# Female Classical pianists



## Clouds Weep Snowflakes

What piano ladies do you like the most? I highly recommend these two:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsrXO5Zgulz8_9BQXBOb2aw
https://www.youtube.com/user/ValentinaLisitsa


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## RockyIII

There are so many! Some of my favorites are Argerich, Chochieva, Fliter, Grimaud, Hewitt, Pires, Uchida, Wang, and Würtz.


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## haydnguy




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## StrE3ss

Johana Harris






Naxos got cool series

Great Pianists - Women at the Piano Volume


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## tdc

One quickly moving up in my esteem who has a sound I really like is Beatrice Rana. 

Some others I really admire are Uchida, Argerich and Alicia de Larrocha.


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## RockyIII

tdc said:


> One quickly moving up in my esteem who has a sound I really like is Beatrice Rana.
> 
> Some others I really admire are Uchida, Argerich and Alicia de Larrocha.


I really like Rana's Goldberg Variations album.


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## Roger Knox

_Current_: Dinnerstein, Labeque sisters, Fialkowska, Oppens, Buniashvilli, Ott

_Historical:_ Novaes, Tureck, Slencynska, Keene, Samaroff, Hess, Bachauer, Davidovitch, Annie Fischer, Loriod


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## Pat Fairlea

Alicia de Larrocha.
Joanna Macgregor.


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## Dorsetmike

Going back a bit, Moura Lympany

Wiki list https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Women_classical_pianists


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## joen_cph

Argerich, Yudina.

Possibly Wang, we'll see.

Some other with remarkable recordings: Loriod, Labeque sisters, Postnikova.


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## flamencosketches

No love for Maria Yudina?
















^she plays a little fast and loose with this one, but still a great interpretation IMO.

Outside of her I'm a huge fan of Martha Argerich (of course; one of if not the greatest living pianists), Mitsuko Uchida, Alicia de Larrocha, and Angela Hewitt. Certainly I'm blanking on others.


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## Open Book

I like Imogen Cooper's Schubert.


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## JayBee

Thanks to the recent Scribendum collection, I have discovered Tatiana Nikolayeva. She has become my favourite female piano interpreter of Bach.


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## DavidA

We should all admire Yudina for telling Stalin where to get off.
Female pianists that come to mind include:
Eileen Joyce
Annie Fischer
Martha Argerich
Yuja Wang


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## Open Book

I've never been able to warm up to Martha Argerich, not sure why. Maybe I haven't actually given myself much opportunity. She looks like this fiery personality, maybe that has put me off.


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## David Phillips

Clara Haskil - a beautiful Mozart pianist.


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## nobilmente

I enjoyed Lisa de la Salle's Brahms #1 - one may quibble about various aspects, but I found it fresh:






Superb video quality as usual from FRSO; the piano is somewhat recessed in the audio balance for the first few minutes.


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## agoukass

I like Marcelle Meyer, Alicia de Larrocha, Martha Argerich, Clara Haskil, and Eileen Joyce.


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## chesapeake bay

Most of my favorite's have been mentioned but I'll add Alice Ader, I love her Scarlatti.


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## Josquin13

These days I probably listen more to female musicians than men, in general (with many notable exceptions of course), as I often find less ego and greater sensitivity in women. They also don't tend to pound the keys as forcefully as men do (a quality that I dislike). Besides, female pianists often have the most perfect, nimble, quick hands for Mozart & Bach, who are two of my favorite composers.

Here's a list of my 40 favorite female pianists (in no particular order), and their best repertory in my opinion (*=extra special):

--Alicia de Larrocha--*Mozart, *Mompou, *Albeniz, Haydn, Handel, *Granados, and Bach:













Here are three 'desert island' de Larrocha recordings in my collection:
https://www.amazon.com/Mompou-Impre...arrocha&qid=1551731161&s=music&sr=1-1-catcorr
https://www.amazon.com/Mozart-Piano...+volume+5&qid=1551731204&s=music&sr=1-1-fkmr1
https://www.amazon.com/Mozart-Sonat...+haydn&qid=1551731261&s=music&sr=1-1-fkmrnull

