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Jun 6, 2024 · Whether nimble-fingered technical experts, first-rate musical interpreters, or champions of the keyboard far and wide, these 25 pianists from history through to modern-day are the true masters of the 88 keys (listed alphabetically). Read more: The 20 best piano concertos of all time.
Oct 24, 2018 · So then, lets have some fun exploring my analysis of 16 of todays greatest living classical pianists. Each pianist listed below quite naturally brings his own particular expertise, style, experience and artistic judgement in the way they interpret the brilliance of a particular composers works.
Who were the greatest pianists of all time? We asked 100 leading pianists for their favourites. Discover the great performers with BBC Music
- Lang Lang
- Franz Liszt
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- Claude Debussy
- Glenn Gould
- Robert Schumann
- Ludwig Van Beethoven
- Martha Argerich
- Maurice Ravel
- Felix Mendelssohn
Born in1982, Chinese pianist Lang Lang began piano lessons at the young age of three and only two years later gave his first recital. At age 13, he took first prize at the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition for Young Musicians in Japan which drew considerable attention and was the start of a very successful career A year later, in 1996, he...
Another well-known piano player was the Hungarian composerFranz Liszt. Liszt revolutionized piano recitals not only with his performance energy but the position he used while playing as he was the first to perform side-on to the audience so that his hands were visible. Known for his piano superpowers that amazed and enthralled his audience, some of...
As a composer, Mozart needs no introduction and is one of the most well-known and prolific composers of the classical era. But, he was also an incredible pianist and was performing for audiences at the age of 5 and was considered by many as a child prodigy. His sister Nannerl (yes, he had a sister and an equally talented one at that) once described...
One of the most famous French composersand pianists, Claude Debussy, began studying the piano at the age of 7. He showed great promise, and by the time he was ten years old, he began studying at the Paris Conservatoire. While there, he also did a lot of composing, and eventually, that took over his piano playing, going on to win the Prix De Rome wi...
The great Leonard Bernstein referred to Canadian pianist Glen Gould as “one of the greatest things to happen to music in years!” Born in 1932, Gould was considered a prodigy at a young age, apparently learning to read music before we could read English. He had an interesting perspective on practice and said that he found he could ‘practice mentally...
The German composer and pianistRobert Schumann began his musical studies at age six. He came under the musical influence of Austrian composer Franz Schubert and the lyrical inspiration of German poet Jean Paul Richter in 1827. His later-to-be wife, Clara, was the daughter of piano teacher Friedrich Wieck, and he met her when she was nine while stud...
Like Mozart,Ludwig Van Beethoven was one of the greatest composers of all time, but he was also a virtuoso pianist of his time. Beginning his studies at a young age, by the time he was 11 he was known to be very skillful and even worked as a court organist. Eventually, he became known for his compositions and wrote a lot of amazing pieces such as h...
Born in Argentina in 1941, famous female pianistMartha Argerich started playing the piano at three years old and, at eight years old, played her first concerto – Mozart’s Piano Concerto in D Minor. Martha achieved fame in 1965 when she won the International Chopin Piano Competition in Poland. Not one for the spotlight, she shunned media attention b...
The French composer and pianistMaurice Ravel and his musical talent became apparent at an early age. Encouraged by his father, a well-educated engineer, he enrolled in the Paris Conservatoire in 1889 at age 14 and remained there until 1905. In 1928 he composed his most famous work, Bolero, initially as a ballet with Ida Rubinstein in the principal ...
The German composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher is rated as one of the Romantic period’s greatest and most celebrated musicians. His early piano lessons were from his parents. The family moved to Berlin in 1811, where he studied composition with Carl Zelter and piano with Ludwig Berger. Zalter would have a tremendous influence on Mendelssohn’s...
- Jessica Duchen
- Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943) Considered by many the greatest pianist of them all, Rachmaninov was first and foremost a composer, hailed in Russia as the natural successor to Tchaikovsky, who championed him.
- Vladimir Horowitz (1903-1989) There was only one Horowitz: a pianist with a positively Himalayan range of expression, a virtuoso flair, and a feverish visionary quality unlike any before or since.
- Arthur Rubinstein (1887-1982) Rubinstein’s zest for life and irresistible charm permeated his music-making. Born in Poland, he was a gifted child, making his debut at seven and much encouraged by the violinist Joseph Joachim, friend to Brahms and Schumann.
- Artur Schnabel (1882-1951) Born in what is now Poland and raised in Vienna, Schnabel was a student of the great piano pedagogue Theodor Leschetizky.
Oct 7, 2024 · Ludwig van Beethoven is a towering figure in music history, whose compositions for the piano bridged the Classical and Romantic eras. His Piano Sonatas, particularly Moonlight Sonata and Appassionata, demonstrated a new emotional depth and complexity, setting the stage for Romantic music.
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Feb 23, 2015 · Attempting to take all of these factors in to account, here is a list of 10 of the best pianists from past and present. Franz Liszt. All eye-witness accounts of Liszt’s playing put him in the very first rank of classical pianists. Over an eight-year period of touring Europe in the early 1840s, he is estimated to have given over 1,000 ...
