Classical piano solo—Your one favorite performance and recording

These recordings are still magic to me. They actually induced me to buy pianos that were, ahem, a trifle more expensive than my abilities deserved. Recording quality, of course, varies.

Rudolf Serkin -- Beethoven's Hammerklavier Sonata.

Phillippe Entremont plays Debussy.

Maurizio Pollini -- Chopin Etudes

Alfred Brendel -- Beethoven's Waldstein Sonata.

I saw all these guys in concert, too.

How about if I duly proclaim some absolute, incontrovertible boundaries for the various periods of what I shall refer to as Serious Music? To be sure, actual historical dates cannot be accurately ascertained but the composers who introduced the various Serious Musical periods are THUS --

Monteverdi shall be the first composer whose music supplants Medieval music for Baroque.

Haydn shall be the composer who supplants Baroque Music with Classical.

Beethoven shall be the composer who supplants Classical Music with Romantic Music.

Stravinsky is entirely, unequivocally responsible for introducing Modern.Classical Music.

And, oh yeah -- Chuck Berry invents Rock & Roll.