Piano

Sviatoslav Richter illuminates the three contrasting movements of Schumann's grand work, mixing luminosity of tone with fluid virtuosity of touch.

Long and introspective, Schubert's late masterwork is well served on disc, but no collection should be without the wondrous beauty of Clifford Curzon's playing.

Rich in their vein of Russian melancholy, the Preludes demand poetry and technical bravura, and receive both in one of Vladimir Ashkenazy's crowning achievements on disc.

Atmospheric and pictorial, Debussy's Preludes [FIRST E ACUTE] are brought into vivid, witty and poetic focus by the brilliant Polish pianist Krystian Zimerman.

The folk music roots of the composer's work are encapsulated here as part of a dazzling all-Bartok [O ACUTE] recital by this most enigmatic and brilliant of Hungarian pianists.

One of the greatest pianists of the 20th century, Glenn Gould devoted his first major recording to the Goldbergs, but the more introspective version made in 1981, the year before his death, is widely considered to be his finest disc.

Isaac Albeniz's [E ACUTE] masterpiece, comprising 12 substantial pieces, has never been served better on disc than by the authentically Spanish pianism of Alicia de Larrocha.

'Argerich plays Chopin' is the emphasis on a recording where the interpreter sometimes comes before the composer, but this brilliant disc deserves its legendary appellation. Only 24 when she was captured playing at Abbey Road, shortly after winning the 1965 Warsaw Chopin competition, Argerich performs with such white-hot intensity that it scarcely feels like a studio recording. Her volcanic energy can leave you scrambling to keep up, but the Third Sonata is breathtaking in its spontaneity, and the smaller works (such as the Mazurkas) are richly imbued with Polish spirit.