Classical music thread welcoming your suggestions and why...

Lucky you were...

I am a bit envious,,,

Behind the decreasing virtuosity we can listen the powerful expressive tone which almost no pianist i know of , save a Sofronitsky , can produce...

The ruins of his playings reveal a deepness that is nowhere to be heard...

I'm pretty sure I saw Nyiregyhazi in performance during the guy's momentary, end-of-life resurrection of his career. It was in L.A., I can't remember exactly where the concert was (The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion?) but I had a truly excellent seat. The audience wasn't large but it was absolutely worshipful.  Nyiregyhazi played with a playful, indulgent "why the heck not?" affability. Unfortunately, he only had a glimmer of his once magical chops. In any case, it was a heck of an experience.

For example this :

I pick the "evening bells " and the christmast piece to show after the madness of Olbermann valley or Mephisto how touching and exquisitely hypnotizing in his effective tenderness and grace E.Ny. could manifest pure heavenly grace... At least at the same level than Brendel... If not, i will say that E.Ny. play with a suplement of grace in my opinion... Because here E. Ny. is more delicately fluid than even Brendel and the total resulting piece is more integrated as usual with E. Ny. with pulse behind the horizontal melodic line ... With Brendel it is more like many small successive scenes...

I had only Liszt: Weihnachtsbaum with Brendel :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rn9zi8cLAoA

The same piece by E. Ny. for the 4 first minute and a few seconds.. but observe that E.Ny. is repeating the complete first section, though it's not written in the score.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0S1KDOC8is

After 8 minutes 19sec. : The "evening bells" is in the E. Ny. youtube selection . But i did not have Brendel playing to compare with...

Now suppose Mephisto exist and touch the piano...Liszt thought about him ...He composed some pieces where it is Mephisto himself who he had  summon to play himself through him ... Which pianist can play as Mephisto in person touching the piano  ? Liszt , but who else?

It will be pure madness and grace with the power of volcano ...

Philistine "cake tasting" esthetes could say " Full of bad notes and distasteful" when listening E. Ny.

I say that Mephisto himself as Liszt intended him to play was playing not a first prize model pianist with E. Ny. ...

E.Ny. is a genius...

The greatest pianist i ever heard , not always the more perfect, but the most powerfully expressive of all...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtSHsZj566Q&list=RDwtSHsZj566Q&start_radio=1

Now listen to Richter, the great disciple of Sofronitsky himself...

Compared to E. Ny. we dont listen Mephisto himself in person playing, we listen to a marvellously well played REPRESENTATION of Mephisto, not the devil himself playing as with E.Ny.

Which one is the best?

It is not a question of taste not even a contest... It is the difference between a perfect image of the devil and the devil incarnated playing himself...

There is no best pianist..

There is level of expressiveness and levels of expressiveness are not levels of formal perfection ...

When we listen Richter we are at ease and contemplating an image... When we listen E.Ny. we are deeply disturbed and it is impossible to listen to him relaxed , our body is tensed as if we assisted to the devil playing... Richter is almost boring compared to E.Ny. ... And Richter is one of the greatest pianist from the Russian school surpassed only by Sofronitsky who anyway is on par with E. Ny. for expressiveness in his own way...

Richter :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9n-GrOpTOjs

Richter could be disturbingly demonic as well.  Try his “Bydlo” from the live Sofia (Bulgaria) recording of Pictures at An Exhibition.  I have never heard anyone project the menace in that piece as he did.  Or his numerous recordings of Beethoven’s Appassionata

Richter was one of the best pupils of Sofrontisky and i will listen your recommendation... I just want a cpmparison illustrating the sheer power of E. Ny compared to a pianist undoubtedly powerful too to put a level comparison..

Thanks for these recommendations...

Richter could be disturbingly demonic as well.  Try his “Bydlo” from the live Sofia (Bulgaria) recording of Pictures at An Exhibition.  I have never heard anyone project the menace in that piece as he did.  Or his numerous recordings of Beethoven’s Appassionata

John Ogdon is a powerful pianist...Master of expression way more than a mere perfect virtuoso...

Anybody can verify with his Busoni recording or with his Sorabji Clavicem ballisticus unrivalled rendition...

This short Liszt piece reveal why :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aU_cmFD5k8

Only E.Ny. can rival him...😊 Or Sofronotsky and few others...