# Pianists with Personality



## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

This will be subjective, but which pianists do you think had/have lots of personality in their playing?

Moravec
Barenboim
Gould


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Natan Brand
Walter Gieseking
Roger Woodward


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Bulldog said:


> Natan Brand
> Walter Gieseking
> Roger Woodward


Great call with Gieseking. I don't know the other two, what should I listen to?


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

Samson François


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## Fabulin (Jun 10, 2019)

A couple vintage choices:

Moritz Rosenthal
Arthur Friedheim
Erich Wolfgang Korngold

listening to these three can give a good idea how did Anton Rubinstein and Franz Liszt sound as well, but each on their own is different


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Gould
Michelangeli

But mostly jazz players have more personality.


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## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

The pianists (and musicians in general) with the greatest personality IMO, hailed from what we would call "yesteryear," from an era where artists weren't afraid to take bold risks and inprint their unique personalities on their music-making. Some of the pianists below were recorded in very rough sound, and some of them may not be among my personal favorites, but if you want to hear performance of the highest and most imaginative order, I implore you not to miss out on them:

Ignaz Friedman
Emil Gilels
Claudio Arrau
Artur Schnabel
Annie Fischer
Edwin Fischer
Sviatoslav Richter
Alfred Cortot
Ivo Pogorelich 

...among many others. Some contemporary pianists I've appreciated include Igor Levit and Radu Lupu.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Captainnumber36 said:


> Great call with Gieseking. I don't know the other two, what should I listen to?


Brand - anything by Schumann or Chopin
Woodward - Bach's WTC, Shostakovich op. 87 Preludes and Fugues.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

I'm trying Lupu's Schubert piano sonatas. It's very good.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

The woodward WTC was very nice, thanks.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Danill Trifonov/ Alexandre Tharaud for starters


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

A. Tharaud is good. I have his Ravel!


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Double post. Edited and deleted.


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

I guess most distinguished or noted pianists have personality as that is a big part of what is needed to become one? Can anyone name a noted pianist who lacked personality or had only a weak personality?


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Captainnumber36 said:


> This will be subjective, but which pianists do you think had/have lots of personality in their playing?
> 
> Moravec
> Barenboim
> Gould


David Tudor

Ksjxnnmej nemjnd kJ d


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## chu42 (Aug 14, 2018)

Enthusiast said:


> I guess most distinguished or noted pianists have personality as that is a big part of what is needed to become one? Can anyone name a noted pianist who lacked personality or had only a weak personality?


Perahia sometimes comes off as too refined. Many classical pianists that are popular on Youtube (Rousseau, Kassia, Vinheteiro etc.) play very coldly and without any interesting elements.


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## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

Pianists with personality: Lang Lang, Liberace, and Victor Borge. Glenn Gould, too.

All the rest are selflessly serving the composers, not straying too far from "the gospel" of the sacred score. All hail abstraction; we serve the Platonic ideal.


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## mikeh375 (Sep 7, 2017)

...don't forget R.Clayderman


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Alexis Weissenberg, like him or not


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## DaveM (Jun 29, 2015)

Yuja Wang. Big personality!!!


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

chu42 said:


> Perahia sometimes comes off as too refined. Many classical pianists that are popular on Youtube (Rousseau, Kassia, Vinheteiro etc.) play very coldly and without any interesting elements.


So, are we looking for pianists who are not so refined, perhaps even a bit rough? What other qualities aside from refinement are the opposite of what we are looking for here?

The "YouTube pianists" you name are completely unknown to me but I'll take your warning and continue to avoid them.


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## Dimace (Oct 19, 2018)

DaveM said:


> Yuja Wang. Big personality!!!
> 
> View attachment 131560


Everything but the piano top and hot. 

Pianistic top personality: Dr. Pr. Francesco Nicolosi of Naples. (If you don't believe me, ask the women of Naples)


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## Taplow (Aug 13, 2017)

I find Radu Lupu to be rather idiosyncratic. Is that synonymous with personality? Otherwise I agree with Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, as mentioned earlier, and I might also throw in Santiago Rodriguez.

