Great classical pianists


Alexandra Dovgan is the pianist of her generation.

 

In the last century there was Richter. Today Trifonov. Now a new phenom. What is it in the Russian water that produces such giants of the keyboard?

We enjoy all great pianists. Rubinstein, Pollini, Argerich, Backhaus, Kempf, Michelangeli, Schnabel, Pogorelic, Gilels. Please add your favorite to this embarrassment of pianistic riches. But there is primus inter pares. 

chowkwan

Thanks for the correction ... 😊

But you certainly know more about Schiff playing than about Schiff origin  ...

Sir András Schiff (Hungarian: [ˈɒndraːʃ ˈʃiff]; born 21 December 1953) is a Hungarian-born British classical pianist

Wikipedia...

And here is the source of my confusion :

Schiff, known for his video broadcast masterclasses, is currently on the faculty of the Barenboim–Said Akademie in Berlin, Germany, serving as distinguished visiting professor of piano.[17]

Wikipedia

@mahgister

you certainly know your Bach! Schiff is actually Czech

 

«Sofronitsky met Elena Scriabina, Scriabin’s daughter in 1917, two years after the death of her father, and they were married in 1920. He never met Scriabin, but Scriabina said that her husband was the ‘most authentic interpreter’ of his works.

He’s little known in the west due to his few appearances outside the Soviet Union but he was held in high regard by other pianists such as Sviatoslav Richter and Emil Gilels. They held him in such high esteem that when he acclaimed Richter as a genius, Richter responded by calling Sofronitsky a god.» Maureen Buja

 

listen to this :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx1FN-a47eg

Now compare the God to a great pianist, Horowitz:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xudZ3J4EeoQ

So extraordinary Horowitz is here , Sofronitsky exceed him in sheer intensity without loosing anything in mastery of colors ...

Richter is nearer to Sofronitsky in intensity :

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

As a comparison the young Kissin look only like a first of the class , under the great Horowitz and under the intensity of Sofrontisky ......

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Russia Neuhaus was a god , beside Scriabin and Sofronitsky ...

Listen to the expressive and perfect rendition of Bach :

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

His son is one of the great russian pianist too :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvIMWyMxjq0

 

 

 I forgot to say that all the above  are only my impressions ... Others can differ ... 😊

I like Horowitz and Gould not for their incredible technique, but for the passion, intensity and intellect they bring to what they play.

Nobody can negate what you just say about them...

I discovered Bach thanks to intense Gould playing of the Goldberg ...

And Horowitz is Russian pianist... It is enough for me ... And his reputation need no advocate so much he is great pianist in every aspects universally recognized ...

But each one of us had our own personal intimacy moments with someone...

We are partial because we love too much, especially me ... 😊

My strong convictions about pianists does not means that i am right about all i said ...This goes without saying but is better if i say it ...😊

The only very good thing about very strongly expressed opinions, right or wrong, would be that some will listen a less known pianist for the first or the second time in a different mood, or way , to test any claims or to perceive it perhaps...

Thanks OP for this piano thread...

I like Horowitz and Gould not for their incredible technique, but for the passion, intensity and intellect they bring to what they play.