# Most underrated active pianists



## daco (Jan 5, 2021)

As an antidote to the "overrated pianists" thread, who are some currently active pianists that you view as underrated, and what recordings of theirs would you recommend?

I say "currently active" mainly because as I build up my own collection, I'd like to be able to support active performers by purchasing their works, and maybe there are others out that that feel the same way.

I wish I could contribute to this thread, but my listening experience is quite narrow, so I can't really offer suggestions myself. For example, of my CDs of piano music, I think the least known performer is Maria Jaoa Pires.


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## consuono (Mar 27, 2020)

I would say maybe Artur Pizarro. I would recommend his recording of Liszt Bach transcriptions.


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## Bxnwebster (Jan 5, 2021)

Here are some of my _personal_ favorites (in no particular order) with recommended recordings:
- Maria Lettberg (Scriabin: The Complete Works, Levina: Chamber Music)
- Piotr Anderszewski (Szymanowski: Piano Works)
- Igor Levit (Rzewski: The People Will Never Be Defeated, Beethoven: Late Piano Sonatas)
- Adam Laloum (Schumann: Davidsbündlertänze)
- Beatrice Rana (Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 2)
- Paul Lewis (Haydn: Piano Sonatas)
- Olga Kern (Balakirev: Islamey)
- Alexander Melnikov (Prokofiev: Piano Sonata No. 4)
- Alexander Tharaud (D. Scarlatti: Keyboard Sonatas)


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Jan Lisiecki and the Jussen brothers


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## daco (Jan 5, 2021)

Thank you all for the responses!


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Alexandre Tharaud / Bertrand Chamayou /Alexandre Kantorow


It's a bloody shame, those are marvelous .


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## staxomega (Oct 17, 2011)

IMO if you're recording for a major label you can't really be "under rated". I'm mentioning Babayan as an exception as he was only just last year did he get a solo album on one.

A few that come to mind that are tremendous pianists that aren't well known:

Sergei Babayan - very much a "pianist's pianist", only last year did he get a release on a major label solo release (DG) with his Rachmaninoff disc. This recording was sitting around for at least 5 years or more for some odd reason, and it's a tremendous album. He has recorded so much more on smaller labels that most people will probably never hear. He was also Daniil Trifinov's teacher, and if you are familiar with his recordings some of the similarities in interpretation are there. 

Andrea Lucchesini - mostly recorded on Audite these last few years. Some of the very best Schubert recordings ever made. And I rank his Beethoven Piano Sonata cycle second only to Annie Fischer's. I'm sure most pianophiles are familiar with Maria Tipo, he was one of her students for a long time. 

Aki Takahashi - lesser known Japanese pianist, her recordings of Feldman are sublime. 

Sabine Liebner - I've yet to hear a bad performance from her. Her recordings of Stockhausen's Klavierstucke are my reference recordings.


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

Rogerx said:


> Alexandre Tharaud / Bertrand Chamayou /Alexandre Kantorow
> 
> It's a bloody shame, those are marvelous .


I'll take your word for it, but I was disappointed with Chamayou's Saint-Saëns concertos 2 and 5 & solo pieces, where I found the playing technically stunning but some of the interpretations rather mannered.


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

Sergey Schepkin, particularly for Bach.


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## Highwayman (Jul 16, 2018)

Animal the Drummer said:


> I'll take your word for it, but I was disappointed with Chamayou's Saint-Saëns concertos 2 and 5 & solo pieces, where I found the playing technically stunning but some of the interpretations rather mannered.


Interestingly, I can say the same for Kantorow`s Saint-Saëns. He is a promising pianist nevertheless...


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Animal the Drummer said:


> I'll take your word for it, but I was disappointed with Chamayou's Saint-Saëns concertos 2 and 5 & solo pieces, where I found the playing technically stunning but some of the interpretations rather mannered.


Each his/ her own taste I guess .


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Highwayman said:


> Interestingly, I can say the same for Kantorow`s Saint-Saëns. He is a promising pianist nevertheless...


If that is just promising, I take it, we have many good recordings coming then .:angel:


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

*Most underrated active pianists*

This guy, I suspect, is underrated. Maybe with good cause. Still, he is quite active.

So, an underrated active pianist. Is this what you're looking for?






(Start at 2 min.)


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

I don't follow the subject of younger pianists intensively, have been busy with earlier recordings, but support the mentioning of Melnikov and Levit in particular.

Also, some Herbert Schuch (Schubert, Ravel). And Yundi Li did a fine Prokofiev 2nd Concerto and Chopin's Fantaisie Impromptu.


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## mparta (Sep 29, 2020)

Bxnwebster said:


> Here are some of my _personal_ favorites (in no particular order) with recommended recordings:
> - Maria Lettberg (Scriabin: The Complete Works, Levina: Chamber Music)
> - Piotr Anderszewski (Szymanowski: Piano Works)
> - Igor Levit (Rzewski: The People Will Never Be Defeated, Beethoven: Late Piano Sonatas)
> ...


So I've heard a few of these.

Levit in the Shostakovich 24 preludes and fugues. Overwhelmed that anyone could do it.

