# Rank the finest pianist for each composer...



## PianoDano (Jul 3, 2014)

Based on comments from this forum I've ranked "the best" (or favorite) pianists for each composer. As a newcomer I'd like your help in discovering the greatest pianists and their recordings. Let's have some fun!

Copy my list, then modify it as you see fit. Enter as few or as many pianists and composers as you wish. Rank them (1 is best) beneath the composer name. Use 1 thru 9 only. Re-use numbers if you run out of digits and/or to indicate a tie. Skip numbers to indicate the superiority of one or more artists over others.

Here's my initial list...

Albeniz
1. de Larrocha

Bach
1. Gould
2. Richter
3. Schiff
4. Perahia
5. Turreck
6. Hewitt
7. Feinberg
7. Fischer
7. Gulda

Beethoven
1. Gilels
2. Kempff
3. Arrau
3. Schnabel
4. Brendel
5. Fischer
5. Richter
5. Serkin
6. Barenboim
6. Goode
7. Pollini
8. Kovacevich
8. Schiff
8. Solomon
9. Gould

Brahms
1. Gilels
2. Serkin
3. Richter
4. Lupu
5. Rubinstein
6. Katchen
7. Curzon
8. Arrau
8. Ax
9. Fleisher

Chopin
1. Rubinstein
2. Argerich
2. Zimmerman
3. Horowitz
4. Pollini
5. Cortot
6. Ashkenazy

Debussy
1. Michelangeli
2. Gieseking

Grieg
1. Gilels

Haydn
1. Brendel

Liszt
1. Horowitz
2. Arrau
2. Bolet
4. Argerich
5. Richter

Mozart
1. Uchida
3. Brendel
4. Perahia
5. Horowitz

Prokofiev
1. Richter

Rachmaninov
1. Rachmaninov
2. Horowitz
4. Richter
5. Ashkenazy

Ravel
1. Argerich
3. Thibaudet

Saint-Saens
1. Ciccolini

Satie
1. Ciccolini
2. Queffelec

Scarlatti
1. Horowitz
3. Michelangeli
3. Pletnev

Schoenberg
1. Pollini

Schubert
1. Brendel
2. Richter
3. Kempff
5. Lupu
5. Perahia

Schumann
1. Richter
2. Argerich
3. Horowitz
4. Cortot
7. Arrau
8. Lupu

Scriabin
1. Horowitz

Tchaikovsky
1. Van Cliburn
2. Argerich


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

What? No Schönberg?


----------



## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

What? Ashkenazy on Chopin Liszt?


----------



## Headphone Hermit (Jan 8, 2014)

what, no Yudina?









she ain't happy!


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Okay. I've waited long enough.

Schönberg, Uchida.


----------



## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

For now, I'll just do Bach:

1. Tureck
2. Gould
3. Sheppard
4. Vieru
5. Woodward
6. Schepkin
7. Richter
8. Fellner
9. Schiff
10. Nikolayeva
11. Propper
12. Crossland
13. Feinberg


----------



## PianoDano (Jul 3, 2014)

The initial list is a starting point (it's my first post to the forum). I began this thread with only a love of piano and classical music and little real knowledge of specific pianists and composers. I'm on a journey of discovery and I imagined this might be a way to let other's guide me on how to best direct my listening time and money. I compiled the initial list not from personal taste but from perusing the forums, creating a spreadsheet and placing a tick mark at the intersection of each pianist and composer I found mentioned in a post as a favorite. I counted the tick marks to create the initial ranking but it is by no means scientific or definitive. With your contribution my education will grow. Thanks!


----------



## mikey (Nov 26, 2013)

So that list is not your opinion, just what you gathered from reading the boards?
If that's the case I'll just list some classic recordings (and some favourites) from each of the composers you mentioned.

Albeniz - De Larrocha Iberia
Bach - Gould Goldberg Vars, Fischer WTC
Beethoven - Brendel/Kempff/Solomon Sonatas
Brahms - Katchen solo works, Michelangeli Paganini etudes
Chopin - Lipatti 3rd Sonata, Pires Nocturnes
Debussy - Zimerman Preludes
Grieg - Gilels Lyris Pieces, Andsnes Concerto
Haydn - Andsnes Concerti
Liszt - Solomon Hungarian Fantasy
Mozart - Perahia Concerti
Prokofiev - Gavrilov Sonatas
Rachmaninov - Kocsis has an awesome second Sonata from memory though I'm not overly fond of the piece
Ravel - Zimerman Concerti, Michelangeli Gaspard
Saint Saens - Hough Concerti
Satie - no idea, I think Roge has recorded a disc
Scarlatti - Pletnev
Schoenberg - Uchida or Peter Hill has gotten good reviews
Schubert - Lupu/Perahia Fantasy 4 hands
Schumann - Lipatti Concerto
Scriabin - Leonskaja 2nd sonata
Tchaikovsky - Pletnev op.72 18 pieces


----------



## Varick (Apr 30, 2014)

How Fleisher does not get #1 on Brahms (at LEAST in the top three) is beyond me. #9????? Are you people DEAF??????

V


----------



## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)

Mozart Concerti equals Perahia no further discussion required


----------



## Novelette (Dec 12, 2012)

hpowders said:


> Okay. I've waited long enough.
> 
> Schönberg, Uchida.


For a good number of years, Brendel was my favorite pianist for Schumann's Piano Concerto.

Then, in March, I heard Uchida perform it live.

Since then, Brendel's out; Uchida's in.

I'm not usually so easily swayed either, _especially_ when it comes to Schumann!


