When I was 16 (45 years ago, lol) and living in Chicago, I had a crush on a girl who liked to play classical music. I heard a "big pianist" was coming to town so bought two "stage" tickets since the rest were sold out, asked her out, but was rejected, so went with my dad. Turns out the "stage" tickets were for seats on the actual stage, and the "big pianist" was none other than Vladimir Horowitz. In the first half he played Clementi and Schumann and for the second half, ended it with his rendition of the Mephisto Waltz. I will never forget it...the last notes, he just ran his hands down the piano in opposite directions and ended up in a crucifix-type position before looking up. The crowd went nuts...we were all on our feet--except for this elderly lady who was sitting next to me, didn't stand, and was kind of scowling. I then asked her what was "wrong" or if she needed a hand to stand up. She replied "No, I'll sit. He plays it much better at home." When Horowitz turned to acknowledge the group of us on stage, he saw me whispering with his wife and sort of threw me a little smile...like "Yeah, I know"...he then went on to play 6 or 7 encores. Anyway, that was my very first taste of "real" classical piano, and though I never learned to play, became a huge classical piano addict ever since that day (and eventually all classical in general). I really don't need to see the whole slew of others playing the Mephisto Waltz to know my absolute favorite (though it is cool to hear different interpretations)...that first time with Horowitz driving the keys was IMO absolutely definitive, and can still hear every note in my mind today (and yes, it was much better than the recording he released of it afterward).

the contrast of Sultanov's playing is just amazing WOW genius

Lugansky, Sultanov, and Lim 👌

Lim makes it sound so easy it's just unfair for the rest of the world.

When Alexis Sultanov won the Cliburn Competition in 1989, he played this piece and broke a string! he was so powerful!! Like a shooting star he fizzed out because of his terrible Neurological condition!.

Yunchan Lim... wow! The speed, accuracy, and articulation!! I also vote, Stephen Hough. (Though not sure there is a Live video. His early recording... and seeing him live playing a 'Halloween' concert. (In the late 90s)

Horowitz jumpscare

Only Nicolas Economou nails that piece in every detail.

I'm honestly quite disappointed that Cyprien Katsaris' recording of Mephisto Waltz isn't on this list. I'd heard most of these recordings of the piece, and when I heard Cyprien's... I was dumbfounded. He makes this part of the piece sound like it's a warmup. It's flawless, more speed than anyone on this list, has an incredibly clean tone, etc. Cyprien is sadly very underrated in my opinion. He takes what many of these pianists tried to do, and did it with little to no effort.

I absolutely love this !!!!!!!!

Tiempo, Lugansky, Richter, Ashkenazy, Matsuez, Nojima & Yunchan’s performances are outstanding. Especially Ashkenazy makes my jar drop.

John Ogdon's 1976 Moscow recital is the best Mephisto 1 I've ever heard - it's online somewhere. There's also an amusing bit where his glasses are slipping off so he promptly pushes them back on before the double glissando.

I have never heard of Gryaznov but his playing here was one of the best in my opinion, same goes for mr Nojima

Lugansky, Matsuev, Debarque, and Yunchan Lim: Jaw drop. Richter and Lewenthal: Bull in a china shop. Just kidding. I adore Richter. :) Trifonov: I'm not his fan, but despite a couple of slips, his leggierissimo was insane. "Leggiero" makes it more difficult. Ashkenazy: Jesus take the wheel. Pogorelich: Very good for his post-retirement era. Also... "I don't know what 'leggiero' means." Horowitz: He's a legend in every way, but this piece was far from ready.

My favorites are Gryaznov, Lugansky, Sultanov, and Lim

Horowitz scared the shit out of me 😭

it suddenly struck me as extremely amusing - humans love to play the same pieces for piano, millions and millions of times over, but we (succeed or not) mostly all have fun trying to do it, obsessing over it, losing sleep and hair over it, drive ourselves half crazy over it, but we love it.

For me, Horowitz, Pogorelich and Sultanov. No wonder, three nuts.

I believe Nicolas Economou has a live recording in video... and it is one hell of a recording, I dare to say.

