# Who do you think is the greatest living pianist?



## chu42 (Aug 14, 2018)

This sequel to the 20th-Century Pianist poll comprises of legendary pianists who have had long and illustrious performing histories and are still performing today or have retired recently-as opposed to the living pianists who still have quite a ways to go in their career.

I will be limiting this poll to living pianists born before 1960.

Edit: Before someone mentions Pierre-Laurent Aimard, I had no clue that he was born before 1960. This is a big mistake on my part and I would've added him in place of Pletnev. Another honorable mention would be Barenboim, whom I don't personally enjoy but admittedly had an illustrious career as a performer.


----------



## EnescuCvartet (Dec 16, 2016)

Brendel ought to be in the conversation.


----------



## chu42 (Aug 14, 2018)

EnescuCvartet said:


> Brendel ought to be in the conversation.


Brendel was covered in my last poll.

Even though he is currently living, his last concert was in 2008. So the vast majority of his career was in the 20th century while many of the pianists on this poll still have considerable stage presence as of 2021.


----------



## Pianomaniac (Apr 1, 2021)

I voted for Sokolov because he is my overall favorite and in my view excels in everything he does. Never heard a Haydn sonata like his before for instance. But there are others I really enjoy and that are just especially wonderful with certain composers like Maria Joao Pires (Mozart), Mitsuko Uchida (Schubert), Murray Perahia (Bach). And if Marc-André Hamelin would have been born just one year earlier he'd deserve a spot in this list too.


----------



## consuono (Mar 27, 2020)

Martha Argerich, although I prefer the repertoire of Schiff and Perahia.


----------



## EmperorOfIceCream (Jan 3, 2020)

SOKOLOV GANG

Best Chopin préludes recording ever, by a lot


----------



## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

Kovacevich for me. Although I like Ashkenazy's breadth of repertoire, I feel Kovacevich dominated (or one of the dominates) the field in whatever he played, Mozart, Beethoven, Bartok.


----------



## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Sokolov is impressive in concert, the sound he gets to come out of the thing is distinctive and special. Zimerman is also impressive in concert, but in my opinion he’s a pianist’s pianist - I mean his excellence is to do with the quality of his playing rather than the imagination of his interpretation. I’ve only ever seen Pletnev once and that was disappointing - Scarlatti only concert. Same for Pogorelich - it was a concert in 2013 I think, too late. Aimard was excellent, world class, in Stockhausen once, but he’s really a circus act, bravura and not a deep thinker. That being said, on record his op 110 and Mozart PC 27 are not without interest. 

I’ve seen Pollini many times and same for Uchida and Perahia, but they weren’t in the premier league IMO - though Uchida came close years ago in a Schoenberg concert. 

I’ve never seen Argerich, but she’s got a good rep. Never seen Lupu either. 

I think Volodos should be in the running, and why not DemiD? But in my opinion the world’s greatest pianist is someone who has missed the boat - Leon McCawley.


----------



## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)




----------



## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Phil loves classical said:


> Kovacevich for me. Although I like Ashkenazy's breadth of repertoire, I feel Kovacevich dominated (or one of the dominates) the field in whatever he played, Mozart, Beethoven, Bartok.


You can't be the greatest living pianist if you've recorded the whole of Beethoven. It is such appalling bad taste at worst, or a cynical way of generating some dosh from a gullible and ignorant public at best, that these piano players are excluded on principal.


----------



## premont (May 7, 2015)

Mandryka said:


> You can't be the greatest living pianist if you've recorded the whole of Beethoven. It is such appalling bad taste at worst, or a cynical way of generating some dosh from a gullible and ignorant public at best, that these piano players are excluded on principal.


This may be just me, but I prefer to believe that this post is meant ironically, whatever that means.


----------



## chu42 (Aug 14, 2018)

Phil loves classical said:


> Kovacevich for me. Although I like Ashkenazy's breadth of repertoire, I feel Kovacevich dominated (or one of the dominates) the field in whatever he played, Mozart, Beethoven, Bartok.


Kovacevich is one of my favorite Beethoven interpreters. He probably could have found a spot on the poll but then who would I have to take off?



Mandryka said:


> You can't be the greatest living pianist if you've recorded the whole of Beethoven. It is such appalling bad taste at worst, or a cynical way of generating some dosh from a gullible and ignorant public at best, that these piano players are excluded on principal.


