Cory has always had an interest in past influential pianists and the history of pianism. This page and its subpages explore the fascinating art and lives of the piano legends of the 20th century, also known as the “Golden Age” of piano. Modern-day pianists and piano students can gain invaluable insight from listening to historic recordings and watching video footage of legendary pianists of the past. These documents offer direct access to a wealth of interpretive traditions, stylistic nuances, and performance practices that shaped 20th-century pianism. By observing stylistic differences in interpretation, students can deepen their understanding of musical flexibility — qualities sometimes lost in overly standardized modern interpretations. Ultimately, engaging with these performances fosters not imitation, but inspiration —encouraging a balance between historical awareness and personal expression in contemporary piano playing.
Thank You to YouTube Creators!
This category and its hundreds of videos within would not have been possible without the existence of YouTube and its creators. WRP intends no copyright infringement with the embedding of videos from the following YouTube channels that specialize in historic recordings and performances. Thank you to all the YouTube creators on this list (and also to those not on the list). WRP recommends checking these YouTube channels out and subscribing if you like them!
• davidhertzberg — historic recordings (with scores)
• berlinzerberus — historic recordings and live performances (in German)
• Vladivostock 1969 — historic live video footage
• pianopera — historic recordings
• gullivior — historic recordings
• truecrypt — historic recordings
• The Piano Files — historic recordings and performances
• pianotreasures — audio recordings of great pianists
• op106 — audio and video recordings of great pianists
• Farrokhq17 — mostly Arrau videos
• Biggest Liberace Fan
• Classical Music / Reference Recordings
• Dave Hurwitz — The Ultimate Classical Music Guide
Pianist Hall of Fame — 458 videos
Biographical information and several selected videos that best represent the artist are supplied for each page, all hand-picked by Cory. Learning about the great pianists in history can be fun, fascinating, and rewarding! To qualify for this esteemed list, the artist must be deceased and have a distinguished reputation as a live and studio performer.
- The Art of Piano (Great Pianists of the 20th Century) — Full Documentary
- Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) — 1
- Vladimir de Pachman (1848-1933) — 7
- Teresa Carreño (1853-1917) — 4
- Ignacy Jan Paderewski (1860-1941) — 2
- Ferruccio Busoni (1866-1924) — 7
- Moriz Rosenthal (1862-1946) — 4
- Eugen d’Albert (1864-1932) — 5
- Leopold Godowsky (1870-1938) — 5
- Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) — 6
- Josef Lhévinne (1874-1944) — 7
- Josef Hofmann (1876-1957) — 7
- Alfred Cortot (1877-1962) — 7
- Olga Samaroff (1880-1948) — 4
- Myra Hess (1880-1965) — 6
- Rosina Lhévinne (1880-1976) — 6
- Egon Petri (1881-1962) — 7
- Ignaz Friedman (1882-1948) — 7
- Artur Schnabel (1882-1951) — 6
- Wilhelm Backhaus (1884-1969) — 6
- Edwin Fischer (1886-1960) — 5
- Artur Rubinstein (1887-1982) — 6
- Benno Moiseiwitsch (1890-1963) — 6
- Clara Haskil (1895-1960) — 7
- Guiomar Novaes (1895-1979) — 7
- Walter Gieseking (1895-1956) — 4
- Wilhelm Kempff (1895-1991) — 7
- Maria Yudina (1899-1970) — 7
- Robert Casadesus (1899-1972) — 7
- Vladimir Sofronitsky (1901-1961) — 7
- Solomon (1902-1988) — 6
- Vladimir Horowitz (1903-1989) — 8
- Claudio Arrau (1903-1991) — 6
- Rudolf Serkin (1903-1991) — 7
- Grigory Ginzburg (1904-1961) — 4
- Clifford Curzon (1907-1982) — 6
- Art Tatum (1909-1956) — 7
- Shura Cherkassky (1909-1995) — 7
- Nikita Magaloff (1912-1992) — 6
- Rudolf Firkušný (1912-1994) — 6
- Jorge Bolet (1914-1990) — 6
- Rosalyn Tureck (1914-2003) — 4
- Earl Wild (1915-2010) — 9
- Sviotaslav Richter (1915-1997) — 6
- Moura Lympany (1916-2005) — 7
- Emil Gilels (1916-1985) — 6
- Dinu Lipatti (1917-1950) — 6
- Liberace (1919-1987) — 7
- Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (1920-1995) — 7
- György Cziffra (1921-1994) — 6
- William Kapell (1922-1953) — 6
- Abbey Simon (1920-2019) — 5 (Cory received instruction from the legendary Mr. Simon in masterclasses and attended his wonderful concerts in the 1990s!)
- Géza Anda (1921-1976) — 7
- Alicia de Larrocha (1923-2009) — 8
- Samson François (1924-1970) — 7
- Oscar Peterson (1925-2007) — 7
- Aldo Ciccolini (1925-2015) — 6
- Richard Farrell (1926-1958) — 6
- Julius Katchen (1926-1969) — 5
- Paul Badura-Skoda (1927-2019) — 4
- Jörg Demus (1928-2019) — 7
- Leon Fleischer (1928-2020) — 6
- Alexis Weissenberg (1929-2012) — 6
- Lazar Berman (1930-2005) — 7
- Ivan Moravec (1930-2015) — 7
- Alfred Brendel (1931-2025) — 7
- Glenn Gould (1932-1982) — 6
- John Browning (1933-2003) — 8
- Peter Nero (1934-2023) — 7
- Van Cliburn (1934-2013) — 6
- John Ogdon (1937-1989) — 7
- Maurizio Pollini (1942-2024) — 8
- Nelson Freire (1944-1921) — 7
- Radu Lupu (1945-2022) — 7
- Andre Watts (1946-2023) — 7
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