Good ol’ Khatia. You can always count on her to blast her way through at maximum speed. Don’t understand why that always seems to be her focus. 😂

Nikolay Lugansky’s live in Japan 1991 is incredible

Lim = Legend ! Malofeev is ver elegant also

Man, I love Trifonov's playing, but he is the reason why Couperin suggested that keyboard students look at their faces in a mirror while they play.

Ashkenazy practically slowed down time to play those leaps that fast O_O

Sultanov!!!!

You should check out Valentina Lisista’s leaps! Among these you have here, my favorite is Sultanov.

Gryaznov's devilish sound is my favorite

It’s Vladimir Horowitz.. you just don’t get it

6:05 its both interesting and enjoyable that cziffra "plays" with the rhythmic phrasing in this excrept

When I hear this I feel really good about my take on thèse leaps

Best overall I feel was Yunchan Lim, followed by Lucas Debargue and Sergio Tiempo.

I love Claudio Arrau's version! So stylish. Lazar Berman is my second choice.

Some of these might have needed to reconsider having this in their repertoire?

Everyone listens to the octave leaps in the right hand but ignores the left hand! Pianists (including me) tend to get paranoid about audible fluffs in the right hand, but then end up fluffing the left hand instead (or as well).

John Ogdon in Moscow is the best Mephisto ever captured live.

why is no one mentioning buniatishvili's playing

My god Pogorelich makes it sound like ragtime

All of them are very impressive. To me, the ones that stand out are Trifonov, Lugansky, Nojima, Horowitz, and Sultanov. Trifonov, Lugansky, and Nojima because they play in such a dry way, which is refreshing after hearing lots of heavily pedaled versions. Horowitz is interesting because he plays so slowly, which completely changes the vibe from thrilling to menacing. And I’m a bit biased toward Sultanov, because he’s my teacher’s favorite pianist, but I still think his version is the most powerful and exciting of the lot-especially the rinforzandos!

Lim!!!!

But don't forget the leaps in the LEFT HAND, some of which are greater than an octave!

Lazar Berman was probably my favorite out of all of these clips. I think most of the younger pianists just take it really fast and fake most of it... it doesn't hit quite the same.

I love how Lugansky makes it sound like Mendelssohn in seizure.

Lubyantsev is missing!! He has the best performance of this part

Im really surprised that Dmitry Shishkin isn't on this list, imo he has the best Mephisto watlz, but other than him I'd have to say I like how clean Sultanov because of his more full sound.

I realized these 20th-century masters (ie. Horowitz, Rubinstein, Wild) didn't play them the cleanest or the fastest, probably like how the composers would have played them. These new pianists are just so good (technically speaking)

Tiempo is my OG for this piece.

Should be said, that Yunchan was 16 in this recording. But also that it’s not a live recording of him.

The only two I heard get all the notes correct were Ugansky and Malofeev.

Can hear mistakes is quite a few of the recordings shown here, how ridiculously difficult to have to try to play it flawlessly though, especially if you were recording it in a studio for a new album or something, unless they can edit out mistakes of course, but live you’d expect some slips etc… yuja wang is very accurate with that speed though and I don’t hear any mistakes so she’s not human!

I really like this piece, and was excited to find this video. But IMHO the audio track of this video has a problem, a kind of echo or some mixed up parts or something. Not during the full length, only at some parts, like at Horowtz. Or am I wrong?

Richter ❤

Gryaznov, Arrau, Cziffra and Sultanov made the Mephisto come to life. Now we are possessed.

You would never guess from some of these that this passage is marked p to begin with

S Richter, D matzueve, G ohlsson, Y Lim. Stand out! I must admit Y c Lim has unbelievable clarity!!!

My choice: Horowitz , Pogorelich, Sultanov, Cziffra. With 1 st prize for Vladimir Horowitz meaning it ain’t necessary to play faster to create urgency 😅

I think Horowitz embodies the spirit of Mephistopheles the best

Katsaris's version. Starts slower but the leaps (8'26) are super fast and clear. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/hLp3ZpSnu8fIZp8.html

BRUH- WHERE IS GIUSEPPE ANDALORO... HIS INTERPRETATION AND PERFORMANCE IS SO SATISFYING!

