Question: I am amused by the story of Beethoven dueling another composer in Vienna, in which he takes the other composer's music, puts it upside down, and proceeds to humiliate him. I feel as though keyboardists with that kind of talent must exist nowadays, but they are perhaps not as popular as they once were.

Do we have such "Rockstar" pianists in the modern age? Who are they?

Answer: 
One of my favorite up-and-coming pianist/composers is Aysedeniz Gokcin. Not yet 30 years old, she's someone who combines a marvelous piano technique with impressive compositional skills. 

Here's her "Pink Floyd Lisztified," an arrangement of some of Pink Floyd's songs in the manner of Liszt:
[Jordan Rudess](http://www.jordanrudess.com/) (Dream Theater) is an impressive keyboarder and a true wizard, maybe not quite as famous as Beethoven. He's not only an accomplished piano virtuoso, he's also constantly pushing the boundaries of his instrument, e.g. by controlling and designing sounds in innovative ways such as with the Haken Continuum and his iPad apps.