Aw, come on! Some of my favorite pianists have been Beethoven cyclers. Sure, sometimes it's a gimmick (like in the case of Lisitsa whom I wouldn't trust anywhere near Beethoven), but what about an already established great like Arrau doing the cycle just because he wants to?



Mandryka said:


> I think Volodos should be in the running


He is still in his 40s!


----------



## chu42 (Aug 14, 2018)

hammeredklavier said:


>


You keep on posting Kastle like he's some sort of punchline


----------



## cheregi (Jul 16, 2020)

hammeredklavier said:


> _videos_


Is it true what he says about Liszt or is it a marketing gimmick? I can't decide if I find his tone and 'vibe' annoying - in some ways it seems more Lisztian than most contemporary concert-goers might like to admit. Anyway his professions of 'reclaiming authenticity' seems suspect in light of the fact that Liszt himself would've regularly deviated from his own scores...



Mandryka said:


> But in my opinion the world's greatest pianist is someone who has missed the boat - Leon McCawley.


You can always be counted on to spark discussions with opinions like this...

Naturally I'd never heard of him but I'm listening now to his Kinderszenen and not hearing whatever it is that makes him stand out - but of course I have so little experience in this - would be curious to hear more on your thoughts.


----------



## chu42 (Aug 14, 2018)

cheregi said:


> Is it true what he says about Liszt or is it a marketing gimmick?


As a pianist myself who has performed a lot of Liszt, everything that comes out of Kastle's mouth is absolutely a marketing gimmick. I doubt he actually believes that no one can perform the Hungarian Rhapsodies correctly.

And there are certainly much harder works by Liszt that have been performed, such as this monstrosity:


----------



## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

chu42 said:


> You keep on posting Kastle like he's some sort of punchline


Sorry about that. But I just don't see how Pollini (for example) is a better pianist than Kastle


----------



## chu42 (Aug 14, 2018)

hammeredklavier said:


> Sorry about that. But I just don't see how Pollini (for example) is a better pianist than Kastle


Not sure if you're being serious, but Pollini has recorded pretty much everything under the sun and is widely regarded as being one of the most meticulous and sophisticated pianists of all time (even if some don't particularly like that style of playing).

Pollini does love modern music, even some works that I don't particularly enjoy, but that doesn't diminish his stature as a performer.

Here are his Chopin etudes for example, which are a benchmark in the recording industry.


----------



## Sgfnorth (Apr 4, 2021)

Hi - I’m new here - Sokolov though his CDs don’t reply reflect the best of him. Haven’t seen him in the UK for over a decade, but he thinks about programmes careful, is technically amazing, he has personality but he doesn’t fuss about pianos. Perhaps not in his favour I once heard him beat a piano out of tune playing Rach 3. It was utterly thrilling...


----------



## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

chu42 said:


>


Way too mechanical..

Try


----------



## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

cheregi said:


> Naturally I'd never heard of him but I'm listening now to his Kinderszenen and not hearing whatever it is that makes him stand out - but of course I have so little experience in this - would be curious to hear more on your thoughts.


Light fingers and poetry, listen to his Traumes wirren (Kinderszenen 7) Excellent in Schumann and in Mozart he's one of the very few on modern piano I enjoy, maybe the only one. The Schumann is particularly impressive because he can play both jauntily and dreamily -- Eusebius and Florestan. There aren't many piano players who can do that!


----------



## HenryPenfold (Apr 29, 2018)

I voted other - Trifonov

Think I've been here before .......


----------



## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

chu42 said:


> Aw, come on! Some of my favorite pianists have been Beethoven cyclers. !


Stopped reading at that point.


----------



## chu42 (Aug 14, 2018)

Mandryka said:


> Light fingers and poetry, listen to his Traumes wirren (Kinderszenen 7)


You mean Fantasiestucke No.7



HenryPenfold said:


> I voted other - Trifonov
> 
> Think I've been here before .......


Why, Trifonov is only 30! You can't expect me to include him in this poll.


----------



## consuono (Mar 27, 2020)

Mandryka said:


> Stopped reading at that point.


Dismissing Artur Schnabel? Come on. There's a lot of dumbness in the threads today.


----------



## Judith (Nov 11, 2015)

Voted Murray Perahia. Wonderful pianist and a pleasure to watch without the facial contortions and acrobatics over the piano that some seem to possess. My other favourite who has the same qualities born after 1960 is Stephen Hough


----------



## cheregi (Jul 16, 2020)

chu42 said:


> As a pianist myself who has performed a lot of Liszt, everything that comes out of Kastle's mouth is absolutely a marketing gimmick. I doubt he actually believes that no one can perform the Hungarian Rhapsodies correctly.


