Happy Birthday GYORGY CZIFFRA!!!

[stevie]

https://dasdc.net/viewtopic.php?t=4363

he is dead, but he will be remembered forever, im certain, the greatest piansit ive ever heard.

i will upload a choice recording for you guys to sample his genius

[bassoonypiano]

Wow, what a coincedence. Today I recieved the DVD of him playing various things among them Liszt Gnomenreign and Franck Variations Symphonies (something like that?). I've enjoyed his playing on the various Liszt pieces. Haven't gotten around to hear the Franck yet.

[brahmsian]

he is dead, but he will be remembered forever, im certain, the greatest piansit ive ever heard.

Concurred.

Upload the William Tell Improvisation or the Tritsch Tratsch Polka transcription. They are my two favorites.

[stevie]

https://s59.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2AQMAY05WVXLG02DGNG5TV5HRC

theres the polka!

everything he touches turns to gold...

[etudes]

https://dasdc.net/viewtopic.php?t=4363

he is dead, but he will be remembered forever, im certain, the greatest piansit ive ever heard.

agree!

[stevie]

one of the greatest techniques in music history allied to an incredible musical mind.

cziffra is surely one of the most inimitable and unique pianists ever, and also one of the most misunderstood.

his genius lay in his extroadinary combination of hungarian extemporaneous rhythmic and colouristic spontineity, and the sheer volatility of his temperament.

in these regards he is the greatest pianist ever recorded, noone can match the eccentricity and spontineity of his rhythmic personality.
and also - despite all this volatility - he was one of the greatest poets of the keyboard too - listen to the heartbreaking warmth with which he plays the slow sections of liszt's hungarian rhapsodies, and listen to his beautiful and sensetive chopin interpretations.

this man had brains, heart - and whats more - BALLS

and for this - i will love his playing eternally

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here are some recordings which i particularly adore -

his live totentanz - just PHENOMENAL - never have i heard such a sustained atmosphere of overwhelming aggression and FURY.
the demonic opening see cziffra in his element - unleashing some of the most edge-of-your-seat playing ive ever heard in my life.
the central slow section, is just adorable - he caresses the keyboard with an aching sentimentality.
then.....the czffra trademark - BANG!! we are immediatly awoken from the reflection - to an insanely pissed off cziffra.
from then on- his and the orchestra's demonic drive never lets up - BREATHTAKING.

live performance of liszt HR6 on DVD -
i just have to mention this - many people know cziffra's HR6 for the stunning speed of the octave finish - but to me just as remarkable is the tenderness he gives to the slow section - watching and hearing this has brought me to tears.

the infamous liszt grand galop chromatique (any performance) - just stunning - listen to all the live performances of this as you can, you will notice each and every one is different, and equally superb.
an insight into his spontanious genius.

and last but not least - his reworkings of brahms' hungarian dances - these, more than anything , give you an idea of his pianistic personality - the rhythmic and tonal colour is just mind boggling -
ESSENTIAL stuff.

i could go on, but i hope this makes helps more people appreciate cziffra's legacy - and to make some ignorant sceptics take a second thought.

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posts i made on another forum nearly a year ago....

[sevencircles]

What´s especially amazing with Cziffra is that he spent years as a P.O.W. with no piano to practice on just a couble of years before he made his famous breakthrough in the 50:s

[brahmsian]

Don't forget about the BBC warmup improvisation, the one where he randomy unleashes Chopin's 10/1 at light speed...

Insane stuff

Does anyone have a rec of his Romanian(?) Fantasy?

[ronde_des_sylphes]

Yes, the piece is on disc 2 of "Les introuvables de Cziffra", along some Liszt operatic paraphrases and some other pieces of Cziffra's (William Tell improvisation, Valse triste, Tritsch-tratsch polka, Blue Danube, 5th Hungarian dance and the infamous Bumblebee). Surely one of the most virtuosic discs ever recorded!

[ronde_des_sylphes]

re: Cziffra spending time as a POW and not having access to a piano; it's worse than that, after he tried to escape Hungary post-WW2, he was interned, made to do forced labour, and his hands were broken on purpose by his captors when they learnt he was a pianist.

[sevencircles]

ronde: That´s horrible. Maybe Cziffra had even better technique before they broke his hands.

[rohansahai]

live performance of liszt HR6 on DVD -
i just have to mention this - many people know cziffra's HR6 for the stunning speed of the octave finish - but to me just as remarkable is the tenderness he gives to the slow section - watching and hearing this has brought me to tears.

Haven't seen/heard this one, but tough to imagine anything better than Horowitz !

[stevie]

well, i respect cziffra more than i respect horowitz....horowitz is WAY more famous than cziffra, im not saying either is better(although cziffra had better technique), but that kind of imbalance is criminal!

[apion]

his live totentanz - just PHENOMENAL - never