Never knew this about Cziffra...

[thalberg]

This is from wikipedia.....my gosh, those pianists of that generation really came up the hard way.  I bet many of you knew these things about Cziffra, but I just learned them and I was so blown away I had to share it here.

Georges Cziffra was born into dire poverty in 1921. Before he was born, his parents had been living in France. During World War I the French government expelled all residents whose countries of origins were fighting against France. Cziffra's father, a Hungarian citizen, was imprisoned and his mother was forced to move to Budapest with her two daughters and only five kilograms of luggage. She was billeted into a single room built on stilts above a marsh, where the Cziffra family would live for years. His father was released from prison and Georges arrived some time later.
His earliest training in piano came from watching his sister practice. She had decided she was going to learn the piano after being lucky enough to find a job which allowed her to save the required amount of money. As she practised, Georges, a weak and often ill child, watched from his makeshift bed in fascination. When he felt strong enough, he would try to mimic his sister, and became greatly enthusiastic about the sounds he could make. He learnt without sheet music, but by asking his parents to sing him tunes and playing them back, improvising additional material as he became more adept.
By the time he was five he attracted the attention of a travelling circus who hired him as the star of their show, and his improvisations (on tunes suggested by the audience) were very successful. This involvement with the circus at an early age (and for only a few weeks) was to haunt the rest of his career, as some critics used it as an example of his poor musical heritage and low taste, while others saw in it a remarkable and prodigious talent.
He soon came to attention of the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest and was, at 9, the youngest student ever admitted. He was also admitted against the rules of the institution, which stipulated that in order to enter the candidate must have studied a full course of preliminary studies at a music school. He soon astonished his teachers who allowed him to attend the advanced masterclasses, normally reserved for adult students. This was run by Istvan Thoman, a pupil of Liszt and the teacher of Bartók and Dohnányi.

[opus10no2]

Indeed, and some idiots still doubt him as a sincere artist...

[ronde_des_sylphes]

The wikipedia reference rather glosses over just how bad the living conditions were in his early life. "Cannons and Flowers", his memoirs, is a tremendous warts-and-all read. Perhaps the best bit is where he escapes from the Germans during WW2 by stealing a train.

[pianistimo]

stealing a train?  are you serious.  this man is facinating.  i knew there was something about him that i liked. 

ps what does the word billited mean?  i am conjuring up - 'shot into'

[thalbergmad]

  this man is facinating. 

So is your spelling

[pianistimo]

what's the matter with my spelling?  oh.  billeted. sorry.  whatever.  i just want to know what it means.  not the spelling particularly.

[ronde_des_sylphes]

Billeted = given accommodation in (generally used re army personnel etc). In this case, the housing facilities were more or less equivalent to a refugee camp (with all the disease and squalor, I might add).

[thalberg]

what's the matter with my spelling?  oh.  billeted. sorry.  whatever.  i just want to know what it means.  not the spelling particularly.

LOL!!!

Pianistimo--check your spelling of fascinating.......you wrote facinating..

[pianistimo]

fascinating.  thalberg - what are you reading now?  after having read all about cziffra.  i enjoyed reading this.