The Great Pianists: From Mozart to the Present

From Mozarts fabulous legato that flowed like oil to Beethovens oceanlike surge, from Clara Schumanns touch sharp as a pencil sketch to Rubinsteins volcanic and sensual playing, The Great Pianists brings to life the brilliant, stylish, and sometimes eccentric personalities, methods, and technical peculiarities of historys greatest pianists.

Pulitzer Prizewinning critic and author Harold C. Schonberg presents vivid accounts of the artists performances, styles, and even their personal lives and quirky characteristics such as Mozarts intense competition with Clementi, Lizsts magnetic effect on women (when he played, ladies flung their jewels on stage), and Gottschalks persistent nailbiting, which left the keys covered with blood.

Including profiles of Horowitz and Van Cliburn, among others, and chapters detailing the playing and careers of such modern pianists as de Larrocha, Ashkenazy, Gilels, Gould, Brendel, Bolet, Gutierrez, and Watts, The Great Pianists is a comprehensive and fascinating look at legendary performers past and present.