I really should listen to some of the others mentioned here. I haven't listened to Gould enough. He certainly was an eccentric character.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

We know that critics don’t like pianists with big personalities as they complain they ‘come between the listener and the music’


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## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

Am I really the only one who's mentioned Ivo Pogorelich in this thread? Nowadays his skills have declined considerably, but back in the day his recordings for DG of Brahms, Chopin, Bach, and Ravel among others were the dictionary definition of "idiosyncratic." He took almost 9 minutes to play the Brahms Op. 118/2 Intermezzo!


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## chu42 (Aug 14, 2018)

Enthusiast said:


> So, are we looking for pianists who are not so refined, perhaps even a bit rough? What other qualities aside from refinement are the opposite of what we are looking for here?
> 
> The "YouTube pianists" you name are completely unknown to me but I'll take your warning and continue to avoid them.


When something is completely refined, it often lacks any distinguishing features. The pianists that have personality and catch the public's imagination tend to be less refined-Horowitz, Gilels, Michelangeli, Richter, Rubinstein, etc. were never very refined pianists but more intent on capturing the art instead of the notes. Perahia is a very fine pianist but he's a little bit of the opposite at times.


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## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

chu42 said:


> When something is completely refined, it often lacks any distinguishing features. The pianists that have personality and catch the public's imagination tend to be less refined-Horowitz, Gilels, Michelangeli, Richter, Rubinstein, etc. were never very refined pianists but more intent on capturing the art instead of the notes. Perahia is a very fine pianist but he's a little bit of the opposite at times.


For me, Perahia is the Karajan of pianists. He records a large amount of repertoire with very reliable playing where everything sounds beautiful and just right. But where is the struggle, the heart, the drama, the human face behind the music-making? I do like a good handful of his recordings, like his Goldbergs and Brahms (just like I love many of Karajan's recordings) but I listen to him when I just want something smooth and well-done rather than something deeply challenging.

And for a pianist that's truly "rough and less refined," try Julius Katchen! His recording of the Rach 2nd Concerto is extremely craggy but full of passion.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Pogo relic was made by Argerich when she walked out of the CHOPIN competition. I have been playing the Tchaikovsky piano concerto and it is superb. Of course Martha herself is tremendous


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

DavidA said:


> Alexis Weissenberg, like him or not


Most of his works, special Beethoven concertos with Karajan.
(I believe that almost everybody hates them)


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## pianozach (May 21, 2018)

Astanova

She's the one with the legs.

Actually, not a whole lot of personality.


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## larold (Jul 20, 2017)

Of all the pianists I've heard the only one whom I know it is within a few seconds is Glenn Gould.

Among living players Lang Lang is often nicknamed Bang Bang.


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## Sad Al (Feb 27, 2020)

Rosalyn Tureck. Slow, velvety Bach


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

larold said:


> Of all the pianists I've heard the only one whom I know it is within a few seconds is Glenn Gould.
> 
> *Among living players Lang Lang is often nicknamed Bang Bang.*


Interesting often by people who have had no success themselves. I wonder why? :lol:


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## Heliogabo (Dec 29, 2014)

Remember Martha Argerich.


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## Sad Al (Feb 27, 2020)

DaveM said:


> Yuja Wang. Big personality!!!
> 
> View attachment 131560


Why not? Most of classical music is after all very boring and snobbish, especially the mainstream solo concerto / symphony repertoire.


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## BachIsBest (Feb 17, 2018)

Generally speaking, people have just been posting pianists whose interpretations are often different than the standard ones. However, what I get from the phrase "having personality" is more a tendency for idiosyncratic performances rather than merely different performances. For example, Richter often performed pieces quite differently than other pianists but I would never label his performances idiosyncratic. Gould also performed pieces quite differently and was possibly the most idiosyncratic pianists I've ever heard.


