In the March 12th edition of the NY Times, there is an article about the sound engineers of Yamaha re-creating the piano sounds of Glenn Gould playing his legendary 1955 recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/12/arts/music/12conn.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=all
According to the article, many friends and admirers of Glenn Gould were greatly impressed by the efforts of Yamaha's engineers.
The next project of Yamaha's engineers will be to re-create the piano virtuosity of the inimitable Art Tatum playing some of his famous solos.
During his lifetime, Art Tatum was considered by many Jazz musicians and critics to be the greatest Jazz pianist who ever lived. His dazzling speed and dexterity, innovative and intricate harmonies and effortless improvisations have never been equaled. Many who never saw him in person, but only heard him on recordings, were convinced there must have been two people playing.
In fact, there were many famous classical pianists and musicians who were awe-struck by his virtuosity. George Gershwin, a good friend and admirer, used to host parties for his classical friends where Tatum was the guest performer. Gershwin reported that one time the Russian pianist and composer Sergei Rachmaninoff heard Tatum play and said afterwards that he was the greatest pianist he ever heard in any genre.
Andre Previn, the classical pianist and conductor, who was a great admirer of Tatum, tells the story of Vladimir Horowitz inviting Art Tatum to his appartment to listen to Horowitz' latest improvisation. Horowitz used to feature a number of show-stopping improvisations in his concerts - most notably: "The Stars and Stripes Forever", and "Humoresque".
Anyhow, on this occasion, Horowitz thought he had finally created a showpiece that would surpass all the rest. For six months, he had developed and practiced a dazzling and extremely difficult improvisation of "Tea Fro Two".
When Horowitz finished playing, Tatum is reported to have said, "That's very good. But this is how I would play it." He then sat down and improvised a version of "Tea for Two" that left Horowitz so intimidated he never played his version in public again. When he asked Tatum for a copy of his transcription, Tatum replied that he did not have any because he never played it the same way twice.
Horowitz used to listen to Art Tatum frequently in the Jazz clubs in NYC. On at least one occasion, he brought his father-in-law, the famous conductor, Arturo Toscannini, who was also greatly impressed by Tatum's piano artistry. Among other classical artists, the conductor Leopold Stokowski was also a great admirer of Art Tatum.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Tatum
Warmest regards,
Barney