Some of the best of the last 50 years or so include Martha Argerich, Vladimir Horowitz, Emil Gilels, Mitsuko Uchida, Sviatoslav Richter, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Murray Perahia, Andras Schiff and Alfred Brendel. And there were/are others who are equally as good or come close.
As for Chopin, Liszt, Mozart, Beethoven and those guys, I'm sure they must have been great pianists, but since we have no recordings it's impossible to say for sure just HOW great they were and how they would compare to the pianists that have left a recorded legacy.
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