--Maria Joao Pires--*Mozart (I prefer Pires' Mozart Piano Sonata cycle on Denon over her later DG cycle), *Schubert, *Chopin Nocturnes, Bach, Beethoven, and Schumann, & as a chamber musician:




















https://www.amazon.com/Schubert-Son...moments&qid=1551731510&s=music&sr=1-1-catcorr
https://www.amazon.com/Schubert-Res...+castro&qid=1551731547&s=music&sr=1-1-catcorr

--Annie Fischer--her studio recordings of *Beethoven, Schubert, & *Schumann: 



. However, Fischer's later live concert recordings are often full of mistakes, despite that she was one of the most naturally gifted Schumann and Beethoven players I've ever heard in concert.

--Clara Haskil--*Schumann (Haskil's Kinderszenen & Bunte Blatter are exceptional), *Mozart, Schubert, *Beethoven, as well as her violin sonata recordings with Arthur Grumiaux: 
















https://www.amazon.com/Haskil-Spiel...rt+clara+haskil&qid=1551731129&s=music&sr=1-6

--Maryla Jonas--*Chopin, and Schumann: 









Her story: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryla_Jonas
https://www.amazon.com/Maryla-Jonas...a+jonas&qid=1551731339&s=music&sr=1-1-catcorr

--Youra Guller--*her late Beethoven Piano Sonatas 30-32 are among the best I've heard: 




https://www.amazon.com/Piano-Sonata...ds=youra+guller&qid=1551731363&s=music&sr=1-3

--Dubravka Tomsic--*Mozart, Chopin, *Scarlatti, Debussy, and *Bach:













Here are three 'desert island' Tomsic discs in my collection:
https://www.amazon.com/Scarlatti-Wo...i+pilz&qid=1551731413&s=music&sr=1-1-fkmrnull
https://www.amazon.com/Bach-Italian...h+pilz&qid=1551731442&s=music&sr=1-2-fkmrnull
https://www.amazon.com/Mozart-Piano...t+koch&qid=1551731469&s=music&sr=1-1-fkmrnull

--Nadia Reissenberg--*Haydn, *Chopin Nocturnes & Mazurkas, and *Barber's Excursions: 













--Helene Grimaud--Brahms, *Schumann, Ravel, and Beethoven:









--Guiomar Novaes--*Chopin, *Albeniz: 









--Tatiana Nikolayeva--*Shostakovich, *Bach: 













--Jeanne-Marie Darré--*Chopin, *Saint-Saens: 








 favorite recording of Chopin Waltzes.





--Elisso Wirsaladze, or Eliso Virsaladze--*Schumann, *Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Schubert:









--Monique Haas--*Ravel, *Debussy, *A. Tcherepnin, Mozart:




















https://www.amazon.com/Debussy-Prel...reludes&qid=1551748700&s=music&sr=1-1-catcorr





--Ingrid Haebler--*Mozart (I may slightly prefer her 1980s Denon Piano Sonata cycle to her earlier Philips cycle--though both are excellent), *Schubert:




https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Pia...er+mozart+denon&qid=1551748727&s=music&sr=1-3





--Yvonne Lefébure--Debussy, Ravel, Dukas, Chabrier: 




--Catharine Collard--Debussy, Schumann: 









--Kathryn Stott--A former student of Marcel Ciampi (a friend & student of Debussy's), Stott excels in the French repertory, especially in the music of *Faure, Ravel, and Debussy: 




--Livia Rev--*Debussy, Mendelssohn, & Chopin Nocturnes: 




--Gaby Casadesus--*Debussy and *Ravel: 




--Evelyne Crochet--*Faure, Schubert, and *Bach: 













--Halina-Czerny Stefanska--*Chopin (especially her Mazurkas & Piano Concerto No. 1 on Supraphon, a Pearl label recording of selected works, and her digital recordings of the 21 Nocturnes and complete Mazurkas) and Mozart: 













--Germaine Thyssens-Valentin--*Faure: 




--Anne Queffelec--*Dutilleux, *Satie, Schubert, and *Ravel: 













