Can’t believe I’m the only one to vote for Serkin. I know he was sort of a Beethoven specialist, but the man could play.
Not at all surprised that Rubinstein and Horowitz are leading.
I wish I had an opinion, but my opinion would only be based on picking out names I know off that list (which would basically be Gould, Horowitz, and Rubinstein.) Despite playing piano myself and actually enjoying classical performances, I don’t pay attention to who the pianist is.
There are some of us who can’t listen to the squeaky chair and the sing-along.
That’s part of why I enjoy him. He’s got some real whacked-out interpretations of pieces, but he brings some fun to the table. I think of him as Bobby Fischer if he were a piano player.
I’m not really surprised to see Rubinstein and Horowitz leading either but I’m surprised by the extent of their lead.
That’s true.
Richter’s the closest to an all-terrain pianist. He had a huge repertoire ranging from Bach, Haydn, Beethoven and Schubert to Debussy, Scriabin and Prokofiev and he’s always well worth hearing. Perhaps not my top recommendation in all these composers but almost always very near the top. This week, I discovered two recitals of his (Liszt and Chopin) and I wasn’t sure his style would be a good fit, especially for the latter but he won me over, once again. There’s something about him that makes almost everything he plays sound completely idiomatic and definitive. Power, chops but first and foremost a very original vision and an incredibly natural sense of phrasing.
I also voted for Arrau. He may be a bit on the slow side but I love his beautiful, pedal-bathed sound. It works wonders in Debussy’s mysterious harmonic world and his Chopin Nocturnes move me to tears every time.
Michelangeli, described by Cortot as “a new Liszt”, he is the anti-thesis of Arrau in terms of sound : very articulated and precise, almost mineral. And the wonderful thing about Classical music is that his very different approach is just as poetic and convincing as Arrau’s in Debussy.
Moravec was a student of Michelangeli who found himself kind of pigeonholed as a Chopin specialist but, while he’s indeed amazing in Chopin, he was also absolutely remarkable in other composers. I have a live recital centered on Beethoven (15th piano sonata) and Brahms (various pieces from opuses 116 and 118) that is among my favourite readings of these works. I wanted to give him the nod, especially since I suspected I’d be the only one to vote for him.
My last pick was Pollini another student of Michelangeli whom I also thought nobody else would vote for. He’s sometimes criticized for being cold and uber-intellectual, and his advocacy of some of the thorniest post-World War 2 composers didn’t endear him to conservative music lovers, but he’s also great in the standard repertoire : his recording of Beethoven’s last piano sonatas, works that admittedly play to his strengths, is a top recommendation as are his Liszt and, more unexpectedly, Schubert recordings.
Never Glenn Gould. I did vote for Horowitz even though he’s not usually my style. I wish I still had my Horowitz in Moscow CD, that was truly excellent.
I’ve loved Pollini for several decades… since I bought his LP of the Chopin etudes. I’ve seen him performed many times, and his playing has always been superlative.
You left off Victor Borge.
Gould, Horowitz, and why no Philippe Entremont?
I didn’t vote because I have only really listened to one classical pianist, Helene Grimaud. I only knew of her from watching the documentary Note by Note: The Making of Steinway L1037. It is a terrific movie. In it she plays bits of Rachmaninoff: Etude-Tableau in F Minor Opus 33 No. 1 and Prelude in G-sharp Minor Opus 32 No. 12. I was really taken by them and have listened to her stuff often since then.
Here are the outtakes featuring Helene Grimaud. They are interesting viewing.
Oops- forgot to vote for Brendel as well.
She’s one of my favourite pianists in Brahms, along with Rösel and Lupu. She didn’t meet my cut-off date, however.
As for Entremont, he’s an excellent pianist (in Ravel, notably). He had his time but I don’t hear much about him anymore, although he was still active recently.
It’s your poll, of course, but your cutoff date is awfully arbitrary for determining who was the “Greatest Classical Pianist of the 20th Century”. More like, “Who was the greatest classical pianist of the period of the 20th Century I liked listening to?” 
IMHO Horowitz and Rubenstein were the greatest 20th-century concert pianists.
I wish Liszt was born decades later and we had recordings of his performances. If his talent lived up to a fraction of the Lisztomania hype, I believe he would be at the top of the list. But still, he’s on my short list of favorite composers.
Victor Borge was certainly the greatest comic-pianist of the 20th century.
I’ve always been a fan of pop/rock keyboardists like Billy Joel, Elton John, Billy Preston, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles as well as a host of jazz pianists…but, they are simply not in the same league as world-class classical pianists with regard to virtuosity. That’s not to belittle them, it’s just a matter of comparing apples to oranges.
I’m quite impressed with the 21st century’s top crop of concert pianists, particularly Yuja Wang. Her repertoire is extensive, even exploring jazz (e.g. Rhapsody in Blue). She’s technically and aesthetically brilliant. Sure, she can be a bit of a speed demon at times, but I consider that a feature not a bug when you can back it up with stellar expression. She makes Beethoven’s Hammerklavier look like a walk in the park.
The only fault critics seem to find with Yuja is her choice of stage wardrobe (dresses too tight; heels too high). I say, if an artist devotes her entire childhood/life to practicing and perfecting her craft, let her have some fun when she rises to the top. It’s musicians like Yuja who keep interest in classical music alive for modern audiences.
I’ve watched dozens of Yuja Wang videos and have never heard her drop a note. And she plays demonic works on the edge.
I don’t deny it. However :
1 - Grimaud recorded her first CD in 1986. 15 years just isn’t enough to compete with pianists who had careers spanning 4 or 5 decades, all in the 20th-century.
2 - Believe me, my critieria forced me to drop from the list pianists whom I really like in order precisely NOT to make it a list of my personal favourites. Grimaud is one, so are Zimerman, Pogorelich and Lipatti.
3 - There are lots of pianists in my poll whom I just don’t listen to much, or at all. And a couple I can’t stand but that deserved inclusion.
By and large I agree with you…but then there’s** Earl Hines**…
nm
It’s apples and oranges, but in terms of virtuosity, I think pianists like Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, Chick Corea, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, etc. would definitely be in the conversation when it comes to piano technique.
I don’t know what my vote is worth, since I have never heard many of the pianists on the list, but I voted for a couple – Gould, because of his Bach recordings, and Mitsuko Uchida, for her recordings of Mozart’s piano sonatas.
Also, there’s no mention on the list of Charles Rosen, whose recording of the Goldberg Variations is one of my favorites (although diametrically opposed to Gould’s recordings, which are my favorite).