Accompanists on Accompanists

Thanks, to the new Gramophone Archive, there are a huge number of articles about the world of classical music that are now online and searchable. Here's one fascinating article from page 38 of the February 2006 issue--The Expert's Expert: Essential Accompanists, in which many of the world's top collaborative pianists talk about their own favorite collaborators. Here's Martin Katz's contribution:

My choice will come as no surprise. I considered nominating several others: I love Bengt Forsberg's partnering of anything Von Otter does; I admire Malcolm Martineau's work enormously; Benjamin Britten is as wonderful an accompanist as he is a composer; I adore the playing of Jacqueline Bonneau on early Souzay recordings. But I must stick to my very first thought: Gerald Moore. He is the master of tone-control, understatement, elegance, dexterity. Schubert's accompaniments, which can be so mechanical in lesser hands, turn into endlessly fascinating canvases in Moore's, and straddle that delicate balance of classic and romantic so perfectly.