--Ilse von Alpenheim--*Haydn, Mozart, and Mendelssohn, and as a member of the Arion Piano Trio (Mozart Piano Trios & works of Schubert): https://www.amazon.com/Mozart-Complete-Ilse-von-Alpenheim/dp/B002QMEW8G:










--Rosita Renard: *Bach, etc.: 




--Maria Tipo--Chopin, Scarlatti, Bach: 




--Elizabeth Rich: *Mozart, *Haydn, *Brahms, Schumann: Rich has recorded one of the finest Mozart Piano Sonata cycles of recent decades, IMO, for the now defunct Connoisseur Society label. Like Wilhelm Furtwängler & Edward Aldwell, she is a proponent of Schenkerian musical analysis:

https://www.allmusic.com/album/mozart-complete-piano-sonatas-vol-1-mw0001545739
https://www.allmusic.com/album/mozart-complete-piano-sonatas-vol-2-mw0001375706
https://www.allmusic.com/album/mozart-complete-piano-sonatas-vol-3-mw0001413294
https://www.allmusic.com/album/mozart-complete-piano-sonatas-vol-4-mw0001384541
https://www.allmusic.com/album/mozart-complete-piano-sonatas-vol-5-mw0001395141

--Virginia Black (a pianist turned harpsichordist, who has been playing the piano again in recent years): Bach *6 Partitas (my current favorite recording of the 6 Partitas played on a piano), *Scarlatti, and Rameau (which I haven't heard yet):














--Marcelle Meyer--Debussy, F. Couperin, Rameau, Bach, Chabrier, Ravel, Scarlatti: 













--Magda Tagliaferro--*Debussy, *Chabrier, *Schumann, *Hahn, *Faure, *Albeniz, *Mompou, *Villa Lobos, etc.:













--Reine Gianoli--*Schumann, Mozart, Debussy, Ravel: 




--Martha Argerich--*Ravel, Bach, Schumann, Chopin, *Prokofiev, *Rachmaninov: 




--Cristina Ortiz--Poulenc, Debussy, Ravel, Albeniz, Granados, Shostakovich: 




--Bella Davidovich--Chopin, Schumann: 









--Rosa Sabater--*Albeniz Iberia: to my knowledge, Sabater's excellent 1967 Iberia has never been released on CD--what an oversight. Like Alicia de Larrocha, Sabater was a student of Frank Marshall in Barcelona, who was himself a student of Enrique Granados. Sabater was tragically killed in a Boeing airplane crash in 1983: 




--Elizabeth Leonskaja--Schubert, *Brahms, Mendelssohn, *Chopin Nocturnes, Shostakovich: 




https://www.amazon.com/Fantasien-Op...kaja+sacd&qid=1551735345&s=music&sr=1-1-fkmr0

--Edith Picht-Axenfeld--although Picht-Axenfeld is better known as a harpsichordist, I've responded more favorably to her piano playing--*Brahms, *Schumann: 




https://www.allmusic.com/album/edith-picht-axenfelds-last-piano-concert-mw0001846157/similar

--Moura Lympany--*Rachmaninov, Liszt, Chopin, Schumann, Ravel, Prokofiev: 




--Madeleine de Valmalete: *Ravel Le Tombeau de Couperin (one of my favorite recordings of Le Tombeau), *Duphly, *Scarlatti, *Couperin, *Mozart, *Liszt:





















Honorable mention (other female pianists that I've liked): Anne-Marie McDermott--a remarkable Prokofiev Piano Sonata cycle: 



, Christine Schornsheim--*Haydn (on various period pianos): 



, Penelope Crawford (Beethoven on a period piano), Angela Hewitt (Bach, Schumann, Beethoven, Ravel), Imogen Cooper (Schubert, Mozart, Schumann, Brahms), Lydia Artymiw (Brahms, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Chopin), Muza Rubackyte (a superb Liszt Années de Pèlegrinage on 3 Lyrinx DSD hybrid SACDs), Barbara Nissman (Prokofiev), Maritta Viitasalo (Sibelius, Debussy, & Heninen and Englund Violin Sonatas), Cynthia Raim (Brahms, Schumann), Anna Vinnitskaya, Olga Paschenko, Lisa de la Salle, Beatrice Rana (Bach), Cecille Ousset (Ravel, Debussy, Rachmaninov), Claire Désert (Schumann), Janine Fialkowska (Grieg, Chopin), Ursula Oppens (American composers), Israela Margalit (Barber, Chopin), France Clidat (Satie), Maria Lettberg (Scriabin), and Mitsuko Uchida (Mozart, Debussy).

