beautiful piano recordings: solo or small ensemble

A couple not mentioned by anyone yet:

Nojima plays Liszt -- fabulous playing!
Ashkenazy playing the Shostakovich Preludes and Fugues
Glenn Gould playing the Bach Goldberg Variations

Agree with others about Keith Jarrett The Night is You (or something like that -- he also recorded the Shostakovich), Grusin Gershwin Connection, Dick Hyman, Jackie Terrason, Fred Hersch.

One new Fred Hersch disc that is terrific if you like live jazz is his live set in Amsterdam. Just out.

Good luck and happy listening!

David

Philip Glass "Solo" and " Glassworks"
Minimalist music at its best

Anouar Brahem "Le voyage de Sahar" and "Le pas de chat noir"
Piano and Oud from Marocco, a MUST listen to

Both can be sampled on Amazon.

You should look into the "Live at Maybeck Recital Hall" series for some excellent solo performances - Dave McKenna, Monty Alexander and Buddy Montgomery, to name a few.

I second the Bill evans "Conversations With Myself" recommendation. Truly a genius at work.

Also check out Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea's duet album. Not only is the playing phenomenal, but it is an intriguing work out for your system, working only one chanel at a time and hearing the two meld.

Finally, Ahamd Jamal, "World Tour" (or "Night at the Pershing") and "Live at the Montreal Jazz Fest", specifically the first cut, "Yellow Fellow".

Chick Corea: piano improvisations, Vol. 1
Richie Beirach: Elm
Steve Kuhn: Exctasy