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Who is your favorite of the new generation of pianists?

21K views 56 replies 37 participants last post by  flamencosketches 
#1 ·
I suppose I should say 'current' favorite, as all our opinions are likely to change.


In any case, share your favorite pianist aged 18 - 35 (I wanted to include somewhere between Haochen Zhang/Benjamin Grosvenor and Alexander Kobrin - whether this is accurate 'generation' or not I don't care.) and your reason why they are your favorite.
 
#2 · (Edited)
I think that Rafal Blechacz is perhaps the greatest young pianist living today. In my book, he stands with the few pianists who can claim to have reached the highest level in technical skills, rubato, and expressionism. I look forward to seeing how his depth of understanding the music he plays develops and increases over time. As it is, though, he is the most interesting young pianist for me to listen to.

 
#4 ·
I'm honestly not familiar with too many newer pianists. I mainly prefer older recordings with older pianists and I don't really care about things that are "HIP".

But I did hear Inon Barnatan (Born 1979, and I think he's 34 so still under the age of 35 listed in the original post) on the radio one day playing a couple Schubert Piano Sonatas and thought they were excellent.
 
#5 ·
In one way or another, they all seem mentally deficient to me. Maybe because I expect them to have Hamelin's understanding of Alkan, Sokolov's understanding of Haydn, Weissenberg's understanding of Chopin... well, I could go on, but you must know what I'm doing by now.
 
#6 · (Edited)
I more than tend to agree. The link with the Chopin sounded like one of those 'modeled after' type of performances vs. anything which comes from a deep familiarity with the score and from within the performer. Sort of that imitative 'copy this rendering by a master' approach vs. any sense personal communication or spontaneity.

Of course, there is a school of thought that no one much under forty is going to deliver anything worth much else, and what are these performers supposed to do in the meanwhile, sweep up somewhere?
 
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#10 · (Edited)
While I agree that the musicians you've listed do have great maturity and depth of understanding in their interpretations, I do not subscribe to the opinion that young pianists cannot provide fine interpretations.

It seems almost ludicrous to me that there is a school of thought dismissing interpretations of great music made by young musicians when sometimes the composers of such music were younger than the performers themselves when they had created the piece in question!

I do respect your opinion, however, and I can see how one can have this opinion if you're into the idea that when a composer creates a masterpiece that composer has created something beyond their own being and understanding.
 
#8 · (Edited)
Jeremy Denk is a special favorite of mine, aside from all the notoriety he's gotten lately. His repertoire is much broader than his recordings might suggest. Anybody who loves the Goldbergs MUST have his new recording. Not optional.

Another is Vadym Kholodenko, who won the most recent Van Cliburn competition. His "Three Pieces from Petruchka" (recorded) is astonishing. He may turn out to be all flash, but -- what flash!
 
#17 ·
Do you know Antii Siraala's record of Beethoven Sonatas? it is very "mature" and one of the best beethoven recordings, I listened to.
but there are other excellent young pianists:
Frederic Chiu (for Prokoffiev and Chopin)
Joseph Moog (for Rachmaninov)
Ingolff Wunder (for Chopin and Ravel)
Benjamin Grosvenor has already been mentioned
Vanessa Wagner (her Ravel CD is amazing)
Anna Vinnitskaya (Ravel)
Freddy Kempf

and then there is Martin Stadtfeld, who studied here in Frankfurt am Main (Germany) where I am living.
His Bach-Recordings are extraordinary. But I did not like is Schubert-CD. Sorry, Martin. :tiphat:
 
#18 · (Edited)
Emerging in the last decade:
*Paul Lewis (especially for his recent Schubert, also his Beethoven cycle)
*Jean-Efflam Bavouzet (especially for his Debussy and Ravel; didn't care for his Bartok; haven't heard his new Beethoven)
*Olli Mustonen (especially for his Scriabin; haven't heard his Beethoven, which got some tough reviews)
*Yefgeny Sudbin (especially for his Scriabin)
*Christophe Rousset (harpsichordist rather than pianist)
*Alexander Melnikov (especially for his Shostakovich)
*Freddy Kempf (especially for his Prokofiev)
*Denis Matsuev (especially for his Tchaikovsky)
*Vadim Kholodenko (the youngest of these; I enjoyed his winning performances at the Van Cliburn competition)
*Beatrice Rana (finished 2nd at the Van Cliburn last summer; another fine new talent)

Mid-career, very active, even prolific:
*Marc-Andre Hamelin (for pioneering all manner of lesser-known composers: Alkan, Busoni, Godowsky, Medtner, Rzewski, Szymanowksi; also extraordinary range of performances from Haydn to Albeniz, Bernstein, and Shostakovich)
*Leif Ove Andsnes (especially for his Grieg and Schumann)
*Andras Schiff (his Bach Well-Tempered box; his recent Diabelli Variations; his Janacek)
 
#19 ·
I tend to listen to older recordings but one Pianist who immediately stands out for me is Yuja Wang. I haven't heard anything from her which hasn't seized my attention. Her recent recording of Prokofiev and Rachmaninov particularly impressed me (as did Dudamel).

There only other two which come to mind, though I am nowhere near as familiar with their works at present are Paul Lewis and Benjamin Grosvenor.
 
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#20 · (Edited)
Prokofiev's 2nd piano concerto has become my test for young pianists. A test that not many dare take.

Yuja Wang and Vinnitskaja did it briliantly - on par with the benchmark performance of the great Ashkenazy in my opinion.
Yeol Eum Son quite good.
Kissin not so much.
Lang Lang I did not like.
 
#35 · (Edited)
Dear PetrB, you said :

I more than tend to agree. The link with the Chopin sounded like one of those 'modeled after' type of performances vs. anything which comes from a deep familiarity with the score and from within the performer. Sort of that imitative 'copy this rendering by a master' approach vs. any sense personal communication or spontaneity.

Of course, there is a school of thought that no one much under forty is going to deliver anything worth much else, and what are these performers supposed to do in the meanwhile, sweep up somewhere?
I think several young pianists (or violonists, cellists, any instrumentists) have recorded some very fine recording at a young age. I will name two exemples :

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Now, I'm sure you will agree with that Beethoven's opus 111 require maturity from the performer. Same for Schumann's Symphonic Studies and Toccata.

Ivo Pogorelich has recorded this when he was 24 years old. You may not agree, but I happen to think that this recording is amazing (especially the Schumann Studies).

Now, let's have a look at this one :

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Gustav Mahler requires maturity too, doesn't he ? You bet ! But Maestro Furtwängler thought young Fischer-Dieskau was mature enough to sing these lieder. Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau was 26 when he recorded Lieder Eines Fahrenden Gesellen and 30 when he recorded Kindertotenlieder. I think the interpretation in this recording is wonderful.

However I agree with you : I highly enjoy musicians when they age : Claudio Arrau, Vladimir Horowitz, Karl Böhm, Arthur Rubinstein, Rostropovitch, Salvatore Accardo. Many of them tend to get better with age.
 

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#37 ·
I'm a bit biased and uninformed, as I've only listened in person to one professional pianist, but Daniil Trifonov gave a great performance of Rach 2. It looks like he's only been mentioned once, so figured I'd name him as my "favorite" of the new generation of pianists.
 
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