I knew that some list members would take exception to my posting, and
that's only natural.

Jeffrey S. Hall wrote:

>You left Kissin AND Volodos off your list?  I think you will regret
>having done this in years to come.

Why? Am I going to be fined for omitting them? If my opinion does change
in the future, I'll be glad to state so and without any regret for my past
satements.  Besides, it's just a list of preferences, not a list of
"executions" to be carried out.

Sami Klein wrote:

>Don Satz's list leaves off Richard Goode, one of my favorites.

I'm glad he's somebody's favorite; he's just not mine.  I'm very familiar
with Goode in Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart.  He's an excellent pianist, but
he doesn't take me to any heights like some others do whom I included on my
list.

Deryk Barker wrote:

>How about two major active pianists you have omitted: Marc-Andre
>Hamelin and Grigor Sokolov.

I totally forgot about Hamelin - haven't been listening to him lately.
He'd easily be in my top ten.  Sokolov, unlike Goode, is a distintive
pianist.  I was close to bringing him into the fold.

Joseph Previte wrote:

>Moravec is still alive, well, and recording.

I'm aware of this, but I tried to leave out pianists who, although alive,
are already more in the historical category.  If I had included him, he'd
be my number 2 behind Brendel.

Luis Alfonso wrote:

>I also missed Kissin.  And Maria Joao Pires and Pascal Roge.

Pires is also excellent, and I have many of her recordings.  Again, she
does not take me to any musical heights.  I tend to think of Roge as a
French music specialist and I love his Poulenc and Ravel.  I left him off
the list in consideration of the rather limited repertoire which is not one
of my highest priorities.

Summing up, every pianist mentioned by the above list members is excellent
or better.  But, a list of 20 is not large and will necessarily omit some
fine individuals.

Don Satz
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