10 women legends of the piano
mainYesterday’s quick list of 20th century legends contained only one woman.
Time to rectify that omission. In no particular order:
Wanda Landowska
Maria Yudina
Annie Fischer
Clara Haskil
Teresa Carreno
Tatiana Nikolayeva
Alice de Larrocha
Mitsuko Uchida
Maria Joao Pires
Martha Argerich
Who have we missed?
Angela Hewitt !
+1111111
Leonskaja
Livia Rev?
Rosalyn Tureck, Cecile Licad, Maria Grinberg, Briggite Engerer, Dubravka Tomcic, Ingrid Haebler, Marcel Meyer, Maria Tipo
/
Definitely Maria Tipo!
Beat me to it.
Rosina Lhévinne, Maria Tipo, Eliso Virsaladze, Elisabeth Leonskaja.
Myra Hess, Monique Haas, Yvonne Loriod…
Eileen Joyce.
So you had the”greatest pianists” list yesterday, and rewarding these great women with your afterthought token female pianists list today?
Boom!!!
I think there’s an argument that Viktoria Postnikova should be on that list. And I would second Leonskaja–having heard her live twice, I was REALLY impressed both times.
I was about to say Postnikova as well. But she may be a bit in the shadow of her husband, who should make the list of the 10 greatest conductors.
Alma Mahler
Ingrid Haebler.
Eileen Joyce?
I swear it’s not a kind of odd patriotism, but in Brazil we have Guiomar Novaes (who also teached for Nelson Freire) as a major pianist from 20th century
You may have a point about including Novaes in any shortlist (forget top ten). I just listened to her recording of the Chopin Berceuse and am not listening to Liszt Liebestraum. Wow, she knows how to phrase.
but are you sure about her being a teacher of the great Nelson Freire? I found no reference to that, though I came across very positive comments of Freire about her. Sorry, I am a compulsive fact checker (and current political developments have enouraged
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_Freire
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guiomar_Novaes
https://www.nytimes.com/1979/03/09/archives/guiomar-novaes-leading-brazilian-concert-pianist-dies-played-for.html
Gina Bachauer
Harriet Cohen.
Cecile Ousset.
Bella Davidovich. Ruth Laredo.
Jeanne-Marie Darré
Youra Guller!
Etelka Freund, here in Brahms’ Piano Sonata in F minor, Op 5
Allegro maestoso https://youtu.be/qpQHl8-9BUM
Andante espressivo https://youtu.be/KKeNHnBcDIg
Scherzo: Allegro energico https://youtu.be/awZWeqqEcdc
Intermezzo: Andante molto https://youtu.be/9QjPvJh59XU
Allegro moderato ma rubato https://youtu.be/pB4JXIfsR5E
I would scratch Tatiana Nikolayeva (from the list, that is). There is also some dispute over her claim to be the reference player for Shostakovich’s 24 Preludes and Fugues, some question over whether the composer liked or approved of her interpretations. Definitely a trooper though.
Tastes are different. I personally believe that she got the Leipzig price in 1950 for good reasons. However, you question her reputation on Shostakovich’s Preludes and Fugues, especially whether Shostakovich himself liked her playing. I quote from an article of the International Piano which I found by chance: “Nikolayeva gave the public premiere in Leningrad in December 1952 and a decade later she made the first recording of the complete cycle for the Melodiya label: Shostakovich, who attended the sessions, gave her performance his blessing.” Do you have any other information or advice for further reading?
Indeed I can — or could — my comment was based, for starters, on a master’s thesis almost entirely on this subject, an American university, Russian-born author who seemed to have Shostakovich’s family on his side against N’s claims.
It included a very highly detailed comparison of S’s recordings of 18 of the P & Fs, contrasted inter alia with her versions…. but it’s disappeared, used to be available in many locations
Ah! Here it is:
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=http://www.bach-cantatas.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1026&context=musicstudent
This is for starters though I’m sure I don’t know most of the rest. Enjoy.
Thousand thanks! Now I know what to do next weekend 😉 I will read with great interest!
I’ll read any book report from you with great interest.
This is one of the great works of the 20th century IMO, maybe The greatest.
FLASH This just in:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRxdF7tRNYE
The oft-mentioned 1962 Nikolayeva recording finally available, and a big improvement it is over 1987, and esp 1990 and 1992.
Enjoy!
Mary Shepherd and Joyce Hatto. Perhaps not as pianists per se.
Clara Schumann !