----------



## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

Rachmaninoff and Lang-Lang


----------



## Piwikiwi (Apr 1, 2011)

Ravel and Debussy - Samson Franscoi 
Fauré - Jean Philippe Collard
Poulenc - Pascal Rogé 
Prokofiev - Anne-Marie McDermott
Messiaen - Pierre-Laurent Aimard


----------



## dgee (Sep 26, 2013)

Aimard can also get Ligeti as far as I'm concerned! 
I'm not terribly fond of Uchida so can I have Pollini for Schoenberg?
I'll also nominate Alexis Weissenberg for his balls to the wall Rachmaninov
Nic Hodges for Birtwistle and Furrer 
Ian Pace for Finnissy

Malcolm Bilson is my sentimental choice for Mozart


----------



## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

^^^^
I agree with Rogé for *Poulenc*. More interesting and varied, than say Tacchino, IMO.

*Albeniz*: Hear the re-issue on Brilliant with Esteban Sanchez. Fluent and lively, mysterious and varied, IMO.
*Bach*: Feinberg, S. Richter, Argerich, Pogorelich English Suites, Gavrilov French Suites, Yudina, Gould.
*CPE Bach*: Pletnev.
*Bartok*: Kocsis
*Beethoven*: Concerti: Serkin/Ormandy mono; Fleisher/Szell; 1-2: Gould; 2: Argerich; 3 Brendel/Haitink; 4: Rubinstein/Mitropoulos (extremely poor sound); 5: Kempff/Leitner
*Beethoven*: Sonatas: Yudina, Richter, Gould, Schnabel, Gilels, B.Webster, Levy, Hungerford, Kuerti; probably Robert Goodyear too.
*Brahms*: Concerti: 1 Horowitz/Walter (cut), Woodward/Masur, Mantz/Mandeal; 2: Horowitz/Toscanini, Mantz/Mandeal. Solo works: Yudina, Kempff/decca
*Chopin*: Earliest Rubinstein; Argerich, Horowitz, Pogorelich, Moravec. 
*Debussy*: Copeland, Zimerman, Rev, Fergus-Thomson, T´song, Ericourt, Demus.
*Feinberg*: Samaltanos
*Franck*: Crossley/Sony, Demus.
*Grieg*: Gilels; Richter/Kondrashin and Zimerman/Karajan for the concerto (two very different approaches)
*Ligeti*: Etudes/Aimard
*Liszt*:Concerti: Richter/Kondrashin, Rubinstein/Dorati & Arrau/Cantelli, Horowitz, Gilels, Hung. Rapsodies/Cziffra, Lugubre Gondola/Devoyon. 
*Lutoslawski*: Concerto: Zimerman
*Medtner*: Concerto 1: Zhukov; Concerto 2: Demidenko; Concerto 3: Ponti/Cao (faster than average). Solo works Milne, Gilels, Ginsburg, Richter.
*Messiaen*: Loriod, Loriod/Constant for "Des Canyons ..."; Aimard; Oiseaux..:Mourao, Ugorski.
*Mozart* Concerti: Overall probably Anda. Sonatas: haven´t found a really satisfying whole set yet.
*Mussorgsky*: Richter/Sofia, Yudina.
*Nielsen*: Overall, McCabe. Lots of interesting recordings of say the Chaconne, though.
*Prokofiev*: Concerti: Krainev,Kitayenko,MoscowSO (not Frankfurt); Argerich/Chailly in no.3. Yundi Li/DG in no.2
*Rachmaninov*: Horowitz, Richter, Argerich; Corelli-var./Berman.
*Ravel*: lots of interesting competition, but Argerich, Zimerman & Collard/Maazel for the concerti, Alborada/Lipatti, Gaspard/Argerich EMI, Miroirs/Richter Ermitage, etc.
*S-Saens*: Ciccolini, earliest Rubinstein for Concerto 2, Jacquinot/Fistoulari and Richter also for alternative Cto.5s.
*Satie*: De Leeuw, Ciccolini (two extremely different approaches. De Leeuw isn´t "real" Satie)
*Schubert*: Yudina, Horowitz, Gilels, Zacharias, Richter, Brendel, Kuerti, Schnabel, Impromptus.
*Schumann*: Concerto: Argerich/Harnoncourt. Argerich, Horowitz, Ugorski/Davidsbündler, Webster/Noveletten, Kissin & Kerer/Symphonic Etudes.
*Schoenberg*: Bucquet, Gould, Hill
*Scriabin*: Concerto: Bashkirov; solo works: Sofronitsky, Horowitz, Feinberg, Bashkirov, Sonata 1/Szidon, Ashkenazy.
*Shostakovich *concerti: List/Kondrashin, and the composer himself; solo works: the composer
*Sorabji*:Not enough compettion; those available.
*Tchaikovsky*: Concerti: 1: Horowitz/Szell; Argerich/Kondrashin 2: Farnadi/Scherchen; solo works: Ponti.


----------



## dgee (Sep 26, 2013)

I don't know piano recordings that well but I will also vouch for Peter Hill for Messiaen, Stephen Hough for Liszt, Roget or Thibaudet for Saint-Saens (Thibaudet has been very convincing on recording although he bitterly disappointed me live), Kissin for Prokofiev and Robert Levin's extraordinary grasp of Mozart (I just don't have time for Mozza on a big pianoforte these days):


----------



## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Haydn man said:


> Mozart Concerti equals Perahia no further discussion required


Except Brendel is different and Annie Fischer is even better!


----------



## mikey (Nov 26, 2013)

For Faure, let me add Thyssens-Valentine, an incredibly underrated and virtually unknown pianist. She gave up recitals to care for her family. She knew the composer and has recorded most of his major works. The playing is phenomenal!


----------



## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

^^^^ 
Interesting, will explore!


----------



## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Argerich, Richter, Brendel, Uchida, Gould are great in nearly everything they touch.

I do like Ashkenazy in Russian music.

Hélène Grimaud is wonderful in the pieces she's committed to disc.

