Who's playing? Quiz [Round 1]

I have been playing a game with my friend.

Basically I have created a few short clips from commercial and live recordings of mostly famous pianists playing well known pieces.

He has to guess which pianist is playing, and say which he likes best/least (or rank them).

There is nobody too obscure (except one so far in a later round).

Anyhow, I thought Id share Round 1 with you. This is an extract from Scriabins Etude Op.8, No.12. See what you think -

drive.google.com/open?id=0BxWwp … Wp0Rzl3Wk0

Ill reveal who is who later on.

We used to play a similar game on another forum, it’s brutal.
Haven’t had time to listen yet but I’m gonna assume one is Horowitz? Probably the 1968 performance (the reference for me), apart from not sure how many other pianists played it, Sofronitsky? Ashkenazy?

Ok doing this twice, once in a busy office off my lenovo laptop speaks and again later at home on stereo.

Laptop:
Berman?
Sultanov?
Horowitz?
Sofronitsky?
A gay ass punk?
Kissin?
Ashkenazy?

You got one right there :stuck_out_tongue:

Correct there is a Horowitz and an Ashkenazy in there.

4 is Horowitz. Possibly the 1948 non commerical rec.
I think you possibly got da Ginzburg in there, or not.
The Ginzburg live version from 1957 has always been my favorite. Never cared for the Horowitz rendition too muchand I have the 1948, 1968 incarnations and the later stuff - there’s a nice one from 1986 on the Scriabin Piano… but still way too much cheating for my liking - Scriabin said specifically about this etude not to redistribute notes into the right hand.
and before you bash me for having an opinion, well - fuck you too.

There is an early SOFRO on 78s that I like too.

Correct on the Horowitz! And fattyfat man got Kissin right too :stuck_out_tongue:

1-
2-
3-
4- Horowitz
5-
6- Kissin
7-

Which do you like/dislike?

1 Merzhanov
2 Lang Lang
3. Ashkenazy
4. Horowitz
5. Lugansky
6. Kissin
7. Magaloff

1-
2-
3-
4- Horowitz
5- Lugansky
6- Kissin
7-

Ill tell you who’s in there -

Ashkenazy, Volodos, Lang, Piers Lane

Is it the 1948 Ho? Or a different rec.

Its taken from the 1968 Carnegie Hall video

Ashkeanzy
Voldoos
Piers Lane
horowitz
lugansky
kissin
lang lang ???

I think fattyfatman’s last guess is as about as good mine would be conditional on all of Simon’s hints.

The only performance I would have guessed with 100% confidence with no clues is Horowitz’s.

Next most obvious imo is Kissin’s for clarity and attack (esp. LH).

I think the least convincing one interpretively is #1, which indeed sounds like Ashkenazy on autopilot. Lugansky’s is not great either, imo. I think Volodos’s is a bit better but isn’t interesting by Volodos’s standards (if it’s indeed #2, which seems probable).

I’m not as sure about #3 and #7 though. I don’t know Piers Lane’s playing at all. But whoever #3 is, I’m impressed.

Great work! Almost 100% correct, just two mixed up… -

1- Ashkenazy
2- Volodos
3- Lang
4- Horowitz
5- Lugansky
6- Kissin
7- Lane

Thanks, Simon. Fun game.