Da Jal was randomly the first mofo to tell da TM to calm down with his psychosis.
Clearly a very perspicacious mofo 
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- Feinberg
- Gieseking
- Gould
- Pogorelich (English Suites 2 & 3)
- David Fray
- Gavrilov
- Evgeni Kor0liov
Top 10 Bach pianists:
- Sokolov
- Sokolov
- Sokolov
- Sokolov
- Feinberg
- Sokolov
- Sokolov
- Pogorelich
- Argerich
- Sokolov
Top 5 WTCs
- Richter Melodiya/Eurodisc (Book I) & Sokolov Bellinzona/Rome/Birmingham (Book II)
- Feinberg CCCP (both)
- Fischer HMV (both)
- Sokolov Milan/Munich/Milan (Book I) & Richter Melodiya/Eurodisc (Book II)
- Schiff NYC 2012 (Book I) & Stockholm 2014 (Book II)
Many wildcards here since I find the first two selections so superior that I rarely listen to anything else. I donāt recall how either Gieseking or Yudina sound at all for instance.
Top 5 Goldbergs
- Schiff Neumarkt 1990
- Rana Montpellier 2016
- Schiff Vienna 1985
- Babayan Verbier 2014
- Schiff NYC 2013
Bonus: Top 2 Art of the Fugues
- Sokolov Melodiya
- Lifschitz Orfeo
If I were to update my list, I would maybe take Sokolov off entirely, Interesting doesnāt make up for tasteless playing. IMO
Gould also has mostly dropped off my radar. Iād put Gieseking in his place.
Hmm, I really like Sokolov in Bach that requires a strong dance rhythm like the Italian concerto.
I think Fiorentino is still my favourite Bach in general.
Of young pianists I really love Edna Stern and David Fray.
Grosvenor played a fantastic 5th French Suite on the weekend too; strong dance rhythm, great polyphonic control and beautiful expression in the Sarabande.
wow I never thought I would see the word tasteless linked to Sokolov. Pogorelich, Mustonen, Afanassiev, YW, of course. But Sokolov? It just shows how varied opinions can be. Have you heard him in recital?
The only negative thing I can find to say about Sokolovās Bach is that he has a tendency to become static and overly formal when the tempo is slow. But otherwise itās the sheer inventiveness of his playing which makes it so compelling, where every voice is given its own character and is contrasted against what goes on around it. I think heās really found the key both to artistic Bach playing and the imposing baroque style it represents, and fused them in to what is one of the wonders of modern piano playing. Itās Gouldās ideas, turned in to music.
Not every performance heās given is great of course, but what Iām thinking about when I put Sokolov so highly in this repertoire is things like this:
or this:
For the Canadian, in case heās not familiar with it: youtu.be/1UhaK1_rF6U
Iāve never heard him in person. That may be the difference. Of course I like some of what he does. But I tend to enjoy him more in the moment than after repeated listening.
Anyway, the ātastelessā comment was mostly directed toward his Art of Fugue, which xsdc ranked #1. Iāve never loved it. And believe me, Iāve tried.
Wut aboutā¦
Blechacz
Fray
Anderszewski
Olafsson
Perahia
Enjoyed zum ov deir Bach in recent yrz.
Olafsson is odd. I found his DG CD compelling too, but it almost has a crossover feel to it. Friends who have attended his concerts have been uniformly disappointed however, and I listened to a recent recital myself just a few days ago which kinda sucked.
Why no love fo Perahia? he iz a bit underrated on diz forum
I did have a little love for him. 
I donāt think heās bad by any stretch, I just donāt find him either as convincing or interesting as the others. Not as much today, but historically thereās also something about his character at the piano which makes my stomach turn. I loved his Mozart PC set in my teens, but today I simply canāt listen to it.
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He is da PARIAH 
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I put on his E min Partita now since you brought him up (YouTube), and I have to concede itās better than I remembered. His piano playing in particular is of a supreme quality, and musically you canāt fault him. But I have to say the note maneuvering of it is also all that speaks to me in the performances. As with Ohlsson for instance the artistry behind it strikes me as bland an uninteresting. You canāt deliver the notes on the page any better than this, as it were, but maybe thatās ultimately not the important part.
This is how I react to it at least, you might feel differently of course.
Tru he iz a very ztraight forward and āprettyā pianizt.
Not revelatory but reliable and if u want zomezheeyat zmooth and ztreamlyned tiz a gud option.
Thatās a good way of putting it I think.
The pretty part is related to what bothers me with his early Mozart playing. Not as much today, but you still have those rounded phrases etc here and there.
Well backing out to a macrozcoping picture - u haf clearly liztened to mo recz den me and haf mo awarenezz ov da āchoicezā and āoptionzā available to lizten to.
But to uze a cliche - when u juz want to lizten to āda muzikā in a mainztream, pretty, well-crafted way, he iz juz a very reliable pianizt in my experience.
Truuuu
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