A lot of wise recommendations thus far in this thread ... with perhaps one exception.


----------



## Alypius (Jan 23, 2013)

PianoDano said:


> Copy my list, then modify it as you see fit. Enter as few or as many pianists and composers as you wish. Rank them (1 is best) beneath the composer name. Use 1 thru 9 only. Re-use numbers if you run out of digits and/or to indicate a tie. Skip numbers to indicate the superiority of one or more artists over others.


Welcome to TC! As I read your two posts, it occurred to me that your method means that you're most likely to choose old pianists -- and, often enough, very old recordings. While there were some masterful recordings in the analog era (and some bad ones in the early digital era), the quality of "presence" in many contemporary piano recordings can give a richness that is often lacking in older recordings. Your method means you have a lot of Richter and Kempff and Horowitz -- all fine and good. It also means that if you bias your listing with older artists, the recordings in that era tended to reflect the eclecticism of concert programs; Richter and Horowitz, for instance, did not tend to do complete cycles. The more recent pattern has been to do complete cycles. And so if you are interested in, say, the complete Schumann, or the complete Scriabin, you need to look at more recent performers.

In your list, you never mention one of the finest living pianists: the Canadian virtuoso Marc-Andre Hamelin. I believe that his performances are superior to many of the ones you list, notably:

*_Albeniz: Iberia_ (Hyperion, 2005). While Larrocha's performance is marvelous, the sonics are terrible. 
*_Scriabin: Complete Piano Sonatas_ (Hyperion, 1996). 
*_Haydn: Piano Sonatas_ - 3 volumes (2 discs each) (Hyperion, 2007, 2009, 2012)
*_Liszt: Piano Sonata in B minor_ (Hyperion, 2011)

He has also made a career out of playing works that are notoriously demanding (and, in a few cases, seemingly unplayable). His execution of these demanding works is nothing less than remarkable. In your list, you do not have any of these composers. And these are well worth exploring:

*_Medtner: Complete Piano Sonatas_ (Hyperion, 1999)
*_Rzewski: The People United Will Never Be Defeated_ (Hyperion, 1999)
*_Szymanowski: Complete Mazurkas_ (Hyperion, 2003)
*_Busoni: Late Piano Music_ (Hyperion, 2013)
*_Alkan: Symphony for Solo Piano_ (Hyperion, 2001)
*_Ives: Concord Sonata_ (Hyperion, 2004)
*_Kapustin: Piano Music_ (Hyperion, 2004)










Nor do you have any by Jean-Efflam Bavouzet. His performances of Debussy's _Complete Works for Piano_ are the finest out there. Similarly with Ravel's complete works. You have "Argerich" as number 1, but she has never done the complete solo works of Ravel. Her performance of the Piano Concerto is G is a marvel, but go to Bavouzet, or for that matter, to Steven Osborne for Ravel's solo piano works.










Nor do you list anything by Paul Lewis. His Beethoven is excellent. And his Schubert cycle is a marvel -- and may be the best quality recording of Schubert that I have heard.










As best I can read it, your list conflates performances of piano concertos with solo piano works. For instance, with Brahms, you have Gilels on top and Katchen well down the list. Many esteem Gilels for his performances of the concertos (I do!), but Katchen is well-respected for offering the complete solo piano works. As you do your database, you might consider separating out orchestral from solo piano. I hope all of that is of some help.


----------



## Piwikiwi (Apr 1, 2011)

Alypius said:


> Nor do you have any by Jean-Efflam Bavouzet. His performances of Debussy's _Complete Works for Piano_ are the finest out there. Similarly with Ravel's complete works. You have "Argerich" as number 1, but she has never done the complete solo works of Ravel. Her performance of the Piano Concerto is G is a marvel, but go to Bavouzet, or for that matter, to Steven Osborne for Ravel's solo piano works.


I respectfully disagree, while I like Bavouzet his recordings I personally prefer Samson Francois or Pierre Laurent Aimard for debussy.


----------



## Alypius (Jan 23, 2013)

joen_cph said:


> ...
> *Ligeti*: Etudes/Aimard ...
> *Lutoslawski*: Concerto: Zimerman ...
> *Messiaen*: Loriod, Loriod/Constant for "Des Canyons ..."; Aimard; Oiseaux..:Mourao, Ugorski ...


joen's (great) listing points to some important composers missing from your list, namely, later 20th century. Ligeti's _Etudes_ have quickly become an important part of the repertoire -- as both joen and dgee noted in their recommendations. Ligeti's _Etudes_ may be challenging to some listeners -- and they are massively challenging to performers -- but you might consider giving them a careful listen. I agree with joen's recommendation of Pierre-Laurent Aimard (who was Ligeti's own choice to perform them). But be sure and check out Jeremy Denk's performance. Here's an interview with Denk, full of interesting comments on the Etudes.

http://www.npr.org/2013/09/27/226548074/jeremy-denk-playing-ligeti-with-a-dash-of-humor


----------



## Alypius (Jan 23, 2013)

Piwikiwi said:


> I respectfully disagree, while I like Bavouzet his recordings I personally prefer Samson Francois or Pierre Laurent Aimard for debussy.


I agree in part. Both Francois' Debussy and Ravel are superb -- and both are better than on those on the original list. I personally prefer Bavouzet. Also Erato / EMI has recently reissued Francois' recordings in a reasonably priced pair of box sets; while the remastering improves the sound, there is, to my ear, still a tinniness and lack of amplitude to the recording. Bavouzet has the benefits of Chandos' quality of recordings. I should add that Paul Jacobs' performance of Debussy's _Preludes_ are a landmark -- and almost impossible to find on CD, but are available as a download.


----------



## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

Varick said:


> How Fleisher does not get #1 on Brahms (at LEAST in the top three) is beyond me. #9????? Are you people DEAF??????
> 
> V


Indeed!
This is madness!


