That Gilels is one of the most stunning recordings I’ve ever heard.
In terms of pure virtuosity is might be unmatched.
For Horowitz the recordings I always come back to are the Paganini etudes, liebesbotschaft, Chopin 10-8, Liszt sonata from the 30s. Also the op 72 nocturne he played at his Silver Jubilee concert, which is probably my favourite nocturne recording.
The 68 Rachmaninoff Sonata 2 is the one where he breaks a string right? I love that performance too.
For Lipatti everything he played at his last recital.
I think this is my favourite live performance. Everything is amazing but if I had to pick out a few items, the third movement of the Mozart A minor sonata, the A flat waltz op 42 and the Schubert Gflat impromptu.
For Hofmann my favourites are the chopin nocturne op 9/3, Military Polonaise, debussy clair de lune, Liszt Erlkonig and Rubinstein concerti (both 3rd and 4th).
For Friedman, as heretical as it may sound, that nocturne isn’t one of my favourites. As a matter of fact, it isn’t even amongst my favourite nocturne performances (Hofmann and Horowitz mentioned above, and Freire’s op 27/1 which I saw him do live). My favourite Friedman recs are the two recordings of the A flat ballade, the way he plays the ascending scales towards the end is incredible, and I’ve never heard anyone else play them like that. I also really love his op 67/3 mazurka. It’s a really idiosyncratic performance with an extremely accented rhythm but I think it’s my favourite mazurka recording.
For Richter it’s probably too hard to pick a favourite. One which I don’t think anyone can touch is his Wilde Jagd. Never heard anything like it.
It’s interesting you choose Horowitz and Godowsky for the E major scherzo. My favourite is Earl Wild. No one does it for me like him, especially in the middle section…
I’ll have a think and post more later.
Also the Friedman Ab major Chopin Polonaise is a great one. Sloppy? Sure, but it is sloppy because he is going for that overdotted rhythm and playing in an epic manner at all costs.
Massive respect.
Richter night moths from the murky recs
Da ho 1980 second sonata ending / scrab 5th sonata
Ignaz friedman ventian boat soag I just can’t hear this piece without the big
thump into the melody sorta like moiseiwitsch hesitation in the 16th prelude
hofmann caprice espagnole
lhevinne thirds etude
sofronitsky flames sombres
muza rubackyte Scarlatti k162 if only because I heard it once then promptly lost the CD but still think about it randomly on bipolar days…
That’s one of my favourites too.
I actually used to really like Mei-Ting Sun’s rec (now there’s a mofo I haven’t heard of since the 2010 Chopin comp).
I remember e60m5 saying how he liked that one even better than Bolet.
I wouldn’t go that far but I remember he did a piano subito that I thought was a nice touch.
Lhevinne 3rds etude
Ho Schumann Toccata
Zim Totentanz
Lupu Schubert d845
Pires Nocturnes
Bolet Tannhauser & Widmung
Thyssen-Valentin anything Faure
Katchen Brahms Hungarian Dances (The first rec I heard of him and it and got me onto the whole set)
Rach/Kreisler Grieg cmin sonata
