From: vnguyen@husc8.harvard.edu (Vinh Nguyen)
Newsgroups: rec.music.classical
Subject: Re: Reply to Greatest Living Pianist
Date: 11 Dec 92 23:29:21 GMT
Article-I.D.: husc3.1992Dec11.182923.18416
Reply-To: vnguyen@husc8.harvard.edu
Distribution: world
Originator: vnguyen@husc8.harvard.edu

Here're a few more names to drop around:

In article <1992Dec10.191936.18376@husc3.harvard.edu>, 
vnguyen@husc10.harvard.edu (Vinh Nguyen) writes:
> In article <1g5nehINN43d@roundup.crhc.uiuc.edu>,
>  korkosz@uicsl.csl.uiuc.edu (Richard Korkosz) writes:
> 
>> What follows is MY opinion only; no offense is meant to those with 
>> different opinions.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> I agree with Deryk Barker, and second the nomination for 
>> Sviatoslav Richter as the greatest living pianist.  Richter's technique, 
>> interpretations, and general musicianship are of the HIGHEST calibre.  
>> When I listen to Richter's playing, I feel true conviction and 
>> inspiration.  I don't just hear notes being hit, but rather 
>> wonderful colors, tone, and artistry.  Often my experiences 
>> listening to Richter are overwhelming, just pure MUSIC!
>  
> I'll throw my vote in for the one and only Richter as well,
> with perhaps a close second vote (if not a tie -- nah!) for
> Emil Gilels (but alas, Gilels has been long dead!)! 
>  
>> I strongly disagree with Daniel Gottlieb's nomination for Vladimir 
>> Ashkenazy, and really wonder if his appending "end of discussion" 
>> was meant as a joke.  I WOULD agree if the question was not for the 
>> greatest living pianist, but rather for the pianist who made the largest 
>> number of mediocre recordings, and I would include the appendage here.  
>> I used to own lots of Ashkenazy recordings, but I found that nearly all 
>> were outdone (by significant margins) by other pianists, so I've gotten 
>> rid of most of them.  Granted, he has made a few halfway decent recordings, 
>> and he can hit notes, but many of his recordings are just plain BAD.  I 
>> really hate categorizing, but summing up my opinion in general terms, my 
>> impression is that Ashkenazy is an INSTRUMENTALIST, and Richter is an 
>> ARTIST (borrowing terms from a previous poster).
>> 
>> I even think Ashkenazy pales in the face of Martha Argerich, Murray 
>> Perahia, and many others...
>  
> Yes, boos for Ashkenazy whose music making is as faceless and bland
> as cream puffs.  One has to give it to him for versatility without
> personality though!  :-)  
> 
> Ashkenazy would make the third tier of my great pianists lists.
> Off the top of my head (living ones with an *):
> 
> Top tier: *Sviatoslav Richter, Emil Gilels, Rudolf Serkin, Artur
> Rubinstein, Walter Gieseking, Dinu Lipatti, Wilhemn Kempff, 
> 
> Second tier: *Maurizio Pollini, *Murray Perahia, *Krystian Zimmerman,
> *Martha Argerich, *Ivan Moravec, *Daniel Barenboim, *Radu Lupu, 
> Vladimir Horowitz, *Mikhail Pletnev, William Kapell, Clifford Curzon,
> 
> Third tier: *Vladimir Ashkenazy, *Andrei Gavrilov, *Evgeny Kissin,
> *Alfred Brendel, *Stephen Bishop-Kovacevich, *Lazar Berman, 
> Claudio Arrau, Garry Graffman, *Leon Fleisher, *Van Cliburn,
> *Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, *Gyorg Cziffra, *Stephen Hough,
> *(I have a mental block here: A Japanese female pianist, 2nd prize
> in the 1975 Chopin competition, has recorded a wonderful set of
> Mozart Sonatas, a strong set of Mozart concerti, the Chopin Sonatas,
> the Debussy Etudes ...)
Who else but *Mitsuko Uchida! *Richard Goode,
 
> Fourth tier: *Alicia de Laroccha, *Bella Davidovich, *Andras Schiff,
> Leonard Penario, Jorge Bolet, *Michael Ponti, *Tamas Vasary,
> *Minoru Nojima, *Earl Wild, *Shura Cherkassky, *Moura Lympany,
Louis Kentner, Glenn Gould, Wilhemn Bakhaus, 
 
> Fifth tier: *Vladimir Feltsman, *Barry Douglas, *Zoltan Kocsis,
> *Cecile Ousset, *Ivo Pogorelich, *Peter Serkin, *Emanuel Ax,
> *Phillipe Entremont, *Garick Ohlsson, *John Ogdon, *Bernard Roberts,
> *John O'Connor, *Ronald Smith, *Phillip Fowke, *Cecil Licad,
*Arthur Moreira Lima, *Santiago Rodriguez, *Abbey Simon,
*Donna D'Amato, *Aldo Cicolinni, *Michael Block, *Cyprien Katsaris
> 
> Well, that's it for now ....  I'll think about it some more ..... :-)
> 
> 
>> Just my opinion.  Think I'll put some Sviatoslav on and float to heaven...
>  
> Put on his Schubert D960!  
>  
>> Rick Korkosz
>> University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
>> korkosz@uicsl.csl.uiuc.edu