----------



## mikey (Nov 26, 2013)

Burroughs said:


> Indeed!
> This is madness!


No!








Had to do it


----------



## PianoDano (Jul 3, 2014)

Thanks for the great replies to my initial post. As a newcomer I've discovered several (mostly 20th century) artists. I'll sample the more contemporary pianists soon. I've learned I prefer studio solo recordings (not live, not 78 rpm). My list of favorites is still quite short. I hope to see more contributions to this thread. 

Bach
1. Gould

Beethoven
1. Gilels
2. Kempff

Chopin
1. Rubinstein

Liszt
1. Bolet

Mozart
1. Perahia

Prokofiev
1. Richter

Scarlatti
1. Horowitz

Schubert
1. Brendel


----------



## realdealblues (Mar 3, 2010)

Some composers I'm not proficient in enough to really know and/or I haven't studied their piano works enough. Of the ones I've have studied more in depth, my favorite interpreters are listed, although I'm sure I've missed several because I can't look through my CD collection here at work.

Albeniz
1. de Larrocha

Bach
1. Gould
2. Richter
3. Schiff
4. Perahia
5. Hewitt

Beethoven
1. Gilels
2. Schiff
3. Arrau
4. Kempff
5. Brendel
6. Serkin
7. Gould
8. Perahia
9. Schnabel

Brahms
1. Fleisher
2. Rubinstein
3. Gilels
4. Lupu
5. Richter
6. Serkin
7. Arrau

Chopin
1. Rubinstein
2. Arrau
3. Perahia
4. Francois
5. Freire
6. Watts

Debussy
1. Francois

Haydn
1. Brendel
2. Gould

Liszt
1. Arrau
2. Cziffra
3. Dichter
4. Watts

Mozart
1. Haebler
3. Perahia
4. de Larrocha
5. Schiff
6. Eschenbach

Prokofiev
1. Bronfman

Ravel
1. Francois

Schubert
1. Schiff
2. Lupu
3. Kempff
4. Perahia

Schumann
1. Perahia
2. Lupu
3. Rubinstein

Tchaikovsky
1. Freire
2. Watts


----------



## stevens (Jun 23, 2014)

Why all this rankings? -Whats the point?


----------



## Guest (Jul 17, 2014)

PianoDano said:


> With your contribution my education will grow.


You mean "knowledge," surely. And knowledge of what? Of other listeners.

Knowledge of other listeners is all well and good. But it's not at all the same thing as knowledge of music.


----------



## PianoDano (Jul 3, 2014)

some guy said:


> You mean "knowledge," surely. And knowledge of what? Of other listeners.
> 
> Knowledge of other listeners is all well and good. But it's not at all the same thing as knowledge of music.


Both valid points. Yet this technique is a shortcut for myself and others who are somewhat new to classical music. It's a shortcut "to the good stuff". Back in 1979 I relied on the Rolling Stone Record Guide to help me explore rock music. I'd spend my hard earned money on a "5 star album" and sometimes I'd hate it. Money wasted? Yes and no because it lead me to discover some of the blues-based rock I love.

Today we have easy access to millions of recordings. I simply can't listen to them all.


----------



## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

stevens said:


> Why all this rankings? -Whats the point?


It's the Poll Addiction Syndrome which is now infecting non-poll threads. It might be time for martial law to be declared.


----------



## murphythecat (Jan 5, 2019)

joen_cph said:


> ^^^^
> I agree with Rogé for *Poulenc*. More interesting and varied, than say Tacchino, IMO.
> 
> *Albeniz*: Hear the re-issue on Brilliant with Esteban Sanchez. Fluent and lively, mysterious and varied, IMO.
> ...


what a great list, thanks a lot for this!


----------



## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

I never know what to do with these threads. You get lots of lists of different people's personal preferences. But you don't really know what else they have heard and rejected. So you only really know what you think if you already know the same players. It seems plain to me that any list of preferred Beethoven players should include Annie Fischer, Kempff, Backhaus, Schnabel before many who have been named. This is IMO, obviously, but they are all widely acknowledged as ideals. That is just one composer and the less controversial among my own preferences for him. I never know what to do with these threads as it seems to me that you would need to know a very wide range of what is available (in each case) to say anything useful and readers will really need you to also say _*who you have not chosen *_(and ideally why) to understand what your recommendation means.


----------



## Brahmsianhorn (Feb 17, 2017)

*Albeniz*

De Larrocha

*Bach*

E. Fischer
Gould
Feinberg
Tureck
Richter
Nikolayeva
Perahia
Hewitt
Schiff

*Beethoven*

Schnabel
E. Fischer
Solomon
Gilels
Kempff
Backhaus
Gieseking
Rubinstein
Richter
Serkin
Kovacevich
Pollini
Arrau
Perahia
Barenboim

*Brahms*

Backhaus
Schnabel
Gilels
Solomon
Curzon
Kempff
Fleisher
Lupu
Rubinstein

*Chopin*

Friedman
Hofmann
Cortot
Rubinstein
Rachmaninoff
Lipatti
Backhaus
Perahia
Pollini
Argerich
Moravec

*Debussy*

Gieseking
Roge

*Faure*

Thyssens-Valentin

*Grieg*

Gieseking

*Janacek*

Firkusny

*Liszt*

Barere
Hofmann
Friedman
Horowitz
Richter
Bolet
Cziffra
Arrau

*Mendelssohn*

Friedman
Gieseking

*Mozart*

E. Fischer
Schnabel
Curzon
Gieseking
Haskil
Perahia

*Prokofiev*

Richter

*Rachmaninoff*

Horowitz
Rachmaninoff
Janis
Argerich
Ashkenazy

*Ravel*

Gieseking
Roge

*Schubert*

Schnabel
E. Fischer
Curzon
Kovacevich

*Schumann*

Cortot
Horowitz
Rachmaninoff
Schnabel
Arrau

*Shostakovich*

Nikolayeva

*Tchaikovsky*

Horowitz
Gilels
Argerich
Richter


----------



## Josquin13 (Nov 7, 2017)

I find it difficult to 'rank' pianists, since I don't believe in 'definitive' recordings. Although I suppose it would be easier to group pianists by tier levels. Nevertheless, I've attempted to rank the best pianists that I know for each of the following composers (listed in alphabetical order, A-Z)--starting with those that I'd consider to be among the most insightful & perceptive and ending with those that I'd consider to be very good. Suffice it to say that each list is intended as an overview of pianists that have something special to say in the music of the composers that I've named.