Interesting... but is he literally stating factual information with his comments on the ways that other performers have deviated from the score? That is, is there an issue with his interpretation of the facts (that other pianists were too wimpy to follow the instructions or whatever), or with the facts themselves? I don't know if this is an easily answerable question...

That score gives me vertigo just to look at!



Mandryka said:


> Light fingers and poetry, listen to his Traumes wirren (Kinderszenen 7)


OK, I am sold on the traumes wirren - delightfully light-fingered and poetic just as you say.



Sgfnorth said:


> Perhaps not in his favour I once heard him beat a piano out of tune playing Rach 3. It was utterly thrilling...


This is absolutely in his favor in my book!


----------



## HenryPenfold (Apr 29, 2018)

chu42 said:


> Why, Trifonov is only 30!


Indisputable evidence that he is a _living_ pianist - part of the rubric, nest-ce pas?


----------



## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

consuono said:


> Dismissing Artur Schnabel? Come on.


Certainly -- especially when you compare what he did with Edwin Fischer. Schnabel owes his reputation primarily to the EMI marketing department.


----------



## consuono (Mar 27, 2020)

Mandryka said:


> Certainly -- especially when you compare what he did with Edwin Fischer. Schnabel owes his reputation primarily to the EMI marketing department.


And his playing.  Oh yeah, aren't you the one that said Gould became popular because of CBS marketing? :lol:


----------



## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

consuono said:


> And his playing.  Oh yeah, aren't you the one that said Gould became popular because of CBS marketing? :lol:


Yes, you're all sheep except me.

But re Schnabel, have a listen to the tense and nervous way he plays Mozart concertos (apart from 19 maybe) with those stupid postmodern cadenzas, and his lacklustre Schumann, and the totally flat Diabelli Variations he left. He even felt the need to record op 110 and 111 twice he was so unhappy with the results!

He was excellent in Brahms intermezzi though, better there than Edwin Fischer.

(Please stop peppering your replies with smileys like an inarticulate teenager.)


----------



## philoctetes (Jun 15, 2017)

CedricTiberghien and Garrick Ohlsson

+ Myra Melford


----------



## consuono (Mar 27, 2020)

Mandryka said:


> Yes, you're all sheep except me.
> 
> But re Schnabel, have a listen to the tense and nervous way he plays Mozart concertos (apart from 19 maybe) with those stupid postmodern cadenzas, and his lacklustre Schumann, and the totally flat Diabelli Variations he left. He even felt the need to record op 110 and 111 twice he was so unhappy with the results!


Schnabel's usually the opposite of tense and nervous.


> He was excellent in Brahms intermezzi though,
> 
> (Please stop peppering your replies with smileys like an inarticulate teenager.)


Request denied. :lol:


----------



## Portamento (Dec 8, 2016)

philoctetes said:


> + Myra Melford


If we're including jazz(ish) stuff, Sylvie Courvoisier and Vijay Iyer deserve a shout.

Schiff made Schumann's piano music palatable to me, so that's gotta count for something!


----------



## chu42 (Aug 14, 2018)

HenryPenfold said:


> Indisputable evidence that he is a _living_ pianist - part of the rubric, nest-ce pas?


But he has a very long ways to go in his career. This poll covers the pianists who have already had long performing histories and thus can be evaluated as complete musicians, hence the limit to those born before 1960.



philoctetes said:


> Cedric Tiberghien and Garrick Ohlsson
> 
> + Myra Melford


Tiberghien is too young to qualify, Ohlsson absolutely is a living legend. Melford I have not heard much of.


----------



## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

I voted for Schiff and Uchida as the top pianists of this group. Ashkenazy, Argerich, Pogorelich, Zimerman and Lupu have all recorded some things I like. Don't have much of an opinion on the others.


----------



## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

Oh dear, oh dear...another one of those impossible questions. By cherry-picking repertoire or performances, I could argue for Pires, Lupu, Hough, Macgregor, Dimidenko. And others. Donohoe playing Ravel. Stott playing Faure. There are, have been, and will continue to be wonderful pianists, and CM listeners who will argue fruitlessly over who is 'the greatest'


----------



## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

I recall seeing posts here about Zimerman being too technical in his playing, and cold. Don't recall reading a lot of favorable things about him here, now he is leading the poll, strange.


