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As for favorite pianist......I don't have one - neither do I have a favorite composer. Way too limiting - and life is too short !!
I I think it's only limiting if one thinks having a favorite or favorites means one can only listen to that pianist. But no one said anything about that. Why do you think it's limiting?
folks, think of the question as tho you were sitting around the living room with your friends playing a game in which you had to write down an answer, and have some fun with it.
the problem with serious music is that it's taken too seriously. :-)
I sometimes find when I hear people say things such as, "I don't have a favorite...It is limiting" to be a bit off putting, and most of the time, pseudo intellectual. I mean, how much you wanna bet some recordings are listened to more then others, but it is whatever, to each their own.
Personally I love the recordings from Murray Perahia, his since of control is amazing. I have greatly enjoyed his discs of Bach, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Mozart and Chopin.
A close second for me is the recordings of Daniel Barenboim, just some of the twists he takes with the music can be breathtaking. And his sense of timing with rubato is just perfect.
I do enjoy all sorts of pianists and just heard this which I thoroughly enjoyed.
[...]
It's good that many of us can enjoy many different types of music, as I do, within limits, but this performance was beyond the pale, for me. Nothing but clunk, clunk, clunk! No expression, no sense of line; absolutely static and heavy!
I ask everyone who criticises a musician whether they can play or play better. You obviously can play or you wouldn't be here. I liked the melody to this video.
In my earlier stages of playing, I played for someone who pulled me to pieces and that someone did not have any musical training and so I thought to myself what right do they have to criticise me and tell me I was playing it wrong when they cannot follow a score. They said that the particular piece was played in the wrong rythum and they told me they have heard it played at concerts but not played in my way. I therefore showed them the score and showed them at the bottom where it said arranged by.... I then pointed out that people take traditional music and re-arrange them slightly and I was playing it perfectly for that such arrangement. It may not be the origial arrangemet but it was as it was and I played it as such.
Given a choice, I will listen to Martha Argerich play absolutely anything. Most pianists have their strengths and weaknesses; she always finds a way to win me over no matter what the repertoire.
As for favorite pianist......I don't have one - neither do I have a favorite composer. Way too limiting - and life is too short !!
I I think it's only limiting if one thinks having a favorite or favorites means one can only listen to that pianist. But no one said anything about that. Why do you think it's limiting?
I sometimes find when I hear people say things such as, "I don't have a favorite...It is limiting" to be a bit off putting, and most of the time, pseudo intellectual. I mean, how much you wanna bet some recordings are listened to more then others, but it is whatever, to each their own.
Perhaps I simply should have said, "I don't have a favorite"....period.
And I really don't.
On the other hand, I can think of at least ten well-known pianists who I always enjoy listening to....
As for favorite pianist......I don't have one - neither do I have a favorite composer. Way too limiting - and life is too short !!
I I think it's only limiting if one thinks having a favorite or favorites means one can only listen to that pianist. But no one said anything about that. Why do you think it's limiting?
Gee, I dunno.........
Sarcasm is not convincing. I guess you don't know.
I guess that the suggestion - if not the original intent - is read by some to mean "one and only," which, of course, is probably not the case. In that case, the choice would be limiting.
I think we all have a number of pianists (violinists, opera/lieder singers, bagpipe-players (?!)) whom we prefer over others for different reasons. I think some of us will prefer one musician in one genre or period of music and another in another period or genre.
I think many of us, too, like to hear different musicians in the same genre or period, even in the same works. Each performer - of significant professional standing, presumably - brings to a work something of him/herself and something of all those who have brought that musician to where s/he is at the time of performance.
These would be the reasons that I would list for not being able to come up with my "favourite pianist."
I guess that the suggestion - if not the original intent - is read by some to mean "one and only," which, of course, is probably not the case. In that case, the choice would be limiting.
I think we all have a number of pianists (violinists, opera/lieder singers, bagpipe-players (?!)) whom we prefer over others for different reasons. I think some of us will prefer one musician in one genre or period of music and another in another period or genre.
I think many of us, too, like to hear different musicians in the same genre or period, even in the same works. Each performer - of significant professional standing, presumably - brings to a work something of him/herself and something of all those who have brought that musician to where s/he is at the time of performance.
These would be the reasons that I would list for not being able to come up with my "favourite pianist."
I sometimes find when I hear people say things such as, "I don't have a favorite...It is limiting" to be a bit off putting, and most of the time, pseudo intellectual. I mean, how much you wanna bet some recordings are listened to more then others, but it is whatever, to each their own.
What's "pseudo-intellectual" about actually thinking?
The OP asked for one favorite pianist and I don't have one, and further, I don't want to have just one, because it is limiting. I shouldn't have to explain why; it should be obvious. At any rate, it would never even occur to me to think that way. There are dozens of pianists that I admire greatly, and hundreds or even thousands of particular recordings I think are wonderful. What's the point of attempting to rank and rate them?
As for favorite pianist......I don't have one - neither do I have a favorite composer. Way too limiting - and life is too short !!
I think it's only limiting if one thinks having a favorite or favorites means one can only listen to that pianist. But no one said anything about that. Why do you think it's limiting?
Gee, I dunno.........
Sarcasm is not convincing. I guess you don't know.
Apparently not.
But you're correct -- no one said anything about that -- and it certainly never crossed my mind.
Ruth Slenczynska (I think it is pronounced "Slenchinska") is a fantastic pianist. She recorded some great versions of Chopin's Polonaises. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Slenczynska
Ruth Slenczynska (I think it is pronounced "Slenchinska") is a fantastic pianist. She recorded some great versions of Chopin's Polonaises. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Slenczynska
i would see her almost every day in the music department at SIUE, where she was artist in residence.
You really can't go wrong with Gilels, especially if you listen to his earlier, live performances. The contrast between his live performances and his studio recordings (I'm thinking of Prokofiev's 8th sonata) is unbelievable. The amount of electricity in those recordings compared to Horowitz is like comparing a power generator to an AA battery..
Working on: Chopin - Nocturne op. 48 no.1 Debussy - Images Book II