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classical solo piano performances

Ok,

If you like that style of Bach, look out for Busoni/Bach transcriptions. You should also try to find piano recordings (as opposed to the harpsichord) of the Goldberg variations, and the 48 preludes and fugues. Glenn Gould is one interpreter of this music that is interesting, not the best or most consistent, but certainly attention grabbing.

I'd then suggest you perhaps look for some of the French solo piano classics, Debussy Preludes, the Arabesques, Clair de Lune, Childrens Corner, and Satie's Gymnopodies and Gnossiemes.

I'm a great fan of Scriabin, and don't forget to look at Chopin and Listz. Chopin's Ballades, Polonaises, Preludes, and Nocturnes are worth seeking out, and there are numerous box sets of Listz piano works that come in at reasonable cost.

Don't get too hung up on performer, when you've decided you like the piece you can investigate performers more.

There's a world of sonatas out there as well, Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn, Scarlatti are just some springing to mind now.

You may want to scout around and try some before you buy, there are plenty of places on the internet offering this service.....
 
panda said:
i meant specific albums, not general. i've enjoyed listz and chopin piano works before.
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Impossible to suggest specific albums. Thousands have been released, thousands are out there, new used, LPs, CDs. You just have to follow your own inclinations. Nobody can tell you what you will like. I like Brendel playing the Beethoven sonatas, and I don't like the way Ashkenazy plays them. But maybe in 5 year's time I'll change my mind. Just follow your instincts.
 
Might want to look at these from Tony's record shop;

John Field – Nocturnes, Adni, HMV ASD3599 bw-band 1st issue, EX/EX £5.00.

J. S. Bach / Handel / Gluck – (various piano pieces) Wilhelm Kempff, DGG
Beethoven – Piano Sonatas 14, 8, 23, Barenboim, HMV HQS
Debussy – Childrens Corner, Clair De Lune, L'Isle Joyeuse etc, Peter Franke (p), Vox Turnabout.
Liszt – Dante Szonata / Tane a Falusi Kocsmaban / H-Moll Szonata, Dezso, Hungaroton.
Schubert – Sonata In B Flat Major / Wandererfantasie, Askenazy, Decca dig
Wilhelm Kempff – Star Profile, 2xLP comp featuring Mozart – Sonata K331, Fantasy KV 397, Beethoven – Sonata 23, Schubert – 4 Impromptus, Brahms 2 Rhapsodies OP79, Intermezzi OP117 & Capriccio OP76, some spine wear to cover but vinyl strong EX £4.50.

I think that's the pick of the solo piano music from his stall.
 

Not to everyone's taste, but some extraordinary playing (especially at 7:14). In this recording, Gould's moaning along isn't as bad as it sometimes gets.
 
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You might even start from the pianists rather than the performers. Some of the great pianist of our age were Richter, Brendel, Rubinstein, Horowitz, Pollini. Read up about them, listen to what they were supposed to be best at. Get a good book or two about classical music and then go for whatever excites your curiousity. After all, there is no objective "best" of anything, its all in your mind, in what touches some emotion in you.
 
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