Who is the "super duper" of the living super virtuoso classical pianists?

There are many pianists that currently are given this title. However, the "super duper" of the them all is IMHO Marc Andre Hamelin. His recordings are amazing and many pianists would not even attempt to record some of the pieces he has eaten alive.

Do you think any living pianist can top him?

 

Easy!
Evgeny Kissin

 

Too bad Bill Evans has passed away.

I do not know if these folks top your pick, but I will buy any cd I see from them when haunting my used record shops:

Of the living, maybe Dave Brubeck. For strictly classical, Argerich, Moravec, Pollini, or Uchida would top my list.

 

I reccomend you take a listen to Leif Ove Andsnes if you're after amazing touch and dynamics in the performance more than a short lived "wow.. that man plays his socks off!"

 

I have to agree with dutchmanx. There are some, that rival him on certain recordings, but overall he just has that element of super stardom planted inside and it is Live, where you can witness it best..

 

Hamelin or Volodos.

 

Volodos possibly but has not shown it on recordings.

 

Kissin's are the only concerts at Carnegie Hall where I have seen teams of professional scalpers working the crowd trying to buy/sell tickets, just like at a hot rock concert.

 

I forgot to mention Berezovsky. Monster technique, watch his Legato DVD for proof. Playing the Llewellyn piece. Incredible.

 

Are we talking star power or musicianship? Live or on recordings? Young risers or long standing torch bearers?
For oldish, I'm going with Daniel Barenboim as one who has star power, can fill a hall and has a lot of good recordings. For youngish probably Kissin.

 

Musicianship and difficulty of pieces recorded. No one can top Hamelin when it comes to difficulty of repertoire. Forget star power. Sure Lang Lang is a "star" but he can't touch Marc Andre Hamelin and I bet he would admit it.

 

He is a monster. His recording of Night on Bald Mountain is insane.

 

If you are in the market for Berezovsky on CD, check out his 2006 recording of Khachaturian's Piano Concerto (coupled with a blase performance of Tchaikovsky PC 1) for Warner Classics. Excellent, and the only version I need. Just received his latest, a Liszt recital for the Mirare label out of France. Magnifique! One of the few pianists of whom I'll buy anything they put out. Hamelin and Aimard are two others.

 

I had a copy of the Liszt recital and it would not play in my DVD unit!

 

Nice Rose RB!

So if I wanted to get into Marc Andre Hamelin, what is the best recording to get? My preference, in order of desire, is:
blu-ray with hi-rez surround
SACD 5.1 or DVD-a 5.1
SACD or DVD-a 2.0
Well cut Vinyl
HDCD
Properly mastered CD

Where do you recommend I start? Should be fun,

ccm

 

Old Lions: Pollini, Charles Rosen (although I think he may have semi-retired from performing)
Young Lions: Pierre Laurent Aimard

 

Old Lions: brendel, perrahia, freire
Young Lions: Pierre Laurent Aimard

 

How can Pierre Laurent-Aimard be considered a YOUNG LION when he is 52 years old??

 

we are talking about classical music here... brahms wrote his first symphony when he was 43...

 

I am a complete layman on every front in classical music, and I have never heard 9 out of 10 of the names mentionned here. But I hereby humbly present the candidacy of Louise Bessette. I see on Amazon.com that she has already done several recordings. I have only heard one of these, Messiaen's Vingt regards sur l'enfant Jésus, on the ATMA Classique label (2003), and I had also heard her doing this full cycle live in concert a little while before that, in Montreal. What I am getting at is that I'd be willing to bet that anyone who can play that piece that good can play anything within any old league!

 

Here is one to start with. It is not Sacd but is just awesome. His Brahms Concerto #2 is on Hyperion and is SACD. It sounds great. Have fun.!

 

Yeah. He has been around for a while. Great player BTW.

 

Don't know much about classical music...

But where does Lang Lang fit in all this...?

 

I will assume we're talking greatness, not necessarily, or excluding, popularity.

I think we're living in an age of great pianists. There are so many. But, I definitely prefer poets to pounders.

Moravec is as good as I've ever seen. I also admire Michel Block, who brings out the sensitivity in Beethoven, all but missing since his (Beethoven's) brutish film depiction.

In the young lion camp, I enjoy Kemal Gekic and Frederic Chiu. Both are able to play hard and fast, but still retain know their way around the time signature and occasionally notice a pianissimo score marking.

Cuban pianist Horacio Gutierrez made some great recordings, although I've never seen him play live, I'd sure like to given what I've heard on record.

Jeno Jando might be considered too generic due to his prodigious output for Naxos, but many of his recordings are first in their class.

 

Lang Lang is definitely a love-hate artist in classical circles. He's certainly considered a talented, competent, even athletic pianist. His big facial expressions (critics sometimes say "mugging") are definitely attention-getting. Is it fair to say he's almost a modern-day Liberace? Certainly he has a different personal image. Keep in mind, Liberace was a talented pianist.

I like his ability to bring classical music to a wider group of fans. I have a few of his recordings. I wouldn't say any are my first-choices, but they are well-played. To a casual listener, they could be considered first class. Oddly enough, my biggest disappointment with Lang Lang is not him but Deutsche Gramophone's sound quality, which is almost never first-rate. Classical music suffers from oppressive academicism, and false upper-class snobbery that takes all the fun out of music. Lang Lang puts it back in.