Piano Sonata in B minor

Franz Liszt

B minor

Clifford Curzon /

1963

Gil's top choice. A 'really, really powerful interpretation' with 'very well recorded DECA sound.' Curzon 'married the virtuosity with the intellectual side,' showing 'powerful tone,' 'wonderful virtuosity,' and 'beautifully poetic' playing.

Sello: DECA

Martha Argerich /

1971

A 'very famous version.' 'Very strong and powerful and virtuosic, but very impassioned, too. She just goes for it.' Very well recorded.

Claudio Arrau /

1970

An 'iconic version.' 'Very romantically phrased, very powerful sonorities, beautiful legato playing... a very searching artist, very, very emotional,' and 'sumptuously recorded.'

Sviatoslav Richter /

1966 Live bootleg recording

A 'bootleg live recording' (coupled with his concertos). The sound is 'not ideal,' but 'it's really, really thrilling,' combining 'virtuosity, the powerful sonorities, along with a probing, searching, artistic mind.'

Vladimir Horowitz /

1932

'One of the classic piano solo recordings.' It shows his 'powerful sonorities,' 'incredible virtuosity' (he 'could just do anything'), and brings out the 'dramatic aspects of the work.'

Sello: EMI / Naxos

Simon Barere /

1947 Live at Carnegie Hall

Gil's 'desert island Liszt sonata.' A 'jaw-dropping' live performance that is 'off the charts' in its virtuosity, power, creativity, imagination, and spontaneity. Sound is 'not ideal.'