I was often asked by friends of the pianists I like. On the other hand, some would be interested in those I don't like. As I have an avid interest in pianists, I've devised, for convenience's sake, a classification system of my own called none other than AVID.
'A' is for those I simply adore. 'V' is for those I value much, 'I' for those I feel indifferent to and 'D' for those that are disappointing or those I even despise. Simple enough. At least it serves me right up to this moment.
Here is my very personal list from memory:
A: (in alphabetical order)
Samuel Feinberg,
Clara Haskil,
Constantin Lifschitz,
Dinu Lipatti,
Sviatoslav Richter, and
Grigory Sokolov.
V: (in alphabetical order)
Martha Argerich,
Nelson Freire,
Emil Gilels,
Nelson Goerner,
Friedrich Gulda,
Nikolai Lugansky,
Victor Merzhanov,
Vladimir Sofronitsky,
Emil von Sauer,
and a few others.
I:
Many others.
D:
Don't force me to disclose.
There must be some pianists that I don't know, but I suppose I've known quite a number of pianists from the 19th century till now that I can make an informed choice. That's the reason that many notable names are absent, or at least not revealed, in my list. Such a list is useful to me in housekeeping for my collection which has been scattered among different places.
Some pianists that I would like to see placed somewhere on your AVID classification:
ReplyDeleteVladimir Horowitz; Sergei Rachmaninov; Alfred Brendel; Angela Hewitt; Murray Perahia; Glenn Gould.
Loved reading your Blog.
Best wishes - Jim Hill [England]
Dear Jim,
ReplyDeleteThank you for visiting.
I hope you won't mind my rather acquired taste. I'd certainly put Horowitz in my "V" list, having recently revisited his audio and video recordings. The revisit was prompted by a recently published book (by OUP) in Chinese on Horowitz.
The same will go to Perahia, to whom I have some fond memories of attending his master class when he visited HK some years ago.
Rachmaninov has few surviving recordings, and I value him more as a composer. The "re-created" recordings have little difference from a gimmick.
For Brendel and Gould, I face some difficulties in allocation -- I suppose that is the intrinsic deficiency of any categorisation -- as they are sort of a love-it-and-hate-it thing.
Hewitt is good in Bach as we all know, but I'll definitely place her above "I" but a little short of "V".
Best regards,
Horace
Hmm... This is a very interesting article. My favorite of all performing artists, not just pianist, Maurizio Pollini must be in I or D category ! And some of my I D class pianists are in your A V class, though some of them I never heard of. Come to think of it even Michelangeli didn't make it. Well, it proves how seriously this personal taste on music can be varied. I mean even between the two music lovers who cherish Bruckner the most !
ReplyDeleteYes, indeed.
DeleteIn retrospect, my list can change with time as I grow older. LOL.
Horace