Of course, I don't expect that everyone will agree with all my rankings, but I hope that those looking to explore the piano repertory in depth will find my lists & links invaluable, as they derive from decades of listening to pianists & piano music:

I'll begin with composers A-D, and post separately for E-Z.

Isaac Albeniz--Albeniz himself: 



, Magda Tagliaferro: 



, Ricardo Viñes:



, George Copeland: 



, Guiomar Novaës: 



, Rafael Orozco (Iberia): 



, Rosa Sabater (Iberia): 



, Alicia de Larrocha: 



, Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli: 



, Michel Block (Iberia), Cristina Ortiz: 



, Sequeira Costa: 



, Estaban Sánchez: 



, Guillermo Gonzalez: 



, Arthur Rubinstein: 



, Luis Fernando Pérez: 



, and Aldo Ciccolini: 



.

J.S. Bach (on piano): Virginia Black: 



), Dubravka Tomsic: 



, David Fray: 



, Tatiana Nikolayeva: 



, Samuel Feinberg: 



, Ivo Pogorelich: 



, Edwin Fischer, Alfred Brendel: 



, Evelyn Crochet: 



, Edward Aldwell: 



, Andrea Bacchetti (especially his 6 French Suites): 



, Ivo Janssen (the complete keyboard works on VOID): 



 & 



, Glenn Gould (esp. his last Bach recordings--the 1981 Goldbergs, Toccatas: 



, Preludes, Fughettas & Fugues, & English Suites), Amandine Savary: 



, Marcelle Meyer: 



, Dinu Lipatti, Rosita Renard: 



, Mieczyslaw Horszowski: 



, Alicia de Larrocha, Peter Serkin: 



, Vladimir Feltsman: 



, Andrei Gavrilov:



, Valery Afanassiev: 



, Konstantin Lifschitz: especially his Denon recordings: 



, & The Musical Offering: 



, Andras Schiff (esp. his early recordings): 



, Murray Perahia: 



, Maria Tipo: 



, Sviatoslav Richter, Caspar Frantz: 



, Roslyn Tureck: 



, Martha Argerich: 



, Peter Hill: 



, Beatrice Rana, Alexandre Tharaud: 



, Craig Sheppard: 



, Angela Hewitt (especially her Toccatas & Art of the Fugue), Rafal Blechacz, Til Fellner, Richard Goode, Pietro de Maria, Francesco Tristano, Hans Petermandl, Carl Seeman, Piotr Anderszewski, Wilhelm Kempff, & Martin Stadtfeld. (I've not heard Igor Levit play Bach.)

Samuel Barber--Nadia Reissenberg: 



, John Browning: 



, Vladimir Horowitz: 



, Israela Margalit: 



, Eric Parkin: 



, & Angela Brownridge.

Bela Bartok--Geza Anda: 



, Andor Földes: 



, György Sándor: 



, Claude Helffer: 



, Zoltan Kocsis: 



, Andras Schiff: 



, Dezso Ranki: 



, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Peter Donahoe, Maurizio Pollini, Jeno Jando, and Klára Würtz.

L.V. Beethoven--Rudolf Serkin:



, Sviatoslav Richter: 



, Emil Gilels: 



, Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli: 



, Youra Guller: 



, Artur Schnabel, Claudio Arrau: 



, Solomon (Cutner): 



, Annie Fischer: 



, Eduardo de Pueyo: 



, Edwin Fischer, Beveridge Webster: 



, Wilhelm Backhaus, Mieczyslaw Horszowski: 



, Bruno Leonardo Gelber: 



, Wilhelm Kempff (esp. his APR & DG mono recordings): 



, Alfred Brendel: 



, Ivo Pogorelich: 



, Michael Korstick: 



 and 



, Maurizio Pollini (esp. his late sonatas & PCs 1 & 2 with Jochum): 



, Ronald Brautigam (period: for his Piano Sonatas 1-32): 



, Claude Frank, Glenn Gould: 



 (though I can find him erratic in Beethoven), Yves Nat, Leon Fleisher, Myra Hess, Zoltan Kocsis, Vladimir Ashkenazy (for his Decca Piano Sonatas 1-32): 



, Radu Lupu: 



, Penelope Crawford (period): 



, Igor Levit: 



, Stephen Bishop Kovacevich (for his superb Philips Bagatelles & 33 Diabellis): 



, Gianluca Cascioli, Andras Schiff (especially for his Piano Concertos 1-5 set in Dresden): 



), Helene Grimaud, Paul Lewis, Angela Hewitt, Richard Goode, and François-Frederic Guy. (I've not heard Stewart Goodyear's Beethoven set.)