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## howlingfantods (Jul 27, 2015)

larold said:


> Among living players Lang Lang is often nicknamed Bang Bang.


Lang Lang isn't a favorite of mine, but I can't think of a less appropriate nickname. He plays with beautiful touch and delicacy; my problem with him is that I think he often lacks a good sense of the overall architecture and direction of a piece, so he is great in moments and miniatures and less successful in longer works. I feel about him kind of how I feel about Radu Lupu, come to think of it.


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## Simplicissimus (Feb 3, 2020)

I have been watching this thread and trying to get clear in my mind what it means (to me, anyway) for a pianist to have personality. Before the thread winds down completely, I want to mention Raymond Lewenthal, because I just realized why he immediately comes to mind. It’s because I have heard him give lectures and interviews about how he thinks about his art and craft. Because he’s revealed his artistic personality through words, I seem to hear more of his personality in his music. Of course, he also played very expressively and had an idiosyncratic and dramatic stage presence, but as others have mentioned, these are extrinsic to his music having “personality.”


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## chu42 (Aug 14, 2018)

DavidA said:


> Interesting often by people who have had no success themselves. I wonder why? :lol:


This is a severely flawed logical conclusion that I see pop up far too often. One does not to be good at piano in order to criticize other pianists. If this were true then there would be hardly any criticism of any sort at all.

I'm sure most of us do not hesitate to criticize the current President despite having no legislative ability of our own.

We do not hesitate to criticize a poorly made film even if we have never directed a movie in our lives.

We do not keep our silence when our car has engine trouble just because we have never designed or built a car ourselves.

So why does one have to be a successful pianist to criticize other successful pianists? Music-making is subjective and a critic is not immediately barred from making an opinion just because they do not have the same skills as the person they are criticizing.


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## Judith (Nov 11, 2015)

Do not like showy pianists with the facial contortions and acrobats. Think they care more about how they look than what they are performing. Find it a pleasure to listen and watch Stephen Hough and Murray Perahia


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## Caryatid (Mar 28, 2020)

BachIsBest said:


> Generally speaking, people have just been posting pianists whose interpretations are often different than the standard ones. However, what I get from the phrase "having personality" is more a tendency for idiosyncratic performances rather than merely different performances. For example, Richter often performed pieces quite differently than other pianists but I would never label his performances idiosyncratic. Gould also performed pieces quite differently and was possibly the most idiosyncratic pianists I've ever heard.


Richter did some unusual things - playing by candelight, playing with the sheet music in front of him, playing the _Hammerklavier _fugue a second time as an encore...

As for living pianists, Grigory Sokolov comes to mind.


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## Mykul (Mar 26, 2020)

Agree very much. Can also be true of conductors when personality (ego?) gets in the way of the music.

Helene Grimaud has a great personality but one that does not get in the way of the music.


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## Mykul (Mar 26, 2020)

Agree very much. Can also be true of conductors when personality (ego?) gets in the way of the music.

Helene Grimaud has a great personality but one that does not get in the way of the music.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

chu42 said:


> This is a severely flawed logical conclusion that I see pop up far too often. One does not to be good at piano in order to criticize other pianists. If this were true then there would be hardly any criticism of any sort at all.
> 
> I'm sure most of us do not hesitate to criticize the current President despite having no legislative ability of our own.
> 
> ...


I agree. But the point has been made that there are people - generally envious people themselves - who jump on a bandwagon of someone who is successful. The nickname 'Bang Bang' is indicative how vicious these people are as has been said that Lang Lang plays with a beautiful tone whether or not you like his playing. It is just a name given in spite by people who envy success. Nothing to do with his playing.


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## chu42 (Aug 14, 2018)

I disagree. He often doesn't care about tone or good musicianship. While he is legitimately a great pianist, his standards often drop because his first priority is to entertain a broad number of people, which is usually detrimental to artistic quality. It is the same reason why us classical music fans often dislike listening to most pop music-it tries to appeal to as many people as possible and in doing so they have to dumb down the harmonic language and the lyrics.

