Sviatoslav Richter. Greatest pianist of the last century?

+1 on Gieseking, though it's a crime that Walter Legge recorded him on such blowsy, antiquated equipment.  There are very few recordings that convey the glory of his tone.  Also, I enjoy Trifonov a lot.  But I confess that I don't "get" Richter.  I don't know why.  I have a good friend, a fellow audiophile who studied to be a classical pianist, who keeps up with the plethora of talented young pianists.  I need to sit down with him sometime and help me understand what makes Richter so special.  I don't doubt that he is, but as someone who is not a trained musician I feel that I'm missing something.

I never enjoyed Richter.  For me, he seemed too mechanical. Perhaps it is time to try again...

I prefer Kempff for Beethoven and Gould for Bach.  After them, there are many great 'all-round pianists' from the last century.  - including include Ashkenazy, Arrau, and Fleisher. 

Happy Listening

... and almost forgot Argerich.

It's "transcendent." And it might have been Rachmaninov himself who deserved the adjective most.

And while we’re at it, are the Beatles better than Wayne Shorter?

Seriously, though, I see the value of GOAT questions not so much as a ranking mechanism, which can get a bit too masturbatory for me, but rather as a way of learning from colleagues about great new resources.

With that in mind, I have to mention Igor Levit, the increasingly popular Russian pianist who, despite being too current to fit into a larger perspective, is certainly up there with the best of the best. And if you read his bio & interviews, you’ll discover that he’s an interesting fellow to boot, on a personal level.

Check out his performance on "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" with the Wiener Philharmoniker (available as a Sony Blu-ray import, a PBS special, and a streaming video on Tidal). The first time I heard it, I cried -- and I’m hardly the type to cry easily. Less impressed with his Wagner transcriptions, but surprisingly, I find his Bach to be as nuanced as his Rachmaninoff.

Igor may not be everybody’s "greatest", but IMHO is certainly worth seeking out.

My 2c.