(Notably absent from my list are Maria Grinberg, Maria Yudina, Lila Kraus, Adelina de Lara, Eileen Joyce, Teresa Carreño, Blanche Selva, and Myra Hess--whose pianism I've yet to explore in depth. I'm also sure I've forgotten some favorites...)

My latest discoveries--

--Pianists Daria van den Bercken and Lisa Smirnova in Handel's Keyboard Suites:

https://www.amazon.com/Handel-Daria...bercken&qid=1551726768&s=music&sr=1-1-catcorr
https://www.amazon.com/Handel-gross...+handel&qid=1551726827&s=music&sr=1-1-catcorr

--Einav Yarden playing Haydn: 









--Katriina Korte--playing Sibelius, Heninen, & Vuori:












https://www.prestomusic.com/classic...ius-piano-pieces-vuori-beyond-night-and-frost


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## lextune

Argerich
de Larrocha
Fischer
Haskil
Hess
Laredo
Nikolayeva
Tomsic
Uchida
Yudina


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## flamencosketches

I pretty much worship at her feet. The greatest living pianist as far as I'm concerned.


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## Gallus

I think they've all been covered already (especially by Josquin): Argerich in Schumann and Rachmaninoff, Annie Fischer in Beethoven, Laroccha in Granados and Albeniz, Hewitt in Scarlatti, Pires in Schubert, Haskil in Mozart, Thyssens-Valentin in Faure, Leonskaja in Chopin, Tureck in Bach...almost certainly forgetting someone.


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## flamencosketches

Yudina for one, but it looks like Josquin is not familiar with her either. She is definitely worth exploring in depth. Great pianist.


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## Quartetfore

I did have the pleasure of hearing Anne Fisher play once. It was a VERY LONG TIME AGO, but I recall that that my wife to be and I enjoyed the concert very much.


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## 1996D

They're good for highly technical pieces but they never seem to be able to grasp the full idea of the composer. Piano is different from other instruments because the player needs to be a conductor, fully grasping the piece on their own. 

There are no great female piano players just as there as no great female conductors or composers--expecting it would ultimately be unfair.


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## joen_cph

........................................................................


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## Becca

Cristina Ortiz (already mentioned)
Gina Bachauer (not yet mentioned)

For your edification and enlightenment ...





(yes, this is for real)


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## Becca

and a bit more serious from the same concert...


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## Schoenberg

1996D said:


> They're good for highly technical pieces but they never seem to be able to grasp the full idea of the composer. Piano is different from other instruments because the player needs to be a conductor, fully grasping the piece on their own.
> 
> There are no great female piano players just as there as no great female conductors or composers--expecting it would ultimately be unfair.


It's almost certainly not by nature that there aren't as many female piano players and conductors, it's most likely by these causes:
Bias against female conductors and players: This has been mostly a problem in the past and it's getting better. It should not be a problem in the near future.
Smaller hand size: It is a fact that women have on average about a two key smaller hand span, which makes playing music (especially piano music which requires a large hand span) much more difficult than for men.


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## Becca

1996D said:


> They're good for highly technical pieces but they never seem to be able to grasp the full idea of the composer. Piano is different from other instruments because the player needs to be a conductor, fully grasping the piece on their own.
> 
> There are no great female piano players just as there as no great female conductors or composers--expecting it would ultimately be unfair.


I thought that these ludicrous ideas went out the window a long time ago. Ahh well, misogyny will always be with us.


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## chesapeake bay

Yudina plays Brahms beautifully.


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## tdc

Mozart piano sonatas are some of the most difficult pieces in the repertoire to perform just right, and for whatever reason the best interpretations I've heard are all by female pianists (Alicia de Larrocha and Uchida are the very best imo) Pires is also excellent.