Johannes Brahms--Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli: 



, Sviatoslav Richter: 



, Emil Gilels, Rudolf Serkin, Dmitri Bashkirov: 



, Julius Katchen: 



, Walter Gieseking: 



, Dmitri Alexeev: 



, Bruno Leonardo Gelber: 



, Agustin Anievas: 



, Arthur Rubinstein: 



, Andrea Bonatta: 



, Edith Picht-Axenfeld: https://www.allmusic.com/album/edith-picht-axenfelds-last-piano-concert-mw0001846157, Radu Lupu: 



, Glenn Gould: 



, Ivan Moravec: 



, Nelson Freire, Clifford Curzon, Elizabeth Leonskaja: 



, Elizabeth Rich: https://www.allmusic.com/album/brahms-fantasies-klavierstücke-waltzes-mw0002443330, Ivo Janssen, Valery Afanassiev: 



, Ivo Pogorelich: 



, Nicholas Angelich: 



, Krystian Zimerman: 



, Wilhelm Backhaus, Helene Grimaud: 



, and Emmanuel Ax. I've also been impressed by Arthur Jussen's Brahms playing, & hope he'll make some recordings in the future: 



. (I've not heard the cycles by Barry Douglas, Hardy Rittner, Jonathan Plowright, Idil Biret, Gerard Oppitz, Andreas Boyde, & Geoffrey Couteau.)

Frederic Chopin--Francis Planté: judging by the following clip that Planté recorded at aged 89!, it's not difficult to imagine how remarkable his Chopin must have been in his prime: 



, Maryla Jonas: 



, Halina Czerny-Stefanska: 



, Samson François: 



, Moriz Rosenthal, Ignaz Friedman, Raoul Koczalski, Guiomar Novaës: 



, Claudio Arrau (for his Nocturnes & Etudes): 



), Ivan Moravec: 



, Jeanne-Marie Darre: 



, Vladimir Ashkenazy: 



, Agustin Anievas: 



, Nikita Magaloff: 



, Solomon: 



, Mieczyslaw Horszowski, Stefan Askenase: 



, Vladimir de Pachmann, Wilhelm Backhaus: 



, Alfred Cortot: 



, Witold Malcuzynski, Nadia Reissenberg: 



, Arthur Rubinstein, Rosita Renard, Dinu Lipatti, Maria Joao Pires: 



, Tamas Vasary: 



, Emil Gilels, Bella Davidovich: 



, Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Dubravka Tomsic: 



, Janusz Olejniczak: 



, Roland Pontinen, Israela Margalit: 



, François Chaplin: 



, Brigitte Engerer: 



, Maria Tipo: 



, Ivo Janssen: 



, Martha Argerich, Krystian Zimerman, Nelson Freire, Garrick Ohlsson, Arthur Schoonderwoerd (period): 



, Maurizio Pollini, Cyprien Katsaris, Louis Lortie, Bart van Oort (period), Stanislav Bunin, Jean Marc Luisada, Ivo Pogorelich (for his 4 Scherzi recording), Michele Boegners (period), and Janina Fialkowska. (I've not heard Ingrid Fliter.)

Claude Debussy--First, I should begin with the piano roll recordings by Debussy himself: 



, & those pianists that knew & worked with him, as well as those that lived in Paris during his lifetime: George Copeland: 



, Harold Bauer (who Debussy asked to premiere his Children's Corner): 



, Marcel Ciampi: 



, Riccardo Viñes: 



, Gaby Casadesus: 



 (& as part of a piano duo with her husband, Robert Casadesus: 



), Marcelle Meyer: 



, Magda Tagliaferro: 



, Lazare Lévy: 



, & Yvonne Lefébure: 



. And the rest: Monique Haas: 



, Radu Lupu (his Preludes Bk. 1 starts at 40:35: 



), Samson François: 



, Claude Helffer: 



, Zoltan Kocsis: 



, Jacques Fevrier: 



, Claudio Arrau: 



, Ivan Moravec: 



, Michel Beroff: 



, Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (esp. his benchmark recording of the Images Bks. 1 & 2), Livia Rev, Walter Gieseking: 



, Nelson Freire: 



, the Kontarsky Brothers, Noël Lee: 



 (& his duos with Werner Haas: 



, & Christian Ivaldi: 



), Miceal O'Rourke (a student of Marcel Ciampi), Eric Heidsieck (a student of Marcel Ciampi): 



, Françoise Thinat: 



 (& her duo with Jacques Bernier:



), Yvonne Loriod: 



, Michel Dalberto (a student of Vlado Perlemuter): 



, Kathryn Stott (a student of Marcel Ciampi): 



, Jacques Rouvier: 



, Håkon Austbø: 



, Cécille Ousset (a student of Marcel Ciampi): 



, Robert Casadesus, Emil Gilels: 



, Youri Egorov: 



, Philippe Bianconi (a student of Gaby Casadesus): 



, Ivo Janssen: 



, Alain Planes (a student of Jacques Fevrier): 



, François Chaplin: 



, Philippe Cassard (esp. his Etudes, & superb duo with Chaplin): 



), Georges Pludermacher (a student of Jacques Fevrier, & as part of a duo with Jean-François Heisser), Catharine Collard (a student of Yvonne Lefeburé): 



, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Sviatoslav Richter, Paul Jacobs, Dino Ciani, Arthur Schoonderwoerd (period): 



, Florent Boffard: https://www.amazon.com/Piano-Etudes-Books-Op-18/dp/B00005JGJ6, Cedric Tiberghien, Boaz Sharon: 



, Jean-Louis Haguenauer, Roy Howat, Zaidee Parkinson (Preludes Book 2), Nino Gvetadze: 



, Gabriel Tacchino, Michael Korstick, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Grant Johannesen, Michaël Lévinas, Pascal Roge, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Philippe Entremont, Gianluca Cascioli: 



, Alexei Lubimov (period), Bennett Lerner: 



, Maurizio Pollini, Mitsuko Uchida, Krystian Zimerman, Coombs & Scott, Noriko Ogawa, Paul Crossley, & Gordon Fergus-Thompson. (I've not heard Dubravka Tomsic's complete Debussy set, nor Valerie Tryon.)

