Rachmaninov Prelude in G minor Op. 23 No. 5 - Five Great Pianists in Comparison

Richter's playing made me completely speechless, such a genius

No 2 is too hasty and rushed I feel. Thereby not leaving enough time for emotion

Yefim Bronfman plays it brilliantly.

Oh. This is simple. Just one word. Horowitz.

Мне больше нравится Рихтер в этом случае

Simon Barere's interpretation sounds dirty and sloppy.

Gilels e/o Richter

O idiota que fez este vídeo poduas dizer o nome dos pianistas.

Fantastic. But, my favorite is Vladimir Ashkenazy's version. Ever❤

Richter

This is the wrong Horowitz recording. The live version from 1981 is vastly superior; not technically perhaps, but musically and emotionally for sure. Moiseiwitsch, Richter and Gilels are all more musical than Horowitz. None, however, comes within hailing to his intensity and drama. The sheer demonism Horowitz brings to the outer sections and melting lyricism with which he infuses the middle section are unique in the 1981 performance; even earlier recordings by Horowitz himself are nothing like that. (Barere is a joke and should not in this company at all.)

Gilels the best

Gilels.

1st one and Richter were my votes. I loved the way Richter did the final few bars. Most pianists seem to throw that away but he gave it a bit of magic.

Удивительно, как по разному звучит инструмент у пианистов, не знаешь кому отдать предпочтение, мне нравится исполнение Луганского

Richter for ever

Horowitz playing like he's late for a train lol. Not his best. But his TONE in the lyrical middle section could melt the coldest heart!

Where is Rachmaninoff?

Cziffra needs to be added.

I like Gilels’ slow temp and richly colored, thunderous, unrushed climaxes. Horowitz has the most delicious middle section. I hate his wavering tempo at the beginning.
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In this piece Richter is unbeatable.

Richter the best. .no doubt

Yeah! The tempo and dynamic is just right!

The first two were awful. Thunderous, stumbling and disordered.

You left out Rachmaninoff’s and Cziffra’s amazing performances

Magistrale Sviatoslav Richter.È divino nella sua istrionica interpretazione.

Everyone has is favourite, but Horowitz’s interpretetion for sure was the one more “authentic” and similar to the original, played by Rachmaninoff because the two were good friends and surely Horowitz knew much well how this piece should’ve sounded

I'm touched my Moiseiwitch's performance. It's so human. I love the lightness of it. It shows a side of the piece one doesn't normally hear. The outer sections have a scherzo-esque feel and the middle section tender, poignant, and nostalgic.

Simon's is a little too "bull in a china shop" for my taste. Although it might make sense for an encore performance. It certainly gets the fiery, "vomit out of your eyeballs" idea across.

Horowitz's has all the levels of sound I was wanting but didn't get in the first two. It has a hint of the scherzo feel at the beginning, brilliant repeated chords, the big moments still noble and elegant somehow, the middle section dreamy. Unexpected how he accelerando-s to a faster tempo than the opening. Daring, unusual ending. He misses some of the notes there and gets the music. Magical.

Richter. Very serious, rhythmic, dark, tragic at the opening. Grand at the big chords. Pleading, sorrowful, truly Russian in the middle section. Sinister and with great momentum the transition back to the first theme. More heroic and even more tragic ending. Storybook ending.

Gilels similar to Richter's concept, though more complex in the opening section. Heroic big chords. He really arrives at something huge before the middle section the way I was missing in the others. Transition to the middle section was my favorite of all of them. The middle section seems to roll out of his shirt sleeves. I love his magical projection of the RH inner voice before the accelerando. I felt he got too big too soon in the accelerando, but thought he got the heroic nature of the following chordal passage better than the rest. I also liked how he drove it home through the final run rather than changing the character there the way most do. His performance made the most sense to me.

Magical! The main theme return is like the misty dawning of a Russian winter day

Richter plays like a lion’s parade, Gilels is the Warhammer.

A lot of people here put Richter in first place but I had him in second place. The clear winner to me was Moiseiwitsch. I was only part way through the first line of the score before I realised that I was listening to something special. The measure and control throughout was exemplary. There was the light touch where required, the accents, the maintenance of rhythm, the dynamics. Wonderful.

Moiseiwitsch really showed up the heavy-handed versions of this. Even his central section pulled out the various tunes as well as anyone and better than most.

Richter was good as well. Gilels I put third. He made it a bit too stormy for me. Horowitz I usually like but he was just intent on playing it too fast. Maybe it was an encore? Barere was just too hectic by half. Did it improve towards the end? I don't know because I could not listen to it any more and skipped to Horowitz.

I think Totally Moiseiwitsch's is best playing ...Richiter's playing is not on tempo<slow> but the most comfortable and balanced.... On the Mid-slow section, Horowiz's one is best<other fast parts is horrible...he is not god but only a human>

Richter.... no need to accentuate phrasing or anything really...just mesmerising
Gilels: trying a bit hard to impress ...
So the playing is a bit too flashy and exaggerated

Io a Simon Barere gli avrei tolto la patente..! :D

Richter and Gilels play it the way i was fortunate enough to learn it from a student of Rachmaninoff. Of the two, Giles plays it closest to how I heard it played as she taught it to me.

I like horowitz's version but don't think any of them are better than the others, they all interpret it in different ways, music is NOT a competition.

For me no doubt Benno Moiseiwitsch comes first followed by Guilels and Horowitz. they are the most close to the taste of Rachmaninoff. the composers version is missing here.

could have included Rachmaninoff’s own version lol, still cool af

The second guy was a disaster. It's music, not a speed contest.

I will give the first price to Richter! .... even though, I am a great admirer of Gilels.

Richter, then Gilels. I regret never hearing him play Rachmaninoff’s 3rd piano concerto.does anyone know of a recording?

For me Gilels !!!

1. Emil Gilels 2. Szvatoszlav Richter
A többi felejthető.

Moiseiwistch's interpretation is very clean, he brings out the voices in the left hand arpeggio part.

Ritcher's interpretation is very natural on terms of rythm. Not rushed, no rubato insertion, just the perfect flow of his music. His variety of dynamics make the performance very enjoyable, motivational.

Rahmaninov played the best version

This is my all-time favourite piano piece and all the piano performers are absolute perfect, and my favourite pianist in this recording is Sviatoslav Richter, and probably recorded in 1959, is my all-time favourite of Rachmaninov`s music as well as Chopin, my favourite composer of piano music.

¡Qué cinco pianistas! Excelente selección

Ah ah, Simon Barere, full of testosterone

Surely the fastest must be the best. Horowitz's 3 minutes and 21 seconds is beaten by Barere's top time of 3 minutes and 16 seconds. I think he lost to much time on his opening and in the middle part he kind a drifted away from the top time, but i am not an expert. /s