50 Greatest Pianists

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  • Sir Velo
    Full Member
    • Oct 2012
    • 3225

    50 Greatest Pianists

    Peter Donohoe's list of the 50 Greatest Pianists,which has been broadcast on Breakfast has finally culminated, with the list as follows:

    John Ogdon Monday, September 17
    Clifford Curzon Tuesday, September 18
    Murray Perahia Wednesday, September 19
    Bernard Roberts Thursday, September 20
    Benjamin Britten Friday, September 21
    Ferrucio Busoni and Egon Petrie Saturday, September 22
    Solomon Cutner Sunday, September 23
    Yvonne Loriod Monday, September 24
    Alexander Brailowsky Tuesday, September 25
    Anne Quefelec Wednesday, September 26
    Walter Gieseking Thursday, September 27
    Alfred Cortot Friday, September 28
    Manana Dodjashvili and Mannahem Pressler Saturday, September 29
    Halina Czerny-Stefanska Sunday, September 30
    Wilhelm Backhaus Monday, October 1
    Radu Lupu Tuesday, October 2
    Zoltan Kocsis Wednesday, October 3
    Ingrid Haebler Thursday, October 4
    Geza Anda Friday, October 5
    Vladimir Ashkenazy Saturday, October 6
    Alfred Brendel and Wilhelm Kempff Sunday, October 7
    Art Tatum Monday, October 8
    Anton Kuerti Tuesday, October 9
    Richard Goode Wednesday, October 10
    Fou Ts'ong Thursday, October 11
    Gabriela Montero Friday, October 12
    Rudolf and Peter Serkin Saturday, October 13
    Glenn Gould Sunday, October 14
    Sequiera Costa Monday, October 15
    Maurizio Pollini Tuesday, October 16
    Daniel Barenboim Wednesday, October 17
    Martha Argerich Thursday, October 18
    Arthur Rubinstein Friday, October 19
    Lang Lang and Oscar Peterson Saturday, October 20
    Sergei Rachmaninov Sunday, October 21
    Sviatoslav Richter and Emil Gilels Monday, October 22
    Evgeny Kissin Tuesday, October 23
    Lazar Berman Wednesday, October 24
    Alexander Melnikov and Daniil Trifonov Thursday, October 25
    Valentina Lititsa Friday, October 26
    Béla Bartók and Annie Fisher Saturday, October 27
    Dinu Lipatti

    What do boarders make of it? Who are the glaring omissions and who are the surprising inclusions? I,for one, am surprised that neither Krystian Zimerman nor Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli could merit a place!
  • Bryn
    Banned
    • Mar 2007
    • 24688

    #2
    The most glaring omission, as far as I am concerned, is David Tudor, but I doubt Donohoe is that familiar with the territory he trod. I would drop Benjamin Britten from the list to make room for Tudor.

    Comment

    • Tony Halstead
      Full Member
      • Nov 2010
      • 1717

      #3
      Vladimir Horowitz?
      Earl Wild?

      Comment

      • amateur51

        #4
        When the Radio 3 breakfast series was being broadcast, poor Peter Donohoe's list was entitled '50 Great Pianists' and it was made clear that this was a personal list.

        Has the title now been changed to 'Greatest'?

        Comment

        • teamsaint
          Full Member
          • Nov 2010
          • 25195

          #5
          When do we start voting people off.....??
          I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own.

          I am not a number, I am a free man.

          Comment

          • Old Grumpy
            Full Member
            • Jan 2011
            • 3600

            #6
            Originally posted by amateur51 View Post
            When the Radio 3 breakfast series was being broadcast, poor Peter Donohoe's list was entitled '50 Great Pianists' and it was made clear that this was a personal list.

            Has the title now been changed to 'Greatest'?
            Apparently not:

            Peter Donohoe's Fifty Great Pianists

            The much loved international concert pianist, Peter Donohoe, has had the advantage of observing piano playing at first hand from all corners of the world. On Radio 3’s Breakfast show throughout the Piano Season on the BBC, he presents his choice of Fifty Great Pianists from past and present.
            (from the Breakfast webpage)

            OG

            Comment

            • Eine Alpensinfonie
              Host
              • Nov 2010
              • 20570

              #7
              Wasn't Franz Liszt supposed to be rather good too?

              Comment

              • amateur51

                #8
                Originally posted by Old Grumpy View Post
                Apparently not:



                (from the Breakfast webpage)

                OG
                Cheers Old Grumpy

                Comment

                • salymap
                  Late member
                  • Nov 2010
                  • 5969

                  #9
                  Benno Moiseiwitsch ?

                  Arthur Schnabel ?