She died in 1896, age 76. Brahms died less than 11 months later.
On an all-time list though I’d vote her a #1. No one comes remotely close in importance.
At her best, Lympany. And Hepzibah Menuhin!
Definitely Moura Lympany (b.1916 Saltash, England, d.2005 Gorbio,France) – her Rachmaninov was sublime!
Leonskaja and Novaes
Elly Ney
LvB “Nel cor più” Variations https://youtu.be/cp6Gnwkxptw
So let me get this straight. The last list was for the best forgotten great pianist, and this is the list for best forgotten women pianists. Wow, just wow. Can it get any more sexist than that?
Yes, it would have been so much less sexist to just stop with the other list, which only included one woman, than to add this list (and its comments) to lead some of us to fantastic pianists who we otherwise wouldn’t have discovered. How dare NL post a list that encourages us to research and listen to more women pianists!
Jeez louise Anson, that list was intended to provoke discussion. In the replies you will find tons of women mentioned and discussed, as units and by the pound. It appears that female pianists have many partisans on this site, even among males.
No, I agree with you (I think). I was being snarky. I rather enjoyed the comments and discussions on both of these lists, some of which have exposed me to pianists both male and female who I haven’t been familiar enough with. My point in response to the previous poster was that I don’t think it’s “sexist” for NL to make a point having a second-day bonus post to focus solely on women pianists.
Sorry!
Yes, BFC — the goal here is to ignore the existence of any and all great, or even pretty good, male pianists of the 20th century, solely on account of their gender. Thanks for noticing.
The idea that there could be, or could have been, more than one great female pianist is sexist.
/eyeroll
Bella Davidovich
She didn’t perform a great deal, but after winning the 1928 Naumburg, Adele Marcus performed and became an eminent teacher of artists. Her old recordbugs are at my website http://www.jeffreybiegel.com as an eternal tribute to her beautiful playing. Nadia Reisenberg and Ania Dorfman were also beautiful pianists and teachers.!
Typo: recordings
Posting those recordings pokes a big hole into the “legend” of Adele Marcus. It’s such mediocre, pedestrian playing.
The studio teaching playing at age 70 was incredible. (Btw, your post is unkind.)
No, the comment is truthful – as anyone with ears can plainly hear.
MYRA HESS
More Elly Ney, here in LvB’s Mondschein Sonata
Mvts 1 & 2 https://youtu.be/IiR1v-AvU-Y
Mvt 3 https://youtu.be/5z-NlloM7TE
Marguerite Long?
NL recently described her as “mediocre”.
Magda Tagliaferro, Yvonne Lefebure, Marcelle Meyer, Jeanne-Marie Darre
I have heard some lovely recordings by Margaret Fingerhut, and am starting to discover some real gems recorded by Gaby Casadesus. Her career was not huge compared to that of her husband, but truncated or stymied careers often come with the territory when you are talking pianists in general and women pianists in particular, it seems to me.
It seems sad that nobody has mentioned Vitya Vronsky (nor for that matter mentioned Victor Babin in the list the other day). When I was young they were THE piano duo, at least as heard on classical radio.
But let’s also mention pianists who, while 20th century, somewhat predated the electrical (much less high fidelity) recording era: Fannie Bloomfield Zeisler (known to me only by piano rolls, but exceptionally interesting ones); Germaine Schnitzer, known to me by reputation, which for a time was a considerable one — and parts of it decidedly unusual for those who like musical gossip. I know she made piano rolls, a couple of which are on YouTube, and that her career ended due to a car accident. I guess she can be called a “might have been.”
Interesting – not one mention of Christina Ortiz, whose repertoire and career accomplishments exceed those of most of the ladies mentioned here. There also seems to be 2 very different things going on here – some are listing great woman pianists, while others are merely naming ladies who play the piano.
Yes! Every time I heard her she was never less than wonderful.
I hope you are not dismissing Etelka Freund as one of those ladies who “could play the piano”. For not only did she study with Ferruccio Busoni, no less, but actually played for Johannes Brahms, no less, (her brother was a friend of the composer) and was also a close friend of Béla Bartók’s, no less, and early champion of his music. Talk about pedigree and then some.
Has Ursula Oppens been mentioned? She deserves to be on this completely random list.
Condoleezza Rice aka Condoleezza
This list simply will not be complete without the addition of the late, great Joyce Hatto.
Yes, I agree. Many of her recordings are fabulous. Just a shame she never seemed quite as good in the concert hall.