Take a look at this Lang Lang video: He is a clown here. What other self-respecting pianist has ever stooped so low to please an audience?






Now look at the comments on this video. When he tries and gives a mature and beautiful performance, people can tell. They do not just blindly hate the performance because it is a certain pianist.






When people critcize a pianist, you cannot always give the excuse that they are "envious" of his success. Otherwise they would not be a fan of any successful pianists, and yet they will praise and promote other pianists they think are better. Thus envy is another flawed and short-sighted conclusion.

Perhaps, then, they disparage the performance because they genuinely do not like it.


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## howlingfantods (Jul 27, 2015)

chu42 said:


> Take a look at this Lang Lang video: He is a clown here. What other self-respecting pianist has ever stooped so low to please an audience?


He's literally playing Horowitz's transcription, so I think I can think of another self-respecting pianist who has stooped so low.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

chu42 said:


> I disagree. He often doesn't care about tone or good musicianship. While he is legitimately a great pianist, his standards often drop because his first priority is to entertain a broad number of people, which is usually detrimental to artistic quality. It is the same reason why us classical music fans often dislike listening to most pop music-it tries to appeal to as many people as possible and in doing so they have to dumb down the harmonic language and the lyrics.
> 
> Take a look at this Lang Lang video: He is a clown here. What other self-respecting pianist has ever stooped so low to please an audience?
> 
> ...


Well I have a certain Mr Horowitz playing Stars and Stripes Forever. Such bad taste! The critics were so mad the public loved him! :lol:

Seriously, does anyone think that 'Stars and Stripes Forever' is a serious piece? With the audience clapping along as they do in the Radezky March in Vienna? Let's not be so po faced about it.


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## NLAdriaan (Feb 6, 2019)

I add Alfred Brendel to the list. 

Brendel is usually framed as the prototype of the intellectual distant pianist, probably because of his glasses and his somewhat strange podium appearance (whoever has watched Brendel in concert, knows what I mean), I think he puts a lot of his personality in his playing.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)




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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

And what about Yuja playing the Turkish Rondo!


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## howlingfantods (Jul 27, 2015)

NLAdriaan said:


> I add Alfred Brendel to the list.
> 
> Brendel is usually framed as the prototype of the intellectual distant pianist, probably because of his glasses and his somewhat strange podium appearance (whoever has watched Brendel in concert, knows what I mean), I think he puts a lot of his personality in his playing.


I find Brendel a very odd figure--his reputation is as "intellectual", I suppose because he looks like a college professor, but I find his playing charming and pretty and not much more. His Beethoven for instance is all very pretty and lyrical and pleasing to the ear and not at all challenging, like if your goal was to make the Appassionata or the Hammerklavier sound like just another Lieder ohne Worte. He kind of out-Perahias Perahia.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

HJ Lim. Say no more.


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## howlingfantods (Jul 27, 2015)

Merl said:


> HJ Lim. Say no more.


She certainly has a lot of personality. Bucketfuls of the stuff.


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## chu42 (Aug 14, 2018)

howlingfantods said:


> He's literally playing Horowitz's transcription, so I think I can think of another self-respecting pianist who has stooped so low.


Funny. If you were at all familiar with the Horowitz transcription you would know that Lang Lang's is nothing like the Horowitz transcription.


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## chu42 (Aug 14, 2018)

DavidA said:


> Well I have a certain Mr Horowitz playing Stars and Stripes Forever. Such bad taste! The critics were so mad the public loved him! :lol:
> 
> Seriously, does anyone think that 'Stars and Stripes Forever' is a serious piece? With the audience clapping along as they do in the Radezky March in Vienna? Let's not be so po faced about it.


