I have limited time to sample these used cds, so I have to make a quick decision to buy or leave for the next peruser.  This list that is being generated will assist me greatly when limited time to sample is an issue....

Yeah, I had no problems understanding you, either, Bogey!

It isn't necessary to always graft one's mis preconceptions onto a thread. Sometimes a thread is just a thread!

Anyway, the one pianist I would nominate is Youri Egorov, with the disclaimer that his discography is small and hence less prone to clunkers.

What I've heard of him on EMI (Schumann/Debussy) is a winner. Ditto his very rare Channel Classics (Canal Grande) discs of live recitals (Bach, Bartok, Chopin, Shostakovich, Prokofiev).

A rare talent, Egorov died very young of Aids (in the mid-80's) after a meteoric rise following quality results in the competition circuit.

[Holden]

NEVER is a big word so from what I've actually heard I'd like to nominate:

Solomon - peerless in everything I've heard
Rubinstein - can't think of a single bad recording and I've got plenty of 'Ruby". Also:
Bruce Hungerford
Emil Gilels
Cziffra
Dubravka Tomsic
Sergio Fiorentino

I'd like to have nominated Richter but someof his Chopin doesn't appeal. The same goes for Moravec, despite the wonderful Nocturnes. Other close also-rans include ABM, Ashkenazy, Horowitz, Sokolov, Sofronitsky and Dino Ciani.

[Maciek]

Dubravka Tomsic

Have you heard a lot from her? I've only heard a little but it was very uneven - some recordings great, some really, really uninteresting. Don't remember the details but that was my overall impression: a very uneven pianist... Wonder if I'm alone here or have others had a similar experience?

[orbital]

Other close also-rans include ABM, Ashkenazy, Horowitz, Sokolov, Sofronitsky and Dino Ciani.

It also has to do with how specialized the pianist is. It is normal for Horowitz to disappoint in some music (rather than recordings) as much as a great all-over pianist he was. We can't expect him to be uniformly good in all those different composer genres. He will eventually be suited to some music more than others.

But with others like Rubinstein, Sofronitsky who tend to specialize and pianists like Sokolov whose recordings are very few the chances are that their output will attest to a high(er) level.

Then there is ABM who is neither of these, and I just can't think of him disappointing