I was really surprised at Horowitz's much slower and deliberate playing of this passage. Nevertheless, it was enjoyable to hear ALL the notes in the section. Too many of pianists overused the damper to cover their inability to play the correct notes at a much faster tempo.

I really like Pogorelich here

Yunchan Lim wins i guess🎉 But definitely there is amazing performance of Katsaris.

For my money Sultanov, Gryaznov and Hough (not on this list) play this passage the best. The leaps themselves are not even the main difficulty, it's executing the intended effect of light/dark contrast within the leaps, and the aforementioned pianists did it best in my opinion.

waldstein third mvt. octave glissando different pianists next?

Cziffra 1958 is missing...

Speaking of leaps, I'm thinking of the coda of a certain Schumann piece.

Great list, but I think it's a crime not to include Katsaris's and Grynyuk's interpretations. The way they both play the leaps is just wild!...

There seems to be an arbitrary error in the selection of recordings. Matsuev is misspelled in the commentary.

Где Плетнёв?

John Ogdon ?!?!?

It's interesting to listen back to back like this. Sadly, I have to say my favourite is Horowitz, he's original, his version is the embodiment of Mephisto. Most people play at a speed at which you don't actually hear the leap anymore, it just sounds as appoggiaturas. I respect how much Horowitz doesn't give a f*uck and just plays the way he wants.

3:55, who tf was that? Why’s he thumping out the bass like that?? 😂

Andrè Laplante is the finest out of all these and for the whole piece in general. Should have been included in my opinion

Not including Andre Laplante is a criminal offence

How can Horowitz sound like he is practicing at slow speed?

Ashkenazy hands down, truly DEVILISH

3:05 --> Leslie Nielsen

You can't put together live with studio recording performances.

1 Ashkenazy 2 Lewenthal 3 Gryaznov

evgeni kissin

1,4,6,7,8,18,22,24🎉😂

Katsaris+orchestra>>>>>>>

Malofeev wins this one by a landslide for me

Where is dmitriy shishkin? _Katsaris_?

A la mayoría le falta claridad...la versión de Horowitz es la única que tiene claridad, velocidad y explosión tonal

Richter of course. Only one.

Andre Laplante's recording of the Mephisto Waltz without doubt is the greatest rendition of this piece... Even the Leap section holds substance, it's fast but not extremely fast where you can hear pianists rush.

Junchan Lim wins. Flawless victory 😎

My vote goes to Gryaznov

This comparison doesn't seem to show Horowitz in a good light. May I put it to you, gentlemen of the jury that, in that choice of tempo, Horowitz was the only one who remembered the piece is a waltz?

Rubinstein's was quite unique with its use of pedal

It may be of historical interest to note that in the early 1960s the peerless and short-lived piano connoisseur Jan Holcman, who had heard absolutely every performance up till then, was awed by Ashkenazy's traversal of this passage. Since then many pianists have adopted Ashkenazy's prestissimo approach. Before him, though, few if any attempted it. However, this approach can be overdone, as is the case with the Olympic gymnast Ms. Khatia B, who here as usual plays presto possibile ma non con musicalita.

Lugansky was great, he sounds very precise, crisp and leggiero, slightly more impressive than Trifonov. Nojima sounds great too. And Yunchan is amazing as well.

Of this video I like ashkenazy the best, my favorite is Cziffra but the recording in the video is quite mediocre

The best is Nicolas Economou, here not present.

Shishkin did this best

Sultanov best interpretation

No, this is not the most difficult section of the piece! The most difficult, technically (in terms of sound and articulation) and musically, is the only climax of the entire work that comes right after this section. Comparing performances of this section by so many pianists is utterly pointless. Horowitz plays safe, wisely (because of his age) in this section, but clearly stands out at the climax, making it a real, staggering climax like no one else.

When you play something as difficult as Mephisto Valts at such a fast speed it usually ends up dirty. It is better to go a little slower and make what you are playing understandable.

kissin???

wtf was horowitz on