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Another artist from a younger generation whose technique and musicianship are equally astounding and who does not seem to be well known at all is the Ukrainian pianist Vitaly Pisarenko. Being a winner of the International Franz Liszt Competition, his Liszt recordings (Tarantella, Dante Sonata etc.) are, of course, well worth listening to and watching. But here he is with two pieces by Ravel:
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Alicia De Larrocha
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jinlanchen I find Alicia De Larrocha so unparalleled with the Spanish repetoire, eg:
Albeniz. Her rhythm and coloring is just so perfect!
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Tommytone 100% agreed - after all these decades, her "Iberia" and "Goyescas" are still reference recordings on which other performances are measured.
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Tommytone Absolutely!
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Alexander Weymann
According to Barenboim, Esteban SĂĄnchez's recodingof Iberia is the top recording for him. An incredible pianist from Spain that never really chased an international career.
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Jo thank you! I had never heard of him but was just now able to snatch a 3-CD-box with his Albéniz recordings on Amazon, for a bargain price!
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Alexander Weymann That is a great catch, i hope you enjoy those recordings as much as i do. I also recommend his Falla, Turina .... also found his Fauré album on yt, from 1972.
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The ones I am always listening to are Boris Giltburg and Irina Lankova.
https://youtu.be/_wgTGwlOzTc-
Vidhya Bashyam Boris Giltburg is totally amazing; he definitely is among my top favorites!
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Radu lupu and Jao Pires
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Susan I saw Radu Lupu perform with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (the 2nd oldest symphony orchestra in the nation...yes, NY Philharmonic is first), and it was quite interesting to observe his body language. His robust and somewhat rotund frame sat down at the piano rather nonchalantly. Then, as if a fire was lit, when it was "his time" - he took off! Soaring. Only later did I learn how sick he used to be before concerts at times. Because of his nerves. There was no hint of nerves when I saw him in person. Perhaps he had conquered/overcome the nervousness by then. He gave a wonderful performance.
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Susan I second your nomination of Maria Joao Pires! there's a lovely video (actually, in two parts) of her teaching a masterclass at her home: pt 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wt44_q73SGs pt 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iu1aWSCMPTA
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Vicky Brandt Thank you thankyou Vicky! I've just watched one and it is so delightful. I laughed, and learned. She's so emotionally direct- it's quite unique. I am grateful you posted the suggestion and grateful to Tonebase for the platform!
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Nelson Freire Iâm not sure why he wasnât more famous. Guess he didnât travel as much as other great pianist. He passed around a year ago.
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O.K., one more and then I promise I'll shut up: This may be the place and the time to point out, for those who may not have followed closely the XVII Tchaikovsky Competition, its freshly crowned winner (1st Prize and Gold Medal) in the category piano - Sergey Davydchenko. As of today, he still belongs to the "pianists more people should know about", but he likely won't remain in that group for much longer.
Here is one of his performances from the first round, Rachmaninoff's Ătude-Tableau Op. 39 No. 9. Who knew that this piece could be played with a clear, crisp sonority and with breathing, sweeping melodic arcs (instead of just pompous and clangorous, the way it's so often heard)?
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Cecile Licad. One of the great prodigies of our generation. Orchestral debut age 7 Moved to US age 12 to study at Curtis with Serkin, Lipkin, Horszowski. Leventritt winner age 20. Played with all the great conductors- Solti, Abbado, Guilini, Previn, Ozawa, Maazel. Played Tchaikovsky concerto for nationwide TV audience with Solti age 21
and also for nationwide audience when Serkin won the Kennedy Center award. Recently recorded multiple CDs of American composers (check out her Gottschalk CD) She lives in NY and plays at special concert venues.-
geraldw I was still a teenager when she played the 2nd Saint-Saëns concerto in my hometown of Hamburg, Germany, in the late 1980s. It was a triumph, and people were flocking to the record stores (we had record stores in those days) to buy her recording of the piece. I also own a wonderful Schumann CD of her playing the "Carnaval", the "Papillons", and the Toccata.
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Alexander Weymann Alexander Weymann
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Alexander Weymann Sounds like an amazing experience. I heard her do the same concerto just a few years ago in Connecticut- I guess some 30 plus years after you heard it. Was astonishingly wonderful
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Erwin Schulhoff - 8 June 1894 â 18 August 1942 (48 yrs.):
https://www.dominiccheli.com/recovered-voices-1/v/sonata-for-violin-and-piano-no-2-wv91
Sophie Menter - 29 July 1846 â 23 February 1918 (71 yrs.)
http://www.19thcenturyphotos.com/Sophie-Menter-125585.htm
I first heard about her from Dominic in one of his Tonebase lessons. Liszt called her "my only piano daughter."
Cecil Chaminade - 8 August 1857 â 13 April 1944 (86 yrs.)
I also first heard of this fascinating pianist and composer on Tonebase.
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I have to put in a good word for my all-time favorite pianist, Constance Keene (1921-2005). She did not record an awful lot but what she has out there is just impossibly beautiful, moving & breathtaking.
Here is what Rubinstein himself said about her recording of the Rachmaninoff Preludes [which is my all-time favorite classical record ]:
"I cannot imagine anybody, including Rachmaninoff himself, playing the preludes more beautifully. I was flabbergasted by the fantastic sweep, color, tone and last but not least, the incredible technique. "
Well said, Artur! She did not have a big stage career, but was well known to the pianists of her generation.. She taught at the Manhattan School and I noticed she was the teacher of Tonebase's own Magdalena Stern-Bazcewska (lucky lady!). Among her other students was Peter Nero,, who himself is a fantastic player with an incredible technique, though you'd never know it from his heavily-orchestrated pop music hit records. I have an amazing 1950's recording of him playing a jazz version of Cole Porter's "It's Alright with Me", with his left hand playing the running riff from Appasionata Mvt. III as an accompaniment. I've always wondered whether he worked with Ms. Keene on any of that kind of stuff.
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Peter Golemme Here are a couple of YouTube links to Constance Keene's playing:
Chopin Preludes!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKt6DwEgUEY
Liszt Two Concert Ătudes "Waldesrauschen" (Forest Murmurs) and "Gnomenreigen" (Dance of the Gnomes): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qnBs5joihY
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Peter Golemme thank you so much - what a discovery! I had never heard of her, but I absolutely love what I've heard on YouTube so far, for example her Mendelssohn "Rondo Capriccioso":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdItaJ7dpL0
David Dubal interviewed her in 1980 (see below), and sure enough, I just found that he did devote a short but laudatory paragraph to her in his book.
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Peter Golemme Thanks for introducing her to me. Just listened to her Chopin Preludes. What beautiful tone! Loved it!
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