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Great pianists have an aura about them like no other musician. Working their magic on the 88 keys in front of them in repertoire ranging from brilliantly crafted Bach and mercurial Mozart to the flamboyant fireworks of Liszt and Rachmaninov, they inspire admiration and adulation in equal measure.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/section> \u00a0<\/p>\n But who are the greatest players to have plied their trade in the era of recorded sound (ie since around the beginning of the 20th century)? We asked 100 of today\u2019s finest pianists to have their say \u2013 three votes each \u2013 and here is the list that resulted\u2026<\/p>\n Arrau\u2019s talent at eight was so advanced, the Chilean government paid for him to go to Berlin for the best teacher, and for the next few years Martin Krause, a Liszt<\/a> pupil, was a father to him, introducing him to a vast range of culture, and helping him develop his transcendental technique.<\/p>\n When Krause died in 1918 Arrau was bereft, and went into psychoanalysis. Gradually he built up an immense international reputation, especially after World War II. Though he could play dazzling virtuoso pieces with the best of his rivals, his real concern was ever more searching, probing of the greatest works, above all Beethoven<\/a> and \u2013 at the end of his life, since he regarded Schubert<\/a> as \u2018the supreme challenge\u2019 \u2013\u00a0Schubert<\/a>\u00a0in his last masterpieces for piano.<\/a><\/p>\n Arrau was the Faustian among pianists, always dissatisfied and disturbed, while cultivating a warmth and a unique depth of tone. At times his playing was overlaid with self-consciousness to an almost suffocating extent, but in the deepest music he has very few peers.<\/p>\n At the end of his life he made a series of recordings which deserve a life-time\u2019s listening. He found far more in\u00a0Liszt<\/a>\u00a0than most, so his recording of the Transcendental Studies is a superb way to get deep into both composer and pianist.<\/p>\n20 best pianists of all time<\/h2>\n
20. Claudio Arrau (1903-1991), Chilean<\/h3>\n