1. This was not the Horowitz transcription, which is a brilliant adaption of the original Sousa march. I have performed it myself many times. Lang Lang's version is far inferior.

2. Never, EVER, clap along to a solo pianist, no matter what they are playing. It is different from an orchestra that can actually project sound, versus a much quieter single instrument. Furthermore, a solo pianist dictates his tempo very carefully in order to make sure he can actually play it the way he wants it to. Clapping can completely mess up a pianists' internal rhythm. If I were on that stage I would have motioned for the crowd to stop clapping.


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## NLAdriaan (Feb 6, 2019)

howlingfantods said:


> I find Brendel a very odd figure--his reputation is as "intellectual", I suppose because he looks like a college professor, but I find his playing charming and pretty and not much more. His Beethoven for instance is all very pretty and lyrical and pleasing to the ear and not at all challenging, like if your goal was to make the Appassionata or the Hammerklavier sound like just another Lieder ohne Worte. He kind of out-Perahias Perahia.


If you will, listen to Brendels Schubert, especially the late sonatas and der Winterreise with DFD. This is where my opinion comes from. I am also not that much into Brendel's Beethoven. But I hear a clear borderwall between Brendel (maybe close to it) on the personality side but Perahia midfield on the dull side.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

I was introduced to Schubert's piano music many years ago by both Alfred Brendel and Richard Goode. I still value both very highly. Some descriptions of Brendel's style I've seen here are nothing but thoughtless caricatures with no relation to his actual performances.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

chu42 said:


> 1. This was not the Horowitz transcription, which is a brilliant adaption of the original Sousa march. I have performed it myself many times. Lang Lang's version is far inferior.
> 
> 2. Never, EVER, clap along to a solo pianist, no matter what they are playing. It is different from an orchestra that can actually project sound, versus a much quieter single instrument. Furthermore, a solo pianist dictates his tempo very carefully in order to make sure he can actually play it the way he wants it to. Clapping can completely mess up a pianists' internal rhythm. If I were on that stage I would have motioned for the crowd to stop clapping.


Stars and Stripes is just a fun encore piece played by many pianists. Are we going to argue about 'coreect' Sousa arrangements? Here are some others. Even eight pianos.

http://magazine.pianoperformers.org/tag/leif-ove-andsnes-mgbh/

Why not clap along to a march? It was just a fun piece not a Beethoven sonata. I would say if it messes up a pianists internal rhythm on a piece like that he has a poor sense of internal rhythm. I'm sure Lang Lang's sense of Rhythm could cope with it


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## chu42 (Aug 14, 2018)

DavidA said:


> Stars and Stripes is just a fun encore piece played by many pianists. Are we going to argue about 'coreect' Sousa arrangements? Here are some others. Even eight pianos.
> 
> http://magazine.pianoperformers.org/tag/leif-ove-andsnes-mgbh/
> 
> Why not clap along to a march? It was just a fun piece not a Beethoven sonata. I would say if it messes up a pianists internal rhythm on a piece like that he has a poor sense of internal rhythm. I'm sure Lang Lang's sense of Rhythm could cope with it


Because audiences themselves have no good idea of what rhythm is right for the pianist, who is playing a technically challenging work and balances a fine line between excitement and precision.


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## 444mil (May 27, 2018)

Argerich, Pogorelich, Richter, HJ Lim.

But, my favourite pianist: Mikhail Pletnev. Listen to his Scarlatti k380, or Beethoven op 111 (live at carnegie hall) or this last complete disc. 

The most "intelligent" pianist i've come across, musically speaking.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

444mil said:


> Argerich, Pogorelich, Richter, HJ Lim.
> 
> But, my favourite pianist: Mikhail Pletnev. Listen to his Scarlatti k380, or Beethoven op 111 (live at carnegie hall) or this last complete disc.
> 
> The most "intelligent" pianist i've come across, musically speaking.


What did you make of this?