Alicia de Larrocha in particular is a pianist I have a great amount of respect for, she had that certain something beyond technical skill. (And was under 5 feet tall with small hands, and I've never heard a man play any better, maybe some have equaled her, but to my taste she has not been surpassed). When I'm struggling with a piano piece I conjure in my mind the image of Alicia de Larrocha and can draw inspiration from it.

She also dabbled in composition, something of a personal hobby of hers, nothing she tried to promote professionally, but I find her compositions quite charming. (It is _not_ Alicia de Larrocha performing in this video but it is her composition.)


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## Highwayman

Idil Biret (she has no downsides except than being Turkish )
Gülsin Onay (great Hoffmanian flowing technique)
Ayşegül Sarıca (full-bodied winey touch)
Ferhunde Erkin (Turkish Clara Schumann)
Anna Malikova (I really don`t know why she is not better known )


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## Woodduck

1996D said:


> They're good for highly technical pieces but they never seem to be able to grasp the full idea of the composer. Piano is different from other instruments because the player needs to be a conductor, fully grasping the piece on their own.
> 
> There are no great female piano players just as there as no great female conductors or composers--expecting it would ultimately be unfair.


Absolutely astounding remarks. Maybe you know something the rest of us don't. On the other hand...


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## Bulldog

Woodduck said:


> Absolutely astounding remarks. Maybe you know something the rest of us don't. On the other hand...


1996D is visiting us from the 1950's.


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## KenOC

Sheesh! The battle of the sexes is heating up again! (Of course it never really stopped.) I'll make a peace offering by asking this question.


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## 1996D

Becca said:


> I thought that these ludicrous ideas went out the window a long time ago. Ahh well, misogyny will always be with us.


Think about it logically, if a man created the composition then wouldn't another man that thinks similarly be the person to understand it best and play it?

When it comes to violin or cello pieces women do a wonderful job because of the purely melodic and emotional nature of those instruments and of the parts written for them. Yet it still remains that all women soloists would be a quarter as well known if they were men.

There is no misogyny in the form of preventing women from achieving, otherwise we wouldn't have all these names.


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## joen_cph

I thought you were being ironical previously, but now I'm less certain.


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## TurnaboutVox

1996D said:


> They're good for highly technical pieces but they never seem to be able to grasp the full idea of the composer. Piano is different from other instruments because the player needs to be a conductor, fully grasping the piece on their own.


Can you provide any evidence for these two assertions? Is the first of these testable in any way? How could you disprove it? If you couldn't, it's just your opinion.



1996D said:


> There are no great female piano players just as there as no great female conductors or composers--expecting it would ultimately be unfair.


Other people, me included, seem to disagree with you.



1996D said:


> Think about it logically, if a man created the composition then wouldn't another man that thinks similarly be the person to understand it best and play it?


Why would this be true? Why is this conclusion 'logical'? Are Berg's songs for soprano best interpreted by a man who thinks like Berg used to? How would you be able to tell if he did?



1996D said:


> When it comes to violin or cello pieces women do a wonderful job because of the purely melodic and emotional nature of those instruments and of the parts written for them.


This sounds like a version of the "women can't think" myth. It is a myth, and a dangerous one.



1996D said:


> Yet it still remains that all women soloists would be a quarter as well known if they were men.


How could you possibly know this. You seem to be implying that people patronise women pianists, and say that they enjoy them "just because they are women" and not because they have something to say about the works they've chosen to interpret and play.



1996D said:


> There is no misogyny in the form of preventing women from achieving, otherwise we wouldn't have all these names.


Just because our members can come up with a substantial number of first class female pianists certainly doesn't mean that there aren't misogynist views about women professionals, of all sorts, around!


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## Becca

1996D said:


> Think about it logically, if a man created the composition then wouldn't another man that thinks similarly be the person to understand it best and play it?


There is nothing logical about that whatsoever. Using your argument, then works created by (e.g.) Aaron Copland or Samuel Barber could only be understood by someone who is also gay etc., etc., ad nauseum. Music is notes on a sheet of paper, there is no aura surrounding it that can only be penetrated by a like minded person.