Composers E-Z to follow...


----------



## Totenfeier (Mar 11, 2016)

Mahler - Mahler.

Trick answer.


----------



## Josquin13 (Nov 7, 2017)

To continue from my previous post above, where I covered composers A-D, here are my pianist rankings for composers F-L (note that I've skipped E, since I don't know George Enescu's piano music well): again, my lists are meant to be delved into & explored on a per composer basis (or maybe two at a time), and obviously not all at once:

Gabriel Faure--Germain Thyssens-Valentin: 



, Magda Tagliaferro (who knew Faure): 



, Vlado Perlemuter (who knew Faure): 



, Kathryn Stott (a complete set: 



), Evelyn Crochet (a complete set: 



), Marguerite Long (who knew Faure), Jean Hubeau (a complete set: 



) Eric Heidsieck: 



, Samson François, Grant Johannesen: 



, Jean Doyen (a complete set: 



), Hannes Minnaar: 



, Jean Philippe Collard (a complete set), Jean-Claude Pennetier (a complete set: 



), Paul Crossley, and Pascal Roge. (I've not heard Michel Dalberto's latest Faure CD.)

Enrique Granados--Granados himself (on piano roll): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4_IofNT7N0; Alicia De Larrocha: who studied with Frank Marshall (1883-1959), who trained with Granados, & taught at the Academia Granados:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LALTbCjfBUo; Eduardo del Pueyo: 



, George Copeland, Michel Block: 



, Luis Fernando Pérez: 



, Rafael Orozco:



, Cristina Ortiz, Joaquin Achucarro: 



, Jean-Marc Luisada.

Edvard Grieg--Grieg himself: 



, Walter Gieseking: 



, Sviatoslav Richter: 



 and 



, Håkon Austbø: 



, Emil Gilels: 



, Andrei Gavrilov: 



, Einar Steen-Nøkleberg:



, Eva Knardahl: 



, Radu Lupu: 



, and Janina Fialkowska: 



.

G.F. Handel--Matthias Kirschnereit (for his 3 brilliant Handel keyboard concerto recordings on CPO, which I'm presently enjoying), Alicia De Larrocha: 



, Sviatoslav Richter: 



, Lisa Smirnova: 



, Andrei Gavrilov: 



, Keith Jarrett: 



, Daria van den Bercken: 



, Murray Perahia: 



, Wilhelm Kempff: 



, Ragna Schirmer: 



, and Eric Heidsieck: 



.

F.J. Haydn--Malcolm Bilson (period): 



, Christine Schornsheim (period): 



, Glenn Gould: 



, Ivo Pogorelich: 



, Alfred Brendel: 



, Vladimir Horowitz: 



, Nadia Reissenberg: 



, Dezso Ranki: 



, John McCabe: 



, Ilse von Alpenheim: 



 and 



, Sviatoslav Richter: 



, Elizabeth Rich, Walter Olbertz: 



, Zoltan Kocsis, Fazil Say: 



, Andras Schiff, Andras Staier (period), Jean-Efflam Bauvouzet: 



, Ronald Brautigam (period), Emmanuel Ax: 



, Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli: 



, Homero Francesch: 



, Einav Yarden: 



, Enrique Bagaria: 



, Gary Cooper (period), Yevgeny Sudbin, Alain Planes: 



, Caspar Frantz, Arthur Balsam, Ekatarina Dershavina, Patrick Cohen, and Marc-Andre Hamelin.

Vagn Holmboe--Anker Blyme: 




Leos Janacek--Josef Pálenícek: 



, Rudolf Firkusny: 



, Ivan Moravec: 



, Jan Panenka: 



, Radoslav Kvapil: 



, Häkon Austbø: 



, Paul Crossley, Andras Schiff, and Klára Würtz.

Charles Koechlin--Michael Korstick: 



, Christoph Keller: 



, Boaz Sharon:



, Herbert Henck: 



, Deborah Richards.

Joonas Kokkonen--Janne Mertanen: 



. I've read that Mieczyslaw Horszowski was an early champion of Kokkonen's solo piano music, and played his 5 Bagatelles, but I've not heard Horszowski play these works, and don't know if a recording exists (?).

Franz Liszt--First, I'll begin with 7 of Liszt's students: Emil von Sauer: 



, Frederic Lamond: 



, José Vianna da Motta: 



, Alexander Siloti: 



, Arthur de Greef: 



, Eugen d'Albert: 



, and Moriz Rosenthal: 



. Gustav Mahler's favorite pianist, Vladimir de Pachmann, was another exceptional Liszt player: 



. And all the rest: Claudio Arrau: 



 (a student of Liszt's favorite last pupil, Martin Krause), Alfred Brendel (a student of Edwin Fischer, who was a pupil of Krause): 



, Lazar Berman: 



, Jorge Bolet: 



, Wilhelm Kempff: 



, Zoltan Kocsis: 



, Nelson Freire: 



, Sviatoslav Richter, Mûza Rubackyté (especially her Annees du Pelegrinage: 



), Jerome Lowenthal: 



, Andrea Bonatta: 



, Louis Lortie (especially his early Chandos recordings: 



, including this exciting, underrated Sonata in B minor performance: https://www.amazon.com/Liszt-Piano-Sonata-Etudes-Concert/dp/B001180SZW ), Vladimir Horowitz, Gyorgy Cziffra, Michael Korstick, Michel Dalberto, André Laplante, Francesco Piemontesi: 



, Vladimir Ovchinnikov: 



, Bertrand Chamayou: 



, Martha Argerich, Andre Watts: 



, Jeffrey Swann, Michele Campanella, & Lisa de la Salle.

Composers M-Z will follow...