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## consuono (Mar 27, 2020)

Horowitz, Gould, Argerich, Sokolov, Schiff and Yuja Wang are the ones that come to mind first. But there are others of course. And I'd agree with someone above who mentioned Rosalyn Tureck. She's a good antidote to a Gould overdose.


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

Mandryka said:


> What did you make of this?
> 
> View attachment 140336


I like the program, I think I'll check this out, despite that I've never been super impressed by anything I've heard of Pletnev.

Edit to add: I liked what I was hearing. Might check out his "live at Carnegie Hall" on DG as well.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I haven't listened to much Chopin or any romantic piano over the years so I'm going through this box I received the other day. Excellent sound on these 60 year old recordings and Rubinstein has a great feel and touch to his playing. A good starter set. Only the Preludes were recorded in inferior sound of the mid 1940s.


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## ribonucleic (Aug 20, 2014)

DaveM said:


> Yuja Wang. Big personality!!!
> 
> View attachment 131560


In an idle moment the other day I listened to her _Fantasia_ recital disc and there's some fine playing on it. The Chopin Valse in C sharp minor, Op. 64 No.2 was a lovely thing.

If only her taste in clothes were half as refined as her taste in music making.


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## consuono (Mar 27, 2020)

ribonucleic said:


> ...
> If only her taste in clothes were half as refined as her taste in music making.


I've read that the same thing was said about Paganini and Liszt. A little marketing here, a little individuality there.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

flamencosketches said:


> I like the program, I think I'll check this out, despite that I've never been super impressed by anything I've heard of Pletnev.
> 
> Edit to add: I liked what I was hearing. Might check out his "live at Carnegie Hall" on DG as well.


The Scherzos in the Carnegie Hall recording were pretty good if I remember right.

Just going from memory, the Pletnev which has left me most impressed from his solo recordings are:

The first recording of the Liszt Sonata (not the second for DG)
The first recording of Mozart sonatas (not the second for DG)
The second recording of Chopin's third sonata (utterly totally different from what's in that box, and indeed utterly totally different from anyone else)
The first recording of Grieg Lyric Pieces (not the second for DG)
The Schumann symphonic etudes etc for DG
The Beethoven piano sonatas for DG - the Waldstein.
The Chopin Waltzes and Nocturnes for DG
Maybe the Rachmaninov variations, it's like 20 years since I listened to that stuff.
The Tchaikovsky (Nutcracker) transcription
The Prokofiev sonatas


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## UniversalTuringMachine (Jul 4, 2020)

Mandryka said:


> The Scherzos in the Carnegie Hall recording were pretty good if I remember right.
> 
> Just going from memory, the Pletnev which has left me most impressed from his solo recordings are:
> 
> ...


Pletnev is highly underrated. His techniques are both monstrous (Carnegie recital) and pristine. His musicality is always intelligent and nuanced.

His DG album of Chopin (which includes the famous 3rd sonata) contains one of the finest Chopin playings of all time IMO. The number of gradations he squeezed out of the dynamic range from p to ppp are unbelievable.


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

Has anyone come up with a pianist without personality yet?


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## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

Enthusiast said:


> Has anyone come up with a pianist without personality yet?


All musicians, whether consciously or not, imprint their personality on their art. But some do so more obviously than others. I would say the pianists who purposefully try to "keep their personality out of it" include Pollini, Perahia, Ashkenazy, Brendel. I enjoy quite a bit of what they did (and they do have somewhat distinctive styles) but too often I am lulled into a monotonous trance when they are playing rather than being forced to savor every note like I am with my favorites - Gilels, Arrau, Richter, Cortot, etc.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Enthusiast said:


> Has anyone come up with a pianist without personality yet?


Maybe John Tesh but I don't have any albums.



> I would say the pianists who purposefully try to "keep their personality out of it" include Pollini, Perahia, Ashkenazy, Brendel.