                  Comment

                  • rauschwerk
                    Full Member
                    • Nov 2010
                    • 1480

                    #10
                    This list interests me in that it might encourage me to seek out the work of pianists I have never heard. I heard Rach 1 played by Sequeira Costa (didn't know who was playing until the back announcement) and was very little impressed. However, I would like to try recordings by Brailowsky, Dodjashvili, Kuerti, Montero, Melnikov and Lititsa.

                    As far as I am concerned, Benjamin Britten deserves his place as one of the very greatest accompanists ever.

                    Comment

                    • Nick Armstrong
                      Host
                      • Nov 2010
                      • 26523

                      #11
                      Originally posted by amateur51 View Post
                      When the Radio 3 breakfast series was being broadcast, poor Peter Donohoe's list was entitled '50 Great Pianists' and it was made clear that this was a personal list.

                      Has the title now been changed to 'Greatest'?

                      Yes - in the title of the thread. Not that the present game isn't interesting, but it rather changes the game from the one Donohoe was actually asked to play by the BBC, to be fair to him. As it says on his website:

                      "Choosing the pianists has been very rewarding, Peter's only regret is that he is limited to only fifty! The title of the series is "Fifty Great Pianists" - not "Fifty Greatest Pianists". I.E. This collection does not represent Peter's complete list of favourite pianists; there are many more whom he would like to have included. Neither does it represent an order of preference in any way at all. These artists - some internationally famous and some less well-known - are simply great pianists in many different ways..."



                      Originally posted by Bryn View Post
                      David Tudor
                      A new name to me. Care to sketch in why you rate him so highly, with some suggestions as to how best one might follow-up?
                      "...the isle is full of noises,
                      Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
                      Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
                      Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices..."

                      Comment

                      • EdgeleyRob
                        Guest
                        • Nov 2010
                        • 12180

                        #12
                        Originally posted by Eine Alpensinfonie View Post
                        Wasn't Franz Liszt supposed to be rather good too?
                        Chales Valentin Alkan could play a bit too I believe.

                        Geoffrey Tozer.
                        Piers Lane.
                        Kathryn Stott.

                        Comment

                        • Bryn
                          Banned
                          • Mar 2007
                          • 24688

                          #13
                          Originally posted by Caliban View Post

                          Yes - in the title of the thread. Not that the present game isn't interesting, but it rather changes the game from the one Donohoe was actually asked to play by the BBC, to be fair to him. As it says on his website:

                          "Choosing the pianists has been very rewarding, Peter's only regret is that he is limited to only fifty! The title of the series is "Fifty Great Pianists" - not "Fifty Greatest Pianists". I.E. This collection does not represent Peter's complete list of favourite pianists; there are many more whom he would like to have included. Neither does it represent an order of preference in any way at all. These artists - some internationally famous and some less well-known - are simply great pianists in many different ways..."




                          A new name to me. Care to sketch in why you rate him so highly, with some suggestions as to how best one might follow-up?
                          It will be hard for anyone who is used to watching the Merce Cunningham Dance Company to imagine it without the musician David Tudor. Though he had a career before and apart from the formation of the Cunningham company, he was not only, in 1953, one of the founding fathers of this, one of the most absorbingly radical artistic endeavours of the century, he was one of its leading practitioners right up to 1994. Ill-health obliged him to retire late in that year.





                          I recall the Almeida Music Festival in 1983 when Tudor played Cage's Solo for Piano, and Variations II. The pianist 'Blue' Gene Tyranny also played in the festival, and chatting with him after his performance he commented on how terrified he felt, playing in Tudor's presence. He said it felt like taking his finals with his professor standing behind him looking over his shoulder. Tudor's pianism is legendary among aficionados of new music. A true pianists' pianist.
                          Last edited by Bryn; 04-11-12, 13:24.

                          Comment

                          • ferneyhoughgeliebte
                            Gone fishin'
                            • Sep 2011
                            • 30163

                            #14
                            Originally posted by Eine Alpensinfonie View Post
                            Wasn't Franz Liszt supposed to be rather good too?
                            Not easily demonstrated on a CD broadcast, though.
                            [FONT=Comic Sans MS][I][B]Numquam Satis![/B][/I][/FONT]

                            Comment

                            • Eine Alpensinfonie
                              Host
                              • Nov 2010
                              • 20570

                              #15
                              Originally posted by ferneyhoughgeliebte View Post
                              Not easily demonstrated on a CD broadcast, though.
                              No, but the selection does remind me of those surveys, such as the most beautiful woman of all time. In the 60s, Elizabeth Taylor came top, whilst in the late 1990s, Kate Winslet was the winner. Similarly, the greatest song of all time was "Hey Jude"

                              Comment

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