----------



## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

I very much enjoy all of Zimerman’s recordings for his technical prowess and the scrupulous “rightness” of his interpretations, but it is indeed true that others have surpassed him in the interpretive regard; there’s not much of the “art that conceals art” in his performances. One recording of his that I think is absolutely indispensable is his Liszt B Minor Sonata, where the meticulously thought-through approach allows him to spin an epic narrative.


----------



## DaveM (Jun 29, 2015)

consuono said:


> Dismissing Artur Schnabel? Come on. There's a lot of dumbness in the threads today.


Is he still with us at 139?


----------



## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

hammeredklavier said:


> Way too mechanical..
> 
> Try


I'm with you there. I can't get into Pollini. The only thing I recall him above the competition to my ears was Webern's Variations. I like Zimmerman's style way more.


----------



## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Phil loves classical said:


> I'm with you there. I can't get into Pollini. The only thing I recall him above the competition to my ears was Webern's Variations. I like Zimmerman's style way more.


Some Pollini in Classic FM type music which I thought was really exceptional - the Davidsbundlertanze (preferably live) - he is a fine Schumannist, the Mozart PC 19 - he is a fine Mozartian, Schubert 959 and Drei Klavierstücke - he is a fine Schubertian, Diabelli Variations, the Waldstein - he is a fine Beethovenian, the first Chopin etudes - he is a fine Chopinist in the Godowsky/Rubinstein tradition . . . Best to go for live recordings, though the studio DG is often not bad. I haven't heard his Debussy recordings but I remember enjoying a concert with Preludes Bk 2.

The more recent stuff is more challenging - the recent Chopin barcarolle for example.


----------



## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Alexandre Tharaud / Alexandre Kantorow/ Cedric Tiberghien / Daniel-Ben Pienaar and the benjamin : Jan Lisiecki ( young but he's g(r)oing fast)


----------



## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)




----------



## Pianomaniac (Apr 1, 2021)

In the end it's all a question of taste of course - and of being able to hear certain pianists live. In his age group Sokolov is the one who moves me the most but I never saw Pletnev for instance, so who knows...?
That said: I read very often about Pollini that he is "cold" or that his playing is "clinical". I only heard him once with a programme that included some Schoenberg - and that did fit him quite well.


----------



## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

I can't choose a single one standing out - depends on the repertoire and the perspective. There are others too. But Perahia, Biret, Pires, Uchida or Ax it wouldn't be ... Biret has a huge, impressive repertoire, but I haven't found any sensationsl recordings.

A pity that De Leeuw for example is no longer alive. And you'd have to admire Hamelin, Aimard and Plowright for their repertoire, and say Kissin, Katsaris and Le Sage for their playing too. And there are the upcoming Asians ...


----------



## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Pianomaniac said:


> That said: I read very often about Pollini that he is "cold" or that his playing is "clinical".


Pollini at his most inspired is like Michelangeli when he's _not _ at his most inspired.


----------



## chu42 (Aug 14, 2018)

Mandryka said:


> Pollini at his most inspired is like Michelangeli when he's _not _ at his most inspired.


The thing about Pollini-which he has admitted himself-is that he is never inspired. He only tries to represent the score as accurately as possible.

Whereas someone like Horowitz tries to represent himself as accurately as possible, and if the score doesn't match, he changes it.

Both styles of playing have their fans, although Pollini is more esoteric.


----------



## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

chu42 said:


> The thing about Pollini-which he has admitted himself-is that he is never inspired. .


Well I think you're wrong about that. So some examples of solo piano recordings where I think he's inspired, just limiting myself to popular classics

The first recording of the complete Chopin Etudes, the one on Testament
The live Kreisleriana and Davidsbundlertanze from Salzburg
The live Waldstein, the live Diabelli Variations from 1976 in Tokyo - he's good at the Diabelli Variations

I can let you have these recordings if you're interested, I don't know if they're hard to find.



chu42 said:


> He only tries to represent the score as accurately as possible.
> 
> .


Again I think that you don't do him justice. Does he really follow Beethoven's metronome markings? Or indeed all the tempo and dynamic indications in Schubert and Beethoven?



chu42 said:


> Whereas someone like Horowitz tries to represent himself as accurately as possible, and if the score doesn't match, he changes it.
> .


