https://youtu.be/ngNKPqiC-RM

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5831690&forum_id=2...id#49651076)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcendental_Études

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5831690&forum_id=2...id#49653287)

Berezovsky

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5831690&forum_id=2...id#49653310)

In fact any Liszt performed by Cziffra

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5831690&forum_id=2...id#49653290)

With that in mind, the "golden age" of Liszt interpretations was in the mid-to-late 20th century, with a few, more recent exceptions like Marc-Andre Hamelin.

I would have to recommend Cziffra or Horowitz as the finest interpreters of this particular Hungarian Rhapsody. Cziffra if you want to hear someone who's unfazed by the technical challenges of the piece, and Horowitz if you want the "flashy" performance.

Hamelin's most notable recording is hard to compare to others as his has a sizable cadenza added by Hamelin himself, so it strays from the piece as originally intended. His recording, however, does demonstrate the peak of piano virtuosity in the most recent decades.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5831690&forum_id=2...id#49653317)

He's arguably the most gifted pianist of his generation, and the cadenza he adds here is one demonstration of that.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5831690&forum_id=2...id#49653321)

For me it's Rachmaninoff etudes-tableaux, Kissin playing Bach's Chaconne, Gould playing Bach, Rubinstein playing Chopin, Brahms: 4 Ballades, Op.10 (Kovacevich, Michelangeli, Tiberghien, Zimerman)

Ashish Xiangyi Kumar (video taken down)

- will keep thinking and update.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5831690&forum_id=2...id#49653499)

I have to admit that, for solo piano, I have a preference for pieces from the 20th/21st centuries, and that type of music is not as "easy" to pick up as the composers you mention. I fell in love with more modern classical music as a freshman in high school, and I still love it today. So I usually need to give a warning that this music is definitely not for everyone and sometimes garners a very negative reaction.

With that out of the way, I can list off three favorites for solo piano:

"Evryali" by Iannis Xenakis, performed by Takahashi (should be on YouTube).

Charles Ives's Piano Sonata no. 2 (AKA the "Concord Sonata"), particularly Stephen Drury's recording from about 15 years ago. Doubt you can find this online today.

Coincidentally, another Piano Sonata no.2 is another favorite, but this one being composed by Kaikhosru Sorabji. There's only one recording of this, and you definitely can't find it online.

Happy to upload those recordings if you're still curious. I would add a warning that Ives gives the pianist extensive artistic freedom in interpretation of his sonata, so two recordings can sound very different. I think Drury's recording is the definitive, flawless recording.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5831690&forum_id=2...id#49653541)

Ives Piano Sonata no. 2: https://files.catbox.moe/b12koz.mp3

Sorabji Piano Sonata no. 2: https://files.catbox.moe/u3jeu8.mp3

Usually this is too bizarre and dissonant for most people.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5831690&forum_id=2...id#49653628)

I'm not sure if that's one of Liszt's best pieces, but I like it because the melody for la folia is classic and I think it's great that he worked it in there in a new place, like a throwback or an homage or a reinterpretation.

This version dating from ~1672

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1ngcsx1Drs

Plenty of other versions, history here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folia

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5831690&forum_id=2...id#49653468)