Laloum, very good Schumann concerto in Paris

Paul Lewis-- utterly forgettable Mozart k 595 (?), the last one, in Berlin with Haitink

Alexander Tharaud, disastrous Beethoven op. 110 in Washington at the Philips collection. Just lost as a goose.

But I think these are all pretty big names, I don't know how any are underrated. I like almost everything I hear from Melnikov, for instance, but he certainly has a major recording career.

With concerts closed down, no chance to see a name I don't know and go out of curiosity 

I have one: pretty good career but I don't think Francois-Frederic Guy gets the credit he deserves. Tremendous and dedicated Beethoven player, not just a blow through a cycle for the birthday kind of guy.


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## Sergei Prokofiev (Sep 25, 2020)

I think Beatrice Rana is one of the best pianists for Prokofiev's second piano concerto I have heard. I only listen to her recording of that legendary work. I don't know how famous she is but she is good! 

I much admire Martha Argerich but not even she can play the second piano concerto, I have read that she would never touch it. In that remark I think she is overrated compared to someone like Beatrice Rana.


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## skim1124 (Mar 6, 2019)

Yeol Eom Son. I don't know if she's underrated, but she's certainly not as famous as most pianists mentioned in the thread or her fellow countryman Seong Jin Cho. But I'm absolutely impressed by her.

You can listen to her CDs or Youtube videos of the standard classical fare, but here's something unusual. 
She is sight-transposing Bolcom's Graceful Ghost rag into 11 other keys: 




It's not virtuostic in the traditional sense, and I don't know if most concert pianists could also do something like this, but the once-piano student in me can't help but be amazed by this kind of talent.


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## Guest (Jan 16, 2021)

Underrated by whom--critics? Average concert goers? Members of music forums? Or, are are you equating "underrated" with "not well known"? There's a considerable difference between those two concepts.


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

Marc-Andre Hamelin. I've never heard a recording by him that wasn't superb. He plays a lot of difficult, obscure music that many pianists won't touch, and doesn't seem to perform much of the standard repertoire - I don't think that I've ever heard any Bach, Beethoven, or Mozart from him, and not much Chopin. Lots of Scriabin, though....


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## Handelian (Nov 18, 2020)

wkasimer said:


> Marc-Andre Hamelin. I've never heard a recording by him that wasn't superb. He plays a lot of difficult, obscure music that many pianists won't touch, and doesn't seem to perform much of the standard repertoire - I don't think that I've ever heard any Bach, Beethoven, or Mozart from him, and not much Chopin. Lots of Scriabin, though....


I don't think he is underrated actually. He appears to be pretty highly thought of in reviews etc. He plays Haydn and I have him playing Chopin as well and Schumann.


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## daco (Jan 5, 2021)

> Underrated by whom--critics? Average concert goers? Members of music forums? Or, are are you equating "underrated" with "not well known"? There's a considerable difference between those two concepts.


Fair question, although I think "not well known" is not a useful category (the piano playing of your typical 10 year-old piano student is "not well known", but there's a good reason for that). Maybe "Not as well known as they should be" is better, but of course that that does raise the question of "not well known by whom? critics, average concert goers, etc".

Do you have pianists in mind who would fall into these different categories?


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Louis Lortie
Paul Crossley
Alice Sara Ott


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

I really like Louis Lortie in Ravel, which is so far all I've heard of him. Also everything thus far I've heard from Beatrice Rana (some Bach and Prokofiev) I've found very impressive.


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## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

I don't know how active she is now - my perception is that her recordings are few and far between - but check out Ekaterina Derzhavina if you're unfamiliar. She has a superb, unique, and refreshing take on the Goldberg Variations that I love to hear (thanks to member wkasimer for recommending it), along with some beautiful Haydn sonatas (I think she may even have recorded all of them?) Otherwise I agree with many of the choices mentioned above, especially Lortie who plays great lyrical Beethoven, and Seong-jin Cho, who is equally light and silky.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Sergei Prokofiev said:


> I think Beatrice Rana is one of the best pianists for Prokofiev's second piano concerto I have heard. I only listen to her recording of that legendary work. I don't know how famous she is but she is good!
> 
> I much admire Martha Argerich but not even she can play the second piano concerto, I have read that she would never touch it. In that remark I think she is overrated compared to someone like Beatrice Rana.


Rana isn't even allowed to polish Martha's shoes.


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## Judith (Nov 11, 2015)

Danny Driver. Saw him live once and was very impressed. Recently appeared on the U Tube Wigmore Hall recitals


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## Sergei Prokofiev (Sep 25, 2020)

Martha is indeed legendary but why wont she play Prokofiev's second piano concerto? Beatrice Rana is good, especially on Prokofiev. But Martha is great on Prokofiev's third piano concerto, I just wish she could play the second one.


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

wkasimer said:


> Marc-Andre Hamelin. I've never heard a recording by him that wasn't superb. He plays a lot of difficult, obscure music that many pianists won't touch, and doesn't seem to perform much of the standard repertoire - I don't think that I've ever heard any Bach, Beethoven, or Mozart from him, and not much Chopin. Lots of Scriabin, though....


Hamelin seems to be held in tremendously high regard, so I don't see how he's underrated.


