jhar26

Some of the best of the last 50 years or so include Martha Argerich, Vladimir Horowitz, Emil Gilels, Mitsuko Uchida, Sviatoslav Richter, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Murray Perahia, Andras Schiff and Alfred Brendel. And there were/are others who are equally as good or come close.

As for Chopin, Liszt, Mozart, Beethoven and those guys, I'm sure they must have been great pianists, but since we have no recordings it's impossible to say for sure just HOW great they were and how they would compare to the pianists that have left a recorded legacy.

Hexenritt

That may be true, but Mozart was a Prodigy, Lizst could play his own works (which as we all know, are amazing and EXTREMELY difficult), Beethoven was a piano virtuoso, and Chopin, though a drunk, was good enough to write his delicious music.

I think it's safe to say that Modern day recorded pianists are on par to the composers whose music they are playing, but it's almost disrespectful to imply that these people weren't as good as we think they are.

They are famous for a reason, and back then, you couldn't get a computer to play your music for you.