I couldn’t agree more - an absolutely divine sense of balance in his hands. Sadly, the quality of sound on that recording after being compressed for YouTube does not remotely do justice to his tone. By all accounts, he could play at deafening volume and still sound beautiful.
Awesome! Oscar Peterson is a personal all-time favourite of mine. The whole “Night Train” album is great, esp. “Hymn to Freedom”, a really uplifting gospel-tinged piece. If you want to hear more of his original compositions, pick up his “Canadiana Suite”. For a burning, bluesy live performance, check out “Peterson/Pass/Pederson - The Trio”.
Seconding “The Koln Concert”. Just fantastic. It’s even more impressive when you know that it’s all improvised!!
As for Gould’s “Goldberg Variations” it’s worth the extra money to pick up A State of Wonder: The Complete Goldberg Variations (1955 & 1981). It’s an eye-opener to hear the differences between his early and late career interpretations. The 1955 performance is youthful and, at times, hyper-energetic whereas the 1981 recording is more thoughtful and stately.
Many of my other classical recommendations have already been mentioned: Beethoven sonatas are a must, as are Mozart’s piano concertos. Liszt and Chopin are great (don’t forget his 2 piano concertos which, as far as I know, are his only orchestral works).
Not mentioned are Schubert’s piano sonatas which I find almost as powerful as Beethoven’s (look for Wilhelm Kempff’s recordings). Also, check out more of Bach’s keyboard works beyond “The Goldberg Variations”. They were all originally composed for harpsichord but translate wonderfully to the piano. Angela Hewitt’s recordings of the Keyboard Concertos and the Well-Tempered Clavier are also favourites of mine.
It might be a bit wild for most, but this one drives me nuts. I only wish I could play it, but I can’t even touch it.
Mussorgsky’s Pictures At An Exhibition. A much more magical piece on piano than Ravel’s orchestrated version.
Just a sampling.
Bach - Italian Concerto (last movement, start at 4:41) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=He-7Tq7XUuw
Chopin - Etude op. 25 no. 1 in A-flat major http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omI_QNUlyLU
Debussy - Reflets dans l’eau http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLbpQl1cCl8
The Snow Is Dancing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fniPt86r-BY
The Sunken Cathedral http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsdIkUSjXv8
Ravel - Valses Nobles et Sentimentales, part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8Q2xbaMGpU part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mm8P86Et_hg&feature=related
Jeux d’eau http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_36x1_LKgg
Schubert - Impromptu in G-flat Major http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZxH3kmNuVM
Liszt - Un Sospiro http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLHU2ES51uw
Beethoven - Moonlight sonata (last movement) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZaTzSWqXCU
Pathetique sonata (first movement) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDIX_nGbwEU
Piano Concerto #5 (“Emperor”) (really good sound, part of playlist) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akc0v_KTZBM&feature=PlayList&p=2EA581634CEF7928&index=4
If you’d like to sample some fun rock and roll, have a listen to Ben Folds Five.
Don’t miss the piano solo starting around 1:30.
Chopin: Etude, Op 10, #12.
Chopin: Etude, Op 25, #11.
Chopin: Etude, Op 25, #12.
Chopin: Fantaisie Impromptu.
Chopin: “Heroic” Polonaise.
Chopin: Prelude, Op 28, #24.
Rachmaninoff: Études-Tableaux, Op 33 & 39.
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto #2.
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto #3.
Rachmaninoff: Piano Sonata #2.
Rachmaninoff: Prelude, op 23, #7.
The only piano music I have is the 8 volumes of Art Tatum Solo Masterpieces.
That’s some pretty astonishing playing.
Ever listened to any of the Earl Hines Tour de Force or Earl Hines Plays Duke Ellington? Breathtaking!
Solace is brilliant. Not great sound quality in that vid, but I like it at that tempo.
Is my memory correct that Satie was a friend of Marcel Duchamp? Is that the reason for your interest? (Aside, of course, from the quality of the music.)
My main reason is they are arguably the most simple yet beautiful piano pieces of the 20th Century. Of any century. They do also greatly evoke for me possibly the most creative time and place of Paris in the 20s and 30s.
Add to that
Satie’s
They knew each other, but I don’t recall reading about a great friendship between the two. One degree of separation further, however, Erik Satie was a huge influence on John Cage and John Cage was an extremely close friend of Marcel Duchamp. Among other things, Cage and Duchamp shared a passion for chess.
Jazz piano fans and those wanting to add to their appreciation of jazz piano can spend hours examining the many fine hour-long shows at Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz where I can personally vouch for the shows featuring:
George Shearing
Ray Charles
Keith Jarrett
Chick Corea
Bill Evans
Michel Petrucciani
Billy Taylor
Oscar Peterson
Michel Camilo
Eliane Elias
Ahmad Jamal
Herbie Hancock
Henry Mancini
Hiromi Uehara
Dizzy Gillespie (yes, piano, although some trumpet, too)
and this week’s guest: Steve Kuhn
And I suppose that nude took 4’33" to descend the staircase, in total silence.
Check out Marcus Roberts’s version of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and Amina Cluadine Myers Salutes Bessie Smith. Both are sublime.
Gould’s recordings are amazing, and as I age I’ve come to appreciate his 1981 recording. I’d also recommend Charles Rosen’s 1969 (I think) recording.
Here to put a vote in for Frederic Rzewski. For sure his music isn’t for everyone, but it is some of the most amazing piano music I’ve ever heard, and piano music is the main constituent of the classical music I listen to.
Specific pieces I would recommend are the 3rd and 4th North American Ballads, ‘Down by the Riverside’ and ‘Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues’, the latter of which provides the most impressive texturing I’ve ever heard from a piece for solo piano; and the massive ‘36 Variations for piano on ‘¡EL Pueblo Unido Jamás Será Vencido!’’ (The People United Will Never Be Defeated), which as well as being preposterously carefully formed - the variations are divided into 6 sets of 6 variations, each set examining a different form of modification on the theme, with the 6th of each set being a summation of the previous 5, and the final set of 6 being a summary of summaries - is almost endlessly inventive.
A composer who writes music that’s slightly easier on the ears is Leopold Godowsky. Again with the variations - he did a Passacaglia, Cadenza and Fugue on the first 8 bars of Schubert’s ‘Unfinished’ Symphony - but his original works, including an epic Sonata are at least as good as his transcriptions; he transcribed 3 apiece of Bach’s suites for solo violin and cello, but might be best known today for his semi-transcriptions of Chopin’s Etudes, typically adding contrapuntal complexity which Chopin didn’t really deploy in the original pieces.
Samples of both composers are available on YouTube, and you should be able to establish pretty fast whether you enjoy them or not. A minor addendum on Rzewski: if his music sounds like modernist junk to you, give Conlon Nancarrow’s studies for Player Piano a try and see if Rzewski doesn’t improve by comparison.
A couple of years ago, when Amazon was closing them out, I scored the 80-CD boxed set of Gould’s complete Columbia recordings for something like $109. Hell of a set! 