Women musicians have it easier today. There are many famous women musicians now. Pianists Martha Argerich is a living legend and Yuja Wang is a superstar who deserves her fame (I have heard her many times and she always delivered). Mitsuko Uchida and Maria Joao Pires are now elder stateswomen, with less showy and narrower repertoire that they hone to perfection (too bad the great Alicia de Laroccha had passed; almost all her recordings are worthwhile. The ones on Decca are in resplendent sound; one little know gem is her Bach and Handel album). I also like wolf-warrior Helene Grimaud (DG). As for upstarts, I like old-fashioned Beatrice Rana (EMI), and am puzzled by the Yellow Label's support of Alice Sara-Ott (likely more popular in Japan, as she is half Japanese). While we are on DG, let me gratuitously lament their support for duo pianists Jussen brothers, whose recordings are totally superfluous. Yes, they are handsome, but hey (come to think of it, I am not so crazy about the Labeque Sisters either; older piano duos show more finesse)! And then two attractive Lady Firebrands, Valentina Lisitisa and Katia Buniastivili. The former shot to fame through her own efforts on recording and the internet and was taken up by Decca, but I like most of her recordings (Decca). Not so the latter, who no doubt has a phenomenal techinque and whom I may like to hear live, but her complete distortion of the score (on whatever she plays) is a travesty to composers and does not fare well on repeated listening (Sony). Violinists Come to think of it, there are way more star women violinists than pianists! In fact, they seem to dominate the scene even more than men. Julia Fischer, Janine Jansen, Hliary Hahn, Lisa Batiashvili, Nicola Benedetti I have all heard live and they are the real thing. On recordings I always enjoyed Arabella Steinbacher (mostly Pentatone and some Orfeo) and sometimes the eclectic twosome, Alina Ibragimova (Hyperion) and Patricia Kopatchinskaja (Alpha). If you ask me, this younger generation is more exciting than the older one: Victoria Mullova and Midori I have heard live; the former somehow always edgy and the latter plain boring; Ann Sophie Mutter is always reliable but not too inspiring; better Kyung Wha Chung, who at her best is formidable, even today (recent individualistic recordings on EMI). I have also heard the excellent Kyoko Takezawa many times in HK (very elegant manner that many could learn from; her excellent RCA recordings are totally forgotten now), and there is no reason at all why someone like Anne Akiko Meyers is better known (not to mention Vanessa).
We are not even covering women musicians in jazz and pop. Legends like Nina Simone were trained classical pianists (hers is a unique story). Here, my favorite is Shirley Horn, whose late venture You won't forget me (Verve), with assists from a starry roster of jazz greats, is one of my favorites. Audiophiles will point to Diana Krall, but in both pianism and vocalism she's not in their class. I rather rate Patricia Barber's compositions and performances much higher (I don't like audiophile's preference for the rather generic Cafe Blue, instead much preferring something like her original Let it Rain on Companion). In pop, we have Alicia Keys. When it comes to jazz violin, admittedly a niche, I have a soft spot. One of my desert island picks is Ellington's Indigos, because of Ray Nance's incredibly nuanced playing on Autumn Leaves. Today, I like Regina Carter's playing.
Pianists The greatest classical re-issue box in the last years is that of Ruth Slenzynska (Eloquence/DG). Bar none: (1) because these were American Decca (divested from and unrelated to UK Decca) recordings (now owned by DG/Universal) that have remained out of print until now. For an LP collector like me, American Decca's are relatively rare, and Slenzynska extremely so; (2) because she is a supreme artist, touted in her days by all the piano greats but then fell into oblivion likely because she is female (the long-locked vaults of American Decca were to blame too). She is still alive, and playing superbly. I consider it one of the greatest luck of mine to have heard her some years ago in Taiwan in an (!) all-Brahms program. Can you imagine the difficulty in concentration? Yet I was mesmerized for the whole duration; I'd not expect to hear Brahms like this for the rest of my life. Behind me, her former student, now a professor, was sobbing - no greater testament for her artistry. Her simultaneously harrowing and uplifting autobiography Forbidden Childhood, which mainly chronicles her difficult early years as a prodigy, is, of course, like many great books, out-of-print in English, but strangely available in a Taiwan Chinese translation, which I read with tears of joy. If you are still into physical media, grab this box while you still can. She has also made some relatively recent recordings (Ivroy Classics) which should be treasured. Next, I turn to another neglected favorite, Reine Gianoli, whom I first encountered in her impeccable Mozart sonata cycle (Doremi, borrowed from the HK Library; later, I chanced upon an MCA gatefold LP re-issue of the original Westminster LPs for 2 bucks, and I was ecstatic, even if it was only half the cycle). Many of her recordings are still unavailable, but you can stream a few. Most notable is the re-issue box of her Schumann (Decca), which sets an example on how Schumann should be played - lively, considered, fluent, but not given to wanton impulses, like in so many modern performances. Rare and highly recommended. There are many others who have passed that I'd like to mention, but that will have to wait till the next installments.
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