Sviatoslav Richter. Greatest pianist of the last century?

“Horowitz was comparatively pedestrian, but could hit all the right notes right on time, smooth as silk, as fast as anyone, but with no real feeling”

The greatness of Horowitz was not only that he “could hit all the right notes right on time, smooth as silk, as fast as anyone…”  but that he was a supreme colorist whose phrasing and understanding of the human condition was unparalleled in my view.  Listen to the Schumann “Traumerei” performed in his “Horowitz in Moscow”  concert and check out the visuals of the audience to know what I’m talking about.

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Yes, classifying Horowitz as pedestrian is so ludicrous that it makes the rest of this discussion nonsensical.  You could love or hate Horowitz, but he was very individual, one of the few pianists that can be reliably identified from brief snippets because he is so distinctive 

All pianists can be reliably identified from brief snippets. That you think otherwise explains much.

Kissin Lang Lang

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