----------



## Roger Knox (Jul 19, 2017)

joen_cph said:


> Beethoven[/B]: Sonatas: Yudina, Richter, Gould, Schnabel, Gilels, B.Webster, Levy, Hungerford, Kuerti; probably Robert Goodyear too. ...


That whole list was great! Correction: should be Stewart Goodyear (Canadian pianist).


----------



## BrahmsWasAGreatMelodist (Jan 13, 2019)

@Josquin13: those two posts were probably the best posts I've ever seen on TC (or anywhere on the Internet, tbh). Heroes don't always wear capes.


----------



## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Bulldog said:


> For now, I'll just do Bach:
> 
> 1. Tureck
> 2. Gould
> ...


Thanks for mentioning Daniel Propper, who I hadn't come across before.


----------



## Josquin13 (Nov 7, 2017)

BrahmsWasAGreatMelodist wrote, "@Josquin13: those two posts were probably the best posts I've ever seen on TC (or anywhere on the Internet, tbh). Heroes don't always wear capes."

Thank you so much for your kind words and enthusiastic response. I'm afraid I'm only just now seeing your post from two years ago!! But I very much appreciate what you wrote (& hope you're still out there?). When I drew up those two lists, there wasn't initially much of a response here, so I didn't bother to continue with composers M-Z, as I had intended. Granted, I did list an unusually large & in certain cases possibly daunting number of pianists for the composers covered from A-L. But I also endeavored to rank them in order of preference--per composer, which I had thought would interest pianophiles and potentially prove invaluable to any listener looking to explore a range of piano recordings--from past to present--for each (or any) of the composers mentioned. (Although of course I don't expect that everyone will agree with me regarding the order in which I've placed every pianist. Nor, reading over the lists, do I always entirely agree with myself now two years later, regarding the order of preferences.) Had I seen your enthusiastic response back then, I would have continued on to composers M-Z. So now, maybe I'll finish what I started in 2019, since reading your post has left me more inspired.

Apparently, you, Euler & Enthusiast understood what I was trying to do back then, but I feel that the other readers here--that is, assuming that more than three people actually read the posts!--& especially those newer to the piano repertory, may not have fully realized that those two posts are the summation of my listening to literally hundreds of pianists' recordings over nearly four decades (plus, reading extensive critical reviews): Pianists whose recordings cover a time span from the very earliest phonograph & piano rolls up to the best recordings of the digital era.

Anyway, expect to see a new list for composers M-R in the near future...


----------



## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

Aramis said:


> What? Ashkenazy on Chopin Liszt?


I personally find Ashkenazy could do any composer first-rate. Chopin, Scriabin, Beethoven, Mozart, Prokofiev. I think it comes down to his style really suits me.


----------



## Agamenon (Apr 22, 2019)

Brahmsianhorn said:


> *Albeniz*
> 
> De Larrocha
> 
> ...


:tiphat: I agree with you.

Pollini deserves a place among the finest pianists for Beethoven, Chopin, Debussy and 20th century piano music. You added Pollini for Beethoven and Chopin.
Thank You.


----------



## Eclectic Al (Apr 23, 2020)

Phil loves classical said:


> I personally find Ashkenazy could do any composer first-rate. Chopin, Scriabin, Beethoven, Mozart, Prokofiev. I think it comes down to his style really suits me.


Yeah. I started a thread a while ago about why he seemed to be so little mentioned in recommendations of great performances. I can't remember much about the responses , but very few had much to say against him. I don't think he has ever disappointed me at the keyboard, and he was a pretty good conductor too!


----------



## consuono (Mar 27, 2020)

Brahmsianhorn said:


> Mozart
> 
> E. Fischer
> Schnabel
> ...


At the top of the list for Mozart I'd put Robert Casadesus and Rudolf Serkin.


----------



## EnescuCvartet (Dec 16, 2016)

Sofronitsky is my favorite Scriabin interpretor so naturally, I think he should be included under Scriabin. And I would vote Pollini for Schubert.


----------



## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

The best modern piano solo Mozart I’ve heard, or rather, the most consistently rewarding, is Leon McCawley, though I have to say that I enjoy Peter Donohoe in this stuff very much.

Someone mentioned Edwin Fischer for Mozart, anyone who enjoyed that sort of approach in the concertos should listen to Zoltan Kocsis, he seems to play just like Edwin Fischer to me.


----------



## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

Can't be doing with all this ranking myself. But Radu Lupu playing Schubert is quite wonderful.


----------



## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

*Bach*
Richter
Edwin Fischer
Tureck
Schiff
Perahia
Sokolov

*Haydn*
Derzhavina
Brendel

*Mozart*
Uchida
Pires
Arrau

*Beethoven*
Gilels
Annie Fischer
Schnabel
Moravec
Serkin
Kovacevich

*Schubert*
Lupu
Uchida
Kempff
Richter
Edwin Fischer

*Schumann*
Cortot
Richter
Pires
Anda

*Chopin*
Cortot
Moravec
Lipatti
Arrau
Ohlsson
Friedman
Zimerman

*Liszt*
Cziffra
Arrau
Bolet

*Brahms*
Gilels
Lupu
Gould
Angelich

*Rachmaninoff*
The composer himself
Horowitz
Weissenberg
Richter

*Debussy*
Gieseking
Arrau
Roge
Michelangeli

*Ravel*
Gieseking
Francois
Bavouzet
Argerich

*Prokofiev*
Richter
Raekallio
Toradze

Apologies to Ashkenazy, Pollini, and Rubinstein fans:tiphat:


----------



## milk (Apr 25, 2018)

Bach: 
Demus
MacGregor
Feinberg
Pienaar
Lepauw
Schiff


----------



## milk (Apr 25, 2018)

milk said:


> Bach:
> Demus
> MacGregor (stricken)
> Feinberg
> ...


Upon relistening last night.


----------

