NRR: Who are your top three concert pianists from the last 100 years?

Van Cliburn

Elton John

Billy Joel

Keith Emerson

1. Jerry Lee Lewis

2. Mickey Gilley

3. Ronnie Milsap

End of thread.

No love for Liberace?

Surely the most $ successful ivory tinkler ever.

Give a listen to the title track of Meat Loaf's 1977 classic album "Bat out of Hell" and I think you'll agree that a certain "Professor" Roy Bittan deserves to be on this list!

Yundi Li? Come on. The guy is a recitalists/pop piano show off. At least Lang Lang has a strong list of major concerti performed with top orchestras.

Ummm, ever heard of Glen Gould?

You really have to divide the category into modern era (1960-present) and old school (1910-60).

Old School:

1. Horowitz

2. Richter

3. Schnabel

Modern Era:

1. Glen Gould (has a foot in both eras)

2. The conductors: Barenboim, Ashkenazy and Eschenbach

3. Peter Serkin (for boldly playing challenging new music at a time when many greats are playing Mozart night after night to protect their hands from wear and tear)

What about Richard Clayderman???

Seriously, I like what Precious Roy said.

Rudolf Firkusny

I would HARDLY call Yundi Li a "recitalists/pop piano show off"; he was the YOUNGEST EVER to have won the Chopin competition (a massive accomplishment alone!). In fact, I find it downright ironic that you would characterize Li in such a way when Lang Lang is clearly the media darling, and one who I think has much less talent (that being said, both are obviously terrific - but if we're talking master class here...)

I am indeed familiar with all the pianists you have listed. Gould is fantastic. It does not mean he was in my top three. That's kind of why I asked others, you know - to get a DIFFERENT perspective.

Have a good one.

Chopin #1 wrote:

I would HARDLY call Yundi Li a "recitalists/pop piano show off"; he was the YOUNGEST EVER to have won the Chopin competition (a massive accomplishment alone!). In fact, I find it downright ironic that you would characterize Li in such a way when Lang Lang is clearly the media darling, and one who I think has much less talent (that being said, both are obviously terrific - but if we're talking master class here...)

I am indeed familiar with all the pianists you have listed. Gould is fantastic. It does not mean he was in my top three. That's kind of why I asked others, you know - to get a DIFFERENT perspective.

Have a good one.

Yundi Li spends the majority of his time playing safe little Chopin pieces in recital. After a short florish of orchestra engagements, he went back to doing Chopin recitals and has not expanded his repertoire beyond a small handful of concerti. His only major orchestra appearance this year is with San Francisco. He has never played with NY, Chicago, Cleveland, Concertgebouw, Vienna, and so on. Just because he is good at Chopin and won a competition at an unprecedented age does not put him in the top 3 for a century, much less the top 500. He has a long way to go before he is worthy of such praise.

richter

/end thread

1. Horowitz

2. Ervin Nyiregyházi

3. Li

dude, if you haven't heard keith jarrett playing jazz-inflected handel, you have not heard classical music, and bill evans's heroin-laced solo sessions in berkeley around 1960 are incomparable. to me, no one has ever played bach like glenn gould, and among contemporaries, technical virtuosity is greater than ever before, but lang lang and the elusive ivo pogorelic have a combination of musicality and technical skill that are unmatched.

Shaun Tirrell:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ghx0Xcp2Qg

My old roommate at the Adidas running camp and a Connecticut high school cross country standout.

Richter

Rudolph Serkin

Horowitz

Gould, Kissin, Ax, Peter Serkin and Helen Grimaud get honorable mentions.

This guy for sure:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNQj4OBI-tg

Interesting choices. Here are three more:

Vladimir Ashkenazy

Maurizio Pollini (since this is a Chopin thread, no?); and

Martha Argerich (only heard the CDs, but seemingly a complete virtuoso in concert).

Good god, how could I have forgotten Argerich???!! I guess I'd bump her to my top three and Horowitz falls to H. M.

I like Pollini, but many think he's all fireworks and no substance. I'm NOT an Ashkenazy fan.

True, as a Chopin thread, it probably should be Horowitz, Kissin, and Rubenstein (although he may violate the 100 year limit - I can't remember his dates off the top of my head and don't feel like looking them up).....but critiquing a pianist on just their Chopin is very one dimensional.

Floyd Cramer

Horst Jankowski

Hargus Robbins