As to misogyny, nothing was said about preventing woman from achievement, the point was the exact meaning of the term, contempt or ingrained prejudice, as quite clearly demonstrated.


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## joen_cph

A name that wasn't mentioned: _Edith Farnadi_. Made some often good and interesting Bartok, Liszt and Tchaikovsky records in particular.

Edit: And _Marie Francoise Bucquet,_ did a few things for Philips, some good Schönberg.


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## Roger Knox

Becca said:


> Cristina Ortiz (already mentioned)
> Gina Bachauer (not yet mentioned)
> For your edification and enlightenment ...


The video was hilarious -- 




wadda guy this Wilhelm Friedmann was ...

P.S. Bachauer was mentioned in post #7, though not in powder blue.


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## 1996D

Becca said:


> There is nothing logical about that whatsoever. Using your argument, then works created by (e.g.) Aaron Copland or Samuel Barber could only be understood by someone who is also gay etc., etc., ad nauseum. Music is notes on a sheet of paper, there is no aura surrounding it that can only be penetrated by a like minded person.
> 
> As to misogyny, nothing was said about preventing woman from achievement, the point was the exact meaning of the term, contempt or ingrained prejudice, as quite clearly demonstrated.


What you say goes against the logos. Just watching any Bernstein lecture, if you're not a reader, lets you realize how important understanding the composer is in interpreting a piece. Even someone like Barenboim (on the surface going against Bernstein) who stresses understanding the music rather than the markings, is essentially saying the same thing as the latter--understand the deeper idea of the music--and who wrote the music? The composer. All great minds stress understanding on a deeper level.

P.S. There is no evidence that homosexual men are any different from heterosexual ones apart from their sexual orientation; men and women on the other hand, are apples and oranges in the way they think.


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## joen_cph

Views like that actually turn up regularly on the forums; old, familiar profiles like 'Logos' and 'JosquinDesPrez' come to mind. However, if you have any real contact with current academic life, or a better knowledge of the actual, intellectual background and practice among the extreme diversity of female composers and musicians, it requires complete tunnel-vision to maintain them.


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## wkasimer

joen_cph said:


> I thought you were being ironical previously, but now I'm less certain.


The term "troll" springs to mind...


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## 1996D

Female composers? 

Living in a bubble only hurts the host so I won't try to change your mind, but I bet you need a lot of mental gymnastics to understand the world we live in. If you don't like to be shocked and wouldn't mind seeing things develop as they happen, I suggest you accept a world view based on reality and history.

Thinking as you do will only cause you to hate the world.


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## DavidA

1996D said:


> They're good for highly technical pieces but they never seem to be able to grasp the full idea of the composer. Piano is different from other instruments because the player needs to be a conductor, *fully grasping the piece on their own. *
> 
> *There are no great female piano players* just as there as no great female conductors or composers--expecting it would ultimately be unfair.


I would direct you to Annie Fisher's performance of Beethoven sonatas to once and for all disprove this.


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## 1996D

DavidA said:


> I would direct you to Annie Fisher's performance of Beethoven sonatas to once and for all disprove this.


I'm not trying to convince anyone; the facts are there and I offered an explanation to those facts that I think is fair. I also think we shouldn't divide male and female pianists, there are just pianists, and I see many lesser known pianists that reach levels above those mentioned in this thread.


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## wkasimer

1996D said:


> I'm not trying to convince anyone; the facts are there and I offered an explanation to those facts that I think is fair.


I seem to have missed these so-called "facts".


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## Merl

wkasimer said:


> I seem to have missed these so-called "facts".


That's because they didn't exist.


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## KenOC

Both Mozart and Beethoven had lady piano pupils, some of whom became quite well-known in their times. A story about the Schumanns: Clara was a fairly famous pianist early in their marriage, while Robert was a relative unknown. Clara was chatting with a fan after a recital and introduced her husband. The fan asked, "Oh, and is he a musical person also?" :lol:


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## HistoryJoe

Open Book said:


> I like Imogen Cooper's Schubert.


I just recently got her live Schubert series (2008/9) and really dug her interpretations. I love what she does with the Impromptus and the D960 sonata


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