DEFINITELY Guiomar Novaes.
Constance Keene
Janina Fialkowska
Helen Grimeaux, Maria Grinberg was a giant, superb. She told her recognition’ll come after her death. She resurrected F.Mendelsohn “Songs without words”. Please, don’t put on the list of great women pianists: Eliso Virsaladze, Elizaveta Leonskaya, Angela Hewitt.
Actually the Horowitz quip was much wittier, or at least elegant. He said there are 3 kinds of pianists-pause-Jewish pianists and homosexual pianists-and Jewish homosexual ones
Actually, Horowitz is attributed with the quote: “There are three kinds of pianists: Jewish pianists, homosexual pianists, and bad pianists.”
Actually I think my version is correct-it is certainly more interesting-but that is the way it was told to me-not from a Wikipedia footnote. For all we know he said it both ways?
Your version is decidedly incorrect. NN is correct, you are not!
“The Book of Lists” (a late 70’s/early 80’s phenomenon) would have faux-outraged many of today’s commenters with its lists of things like “10 Famous Historical Figures Who Were Gay” (how dare they not include _________, who was totally gay/ I demand documentation for their inclusion of _________, who was totally not gay/ how could they leave out ________, whose book I read and who was totally open-minded…. and of course “how dare they deny the existence of all non-gay people throughout history”).
Lili Kraus
YES YES YES
There’s a Fanny and a Nannerl, to mention their last names is a bit superfluous.
And then there’s a Nadia B.
Vera Gornostayeva, as mentioned on the other thread.
Myra and Sara Davis Buechner
I think one should distinguish between 20th Century legends and other pianists.
Edith Baker, Pauline Alpert, Patricia Rossborough and Raie daCosta
The most obvious omission would be Myra Hess. I’d scratch out Landowska and Uchida. I love the idea of Teresa Carreno but the little i’ve managed to hear, (piano rolls), don’t match the legend; i’m sure she was fantastic live. Same with Yudina, the ugly sound of most of her Soviet epoch recordings that i’ve heard surely don’t do her justice. Tatiana Nikolaeva i’ve mostly disliked heartily, clumsy, heavy, blunderous, (same in concert!), but she was an influential teacher and played a wide repertoire, so…… Clara Haskil and MJ Pires both excelled in limited, mostly small-scale repertoire, fine artists.
Annie Fischer…YES! I’m biased, having heard her tackle a range of great literature several times in concert, (Moz, Beet, Schub, Schum, Bra, Chopin, Liszt…), not always unscathed, but the musical encounter was always gripping.
Alicia and Martha i consider great pianists, the first with great musicality with clarity and detail, the second with intuitive natural force and passion.
Many names mentioned in these comments are worthy, many less so. I would second the mention of Eileen Joyce; altho not a great “interpreter” (in the Myra H or Annie F mould), she was truly dazzling in Romantic and early 20C rep with natural effortless champagne-like touch: her recordings of various pieces of Liszt, Granados, Dohnanyi, among others, have never been equalled.
Try this one:
https://youtu.be/gFybrQyvKqc
Imogine Cooper, Ekaterina Novitskaya, Anne Quefellec, Brigit Engerer
Sondra Bianca. Maryla Jonas (unless I missed her name somewhere).
Now about Landowska – I regard her more of a harpsichordist than pianist. The woman who said “You play Bach your way and I’ll play Bach his way” played Chopin her way, on the harpsichord when she recorded Mazurkas for Victor.
Janina Fialkowska
Why is Yuja wang not here?
You cannot be serious omitting Guiomar Novaes?!?! One of the peerless greats of all time! And, another High Priestess of Bach: Rosalyn Tureck?
Elly Ney, Myra Hess, Lili Kraus, Constance Keene,Ilona Kabos, Wanda Landowska, Maryla Jonas, Maria Yudina, Tatiana Nikolayeva Ania Dorfmann
Myra Hess obviously also Ilona Eibenschutz who Brahms said was his favorite pianist. Adelina de Lara, Eileen Joyce … there are many, all wonderful in different ways. Landowska was a harpsichordist and perhaps should not be on this particular list.
Susan Starr, Harriet Serr, Sondra Bianca, Ruth Slenczynska, Constance Keene, Claudette Sorel, Olga Samaroff, Nadia Reisenberg, all formidable and widely known.
lisitsa, such touch
Clara Schumann
Valentina Lisitsa