I've never been into any of those pianists. But I recently picked up Ashkenazy's Bartok concertos. I buy music based on the composers and pieces I like. The soloists are secondary. But with the luxury of the internet for instant comparisons we can be more discriminating.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Enthusiast said:


> Has anyone come up with a pianist without personality yet?


Agustin Anievas.

Peter Donahoe. He's very good I think. Similarly Howard Shelley (in Beethoven) Maybe Bernard Roberts, Paul Badura Skoda and Paul Komen.

Some of Gieseking's post war recordings sound as though he's on automatic pilot sight reading to me. Someone once told me that his sight reading skills were a great asset to EMI, who wanted him to record tons of stuff he wasn't really interested in, just to build the catalogue.


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## RogerWaters (Feb 13, 2017)

Captainnumber36 said:


> Gould


More like "Pianists with Autism".


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## BachIsBest (Feb 17, 2018)

RogerWaters said:


> More like "Pianists with Autism".


This is relevant, why?


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## Eclectic Al (Apr 23, 2020)

Allegro Con Brio said:


> All musicians, whether consciously or not, imprint their personality on their art. But some do so more obviously than others. I would say the pianists who purposefully try to "keep their personality out of it" include Pollini, Perahia, Ashkenazy, Brendel. I enjoy quite a bit of what they did (and they do have somewhat distinctive styles) but too often I am lulled into a monotonous trance when they are playing rather than being forced to savor every note like I am with my favorites - Gilels, Arrau, Richter, Cortot, etc.


In your list (Pollini, Perahia, Ashkenazy, Brendel) you have picked some of my favourite pianists. I am sure that is not a coincidence. (Mind you, I also like the ones you mention as your favourites. )

The question I would have is: how much personality is too much? That is, at what point does it become more about the performer than the piece?

To give an example, sometimes in listening to Bach I might think that a particular ornament is "delicious". That's great, but I simultaneously have the feeling that that has now drawn attention to itself out of scale with its context within the piece - precisely because I have noticed it in that way. I then expect that that may come to irritate me in future.

There's a difference here between one-off performances and recordings for repeat listening. I don't want too much personality (in the sense that I notice it while I'm listening) in a recording, while it might be great in a one-off listen. I do always like personality in a reflective, after-listening sense: ie after the piece is finished I might think that a performance had miraculously even passage work or whatever (which shows more personality for me than the addition of a few contrived accents as though the performer is saying "Don't forget me. It's not just about the music."). I also find plenty of personality in a performer who seems to seek an "objective" rendition of a piece (ie one that comes across to me as an attempt at a tell-it-how-it-is rendition), and very little personality in a performance which seems to be just about demonstrating how the player can handle technical challenges with more bravura than others, or put a supposedly new spin on an old piece and make you listen to it with new ears (- that sort of marketing guff).

Another thought. Suppose a pianist plays some Bach, some Mozart, some Schumann, some Scriabin, some Liszt, etc. Does it indicate more personality if it is easy to tell it is the same pianist? I don't know on the personality point, but I think it would be a defect in their playing if so.


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

Only if it means they make everything sound similar. If on the other hand they can give each composer and each piece full value while retaining their recognisably individual personal style, as the truly great can, I'd say that was a considerable compliment to their musicianship.


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## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

Enthusiast said:


> Has anyone come up with a pianist without personality yet?


John Lill can be a bit...well...beige.


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

That's something that's in the ear of the listener though. I like his unfussy style, especially in Beethoven.


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

It seems like even borderline personality can lead to some fairly strongly flavoured behaviour. This from the British National Health Service:



> *Symptoms of borderline personality disorder (BPD)
> *
> The symptoms of BPD can be grouped into 4 main areas:
> 
> ...


Sounds like any pianists you know?


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## consuono (Mar 27, 2020)

Enthusiast said:


> It seems like even borderline personality can lead to some fairly strongly flavoured behaviour. This from the British National Health Service:
> 
> Sounds like any pianists you know?


Pffffft. This describes a lot of people at different points in their lives.


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