I don't know if it's right to suggest that Horowitz does this more than Pollini. I mean, it sounds like a chapter or two in a doctorate to me, looking at scores and analysing interpretations. It is far from obviously true to me.



chu42 said:


> Both styles of playing have their fans, although Pollini is more esoteric.


Well Horowitz had a regular Carnegie Hall slot on the wireless, and he benefited from excellent PR. His fans, in my experience, tend to be mature gentlefolk who are also fans of Ukranian wedding cakes


----------



## chu42 (Aug 14, 2018)

Mandryka said:


> Well I think you're wrong about that. So some examples of solo piano recordings where I think he's inspired, just limiting myself to popular classics


I enjoy many of Pollini's recordings and I cast in my vote for him as a great pianist of the 20th century. But he has said himself that he is more concerned with the score than with emotions.

Others on this poll who tend to follow this more cerebral approach include Zimerman and Perahia, who are also among my favorite pianists. The truth is, I enjoy a great variety of playing styles, whether they are considered "inspired" or not.


----------



## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Yes, I can see that. To me he doesn’t sound uptight in the way that, for example, Curzon can do when he’s not on form. Nor does he sound detached, distant from the poetry of the music like, IMO, Rubinstein can often sound.

I’m listening to him play Schumann now, a concert recording, and I remain convinced that it is exceptional. But his tone is not as impressive as other pianists - timbre isn’t a big part of what he’s about. I may explore his Debussy sometime soon.

He’s very popular in London, in that his concerts are always full of younger people, or at least were pre-COVID. I think he is helpful, kind, to piano students.


----------



## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

chu42 said:


> I enjoy many of Pollini's recordings and I cast in my vote for him as a great pianist of the 20th century. But he has said himself that he is more concerned with the score than with emotions.
> 
> Others on this poll who tend to follow this more cerebral approach include Zimerman and Perahia, who are also among my favorite pianists. The truth is, I enjoy a great variety of playing styles, whether they are considered "inspired" or not.


Never found Perahia cerebral. I find him kind of sappy at times.


----------



## chu42 (Aug 14, 2018)

Phil loves classical said:


> Never found Perahia cerebral. I find him kind of sappy at times.


I guess it depends on what kind of music he is playing. Sometimes his Mozart/Beethoven is very warm and leans Romantic, but then his Chopin and Schumann leans the other way and becomes more detached.

So I'd say he's somewhere in between, and consistently transparent and pure in sound. I usually enjoy what he does.


----------



## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

The words I would use for Perahia are poise, elegance, gentleness, refinement, beauty, delicacy . . . . The first recordings were quite fiery - some Schumann and some Chopin op 28.

The last thing I heard from him was Chopin op 58 - my notes say unforced, expressive, nice tone. Mozartian Chopin, poised and well balanced classical Chopin.


----------



## HenryPenfold (Apr 29, 2018)

chu42 said:


> This sequel to the 20th-Century Pianist poll comprises of legendary pianists who have had long and illustrious performing histories and are still performing today or have retired recently-as opposed to the living pianists who still have quite a ways to go in their career.
> 
> I will be limiting this poll to living pianists born before 1960.
> 
> Edit: Before someone mentions Pierre-Laurent Aimard, I had no clue that he was born before 1960. This is a big mistake on my part and I would've added him in place of Pletnev. Another honorable mention would be Barenboim, whom I don't personally enjoy but admittedly had an illustrious career as a performer.


I like Trifonov, and he was alive last time I attended one of his concerts. But must we really wait 31 years before he can be voted for in one of your polls? In the event of me being alive when the time comes, I'll be 91 and I don't think I'd even care by then .....


----------



## chu42 (Aug 14, 2018)

HenryPenfold said:


> I like Trifonov, and he was alive last time I attended one of his concerts. But must we really wait 31 years before he can be voted for in one of your polls? In the event of me being alive when the time comes, I'll be 91 and I don't think I'd even care by then .....


I've just made a poll covering 21st Century pianists-that is, those who have performed a great deal in the 21st century and still have a ways to go in their careers. You will finally be able to vote on Trifonov, which you have been trying to do for the last 3 polls!


----------



## Brahmsian Colors (Sep 16, 2016)

My favorite from the list above only>>>>Argerich


----------



## SearsPoncho (Sep 23, 2020)

All the pianists mentioned are excellent. Another top pianist who I've seen give powerful Schubert and Brahms performances is Yefim Bronfman.


----------

