RE: Über Chopin, Rachmaninow und mich. Und über Beethoven. Teile II und III. / About Chopin, Rachmaninoff and me. And about Beethoven. Parts II and III.
Hi, I just found this post from Thoth, here. I'm sorry I missed it when you posted, but I'm glad I stumbled on it 5 years later.
I never actually enjoyed classical music until @cmp2020 (my son) studied piano and composition as a student. Classical music grew on me after that, though, and now I enjoy much of it, especially from the Baroque era. I'll take Bach or Vivaldi over today's "pop" - 100%.
On the pianists you mention, I enjoyed Chopin when @cmp2020 was working on those pieces. Debussy, not so much, though. Not sure if I ever listened to much by Rachmaninoff, Shostakovich or Ravel. IIRC, Rachmaninoff had an advantage over many pianists because his fingers were quite long, and he took advantage of it in his compositions. He intentionally wrote compositions that most other pianists of his time couldn't play because of their shorter finger-span.
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