I was wondering, as sometimes I do, what is the record for the biggest
hands ever to play piano. By this I mean concert pianists, not a seven
foot-tall basketballer who by chance is caught tinkling the ivories, though
not in any great detail.

And by biggest hands, I mean what key can they reach from middle C, i.e.
an octave, a tenth or whatever.

For the record, I can reach a tenth comfortable (Middle C to E an octave
higher).  I can reach an eleventh by cheating (having one's hand not
directly over the keyboard).  I have heard that the great Horowitz could
reach a twelfth which seems phenomenal to me (C to G!!).  Are there any
other legends of span-ability, like Liszt for example, I'm sure there are
perhaps a few myths about the size of his hands.

In this great quest for the biggest span, I realize, that is I have heard,
that big hands don't mean good pianist ...  I think I heard Pascal Roge say
this on the radio last Tuesday or something.

Anyway, hope someone can tell me a bit of trivia on this topic:)

-Mark Knezevic
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http://www.iinet.net.au/~dydx/