Rating: 
Summary: by and large the value of a cd-sampler
Review: patchy work that offers no requital as a whole since the only value is around the footage-inserts themselves--alas too brief.being of real value, most of the inserts could make good pointers for future exploration into archives. too bad nobody is bringing the original pieces back to life in their entirety. maybe this movie is another way for the studios to (see how much they can) squeeze out these gems.
Rating: 
Summary: Art of Piano - Great Pianists of the 20th Century VHS
Review: Simply the best video I've ever purchased. Worth every penny I paid for it. Strongly recommended to anyone who wants to see great pianists in action. Absolutely stunning.
Rating: 
Summary: Above average coverage of some of the great pianists
Review: The Art of Piano is a DVD documentary on some of the great pianists. If you are interested in classical music or piano solo music, it's likely that you have heard of some or all of the covered pianists -- e.g. Sviatoslav Richter, Glenn Gould, Arthur Rubenstein, and Claudio Arrau.
The narrative begins with Ignaz Paderewski and ends with Claudio Arrau, and in between those two you get a brief view into the pianists' playing styles with anecdotes from conducters, pianists, composers and the like. At times, the quality is very bad due to old footage, but recent interviews are also featured, for example with Evgeny Kissin.
I can only recommend this DVD to pianist at all levels, because you can see how the piano really should be mastered. Advanced pianist can use it as a constant reference to different playing styles (flat finger position like Glenn Gould and Horowitz, bench heigth etc.), and pianists at beginner level can look at great awe at the masterful technique and emotion that these players are capable of evoking.
The reason I didn't give 5 stars is: a) The overall quality of the documentary is not that great: some pianists are merely mentioned, while others get more length; b) Some great pianists are missed as other reviewers has mentioned; c) Finally, there's no extra material whatsoever, and the duration is only 108 minutes.
However, I still recommend it to pianists, people with interest in classical music, and teachers.
Rating:
Summary: Not bad, not great
Review: There are some fascinating moments in this recording, for example Horowitz playing his wonderful Carmen variations (marvellous to see although there is a bizarre bit of editing where you momentarily see some footage of Horowitz playing something that doesn't match with the sound!) There is also some stupendous footage of Cziffra playing the Grand Gallope Chromatique. I found the whole thing rather charming, but not at all profound. It is really a collection of thumbnail sketches of the various pianists included (and I agree with the other reviewer who commented that some notable great pianists seem to have been left out). Not bad.
Rating:
Summary: Nice!
Review: This DVD is definitely cool! Let's have a look at the great stuff: - nice commentary and interviews from many 'greats'
- unbelievable amounts of cool ancient footage which I haven't seen before (admittedly, I'm not widely knowledgeable in this area)
- pretty nice editing.. good mix of enjoyable music with commentary... Negatives? I don't know.. maybe... - the limitations (in detail particularly) of it being a 1.5 hour movie..
- not entirely sure if it's of good journalistic value.. eg Cortot seems to be praised much more than criticised... not a balanced view.. It's great.. piano music fans need to get this!!
Rating: 
Summary: Out of sync audio ruins potential treasure
Review: This DVD is unwatchable. Its OK if I close my eyes. But that somehow defeats the purpose. I purchased two copies -- one as a gift -- and I'm returning both. I didn't notice comments about sync problems on the VHS. Is the VHS OK?
Rating:
Summary: Out of sync audio ruins potential treasure
Review: This DVD is unwatchable. Its OK if I close my eyes. But that somehow defeats the purpose. I purchased two copies -- one as a gift -- and I'm returning both. I didn't notice comments about sync problems on the VHS. Is the VHS OK?
Rating:
Summary: What amazing footage!!! Priceless
Review: This is a great DVD with some of the most amazing footage I have ever seen. First, there is video of Josef Hofmann playing Rachmaninoff's prelude op.3 no.2 in it's entirety. Then there's the stunning Cziffra playing Liszt's Grand Gallope Chromatique faster than I thought possible. Also Richter plays Chopin's etude Op10 No12 in like 1 minute 50 seconds. No complaints about any of the content in this documentary. My only complaint is that EVERY piece of footage is completely wrecked(on the DVD, at least) by the fact that the video and audio are almost 1 second out of sync. Most people wouldn't notice. But it is very noticable to a pianist and it is annoying, almost to the point where I feel like going out and buying the VHS edition. Other than that, a marvelous video.
Also If you are a big classical music fan, pick up the ART of VIOLIN. Another amazing video.
Rating:
Summary: Where is the DVD release?
Review: This is a wonderful film as it has been broadcasted a few times on PBS featuring many greatest pianists of the 20th century. But I am anxiously waiting for the DVD release of this film and other DVD releases performed by players featured in the film.
Rating:
Summary: I give it ten stars
Review: This is an absolute treasure! If you love the piano and great pianists, you WILL buy it. Highlights for me were Horowitz playing his Carmen variations (took my breath away) and Glenn Gould playing a movement from a Bach concerto (downright erotic, that was!) Also nice to see and hear from so many living pianists--just wish we could have heard them play something too, but I know that wasn't the idea.
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