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

Sergei Prokofiev said:


> Martha is indeed legendary but why wont she play Prokofiev's second piano concerto? Beatrice Rana is good, especially on Prokofiev. But Martha is great on Prokofiev's third piano concerto, I just wish she could play the second one.


Maybe she just doesn't like it. I very much doubt it's because she "can't".


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## chu42 (Aug 14, 2018)

Animal the Drummer said:


> Maybe she just doesn't like it. I very much doubt it's because she "can't".


Argerich is one of the most technically proficiency pianists to ever live. I also doubt she that she cannot play Prokofiev's 2nd, especially when she was in her prime:


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## chu42 (Aug 14, 2018)

Eric Le Sage: Has recorded every Schumann work, and at a much higher level than Jorg Demus' collection.

Klára Würtz: Incredible Mozart and Schumann.

Jacob Greenberg: Sufficiently impressed with his Busoni Fantasia Contrappuntistica and Schumann Humoreske pairing.

Carlo Grante: Very good with lesser-known 20th century works.


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## SearsPoncho (Sep 23, 2020)

Susan Tomes. I know her only from her chamber music recordings with the Florestan Trio and Domus. I suppose this applies to all pianists who concentrate on the chamber music repertoire. Although he's nearly 100, Menahem Pressler of the great Beaux Arts Trio would also qualify. I believe he still might be giving concerts!


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

She's a fine writer on music and performing too. Check her books out if you haven't already.


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## Sergei Prokofiev (Sep 25, 2020)

chu42 said:


> Argerich is one of the most technically proficiency pianists to ever live. I also doubt she that she cannot play Prokofiev's 2nd, especially when she was in her prime:


I have read on Wikipedia that she would not touch it but Wikipedia is not a reliable source. I also doubt she can't play it, she is amazing. I just wished she would play it! I also doubt that she don't like it, how could anyone dislike this piece?

I read it here, on Premiere and reception -> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_Concerto_No._2_(Prokofiev)


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## fluteman (Dec 7, 2015)

I enjoy the work of many of the pianists discussed above, and I'm no expert in obscure pianists, so I wonder how many of them are truly underrated. Another I like is Frederic Chiu. Also Alexander Ghindin, who won a fourth prize at the 1994 Tchaikovsky Competition, the year the top (silver) prize winner was Nikolai Lugansky.

Chiu failed to make the finals at the 1993 Van Cliburn. Ironically, the resulting controversy, which received wide press coverage, helped launch a reasonably successful, and imo deserved, solo career. His Chopin mazurkas on Harmonia Mundi are excellent. 

I attended a recital by Ghindin, and found his playing interesting, but so far his greatest fame comes from being one of many pianists whose recordings were sold as Joyce Hatto's, resulting in a famous scandal. (Carlo Grante, mentioned above, is another.) Ghindin's most notable recording (imo) is of the original versions of Rachmaninoff's 1st and 4th concertos, conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy. The original Rach 1st, written as a student assignment, is unnecessary (again imo) except for true Rach completists. The original 4th, however, is interesting, though I don't think it will ever supplant the final version.


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## Caryatid (Mar 28, 2020)

Marc-Andre Hamelin is hardly obscure, but I do think he gets less credit as an artist than he deserves. He's more than just a machine for playing Alkan & Liszt.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

SearsPoncho said:


> Susan Tomes. I know her only from her chamber music recordings with the Florestan Trio and Domus. I suppose this applies to all pianists who concentrate on the chamber music repertoire. Although he's nearly 100, Menahem Pressler of the great Beaux Arts Trio would also qualify. I believe he still might be giving concerts!


He is, but the latest ones are merely nostalgic events, IMO, judging from the filmed stuff I've seen.


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## mparta (Sep 29, 2020)

amfortas said:


> Hamelin seems to be held in tremendously high regard, so I don't see how he's underrated.


Wonderful Chopin sonatas from Hamelin. And has he recorded Mozart sonatas?


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## Holden4th (Jul 14, 2017)

Dubravka Tomsic though at 80 she may no longer be a current performer.

Lisa de la Salle - her first CD of Bach and Liszt is outstanding.

Yevgeny Sudbin - he records for BIS

Agree about Babayan

Evgeni Koroliov for his Bach

Kemal Gekic - astounding technique

Jeno Jando

Konstantin Scherbakov


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## mparta (Sep 29, 2020)

Gets down a bit to things rather than overall assessments, but since he's mentioned, there is a Sudbin recording of Rachmaninov and Medtner that is just gorgeous. Unusual for me to pick up, much less really like a disc like this (much prefer Medtner to Rachmaninov) but this is a real favorite.











Holden4th said:


> Dubravka Tomsic though at 80 she may no longer be a current performer.
> 
> Lisa de la Salle - her first CD of Bach and Liszt is outstanding.
> 
> ...


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

I've been listening to a few recordings by *Lars Vogt*, and might consider him underrated, although I have no data to back it up..


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

SanAntone said:


> I've been listening to a few recordings by *Lars Vogt*, and might consider him underrated, although I have no data to back it up..


Not by me he is, I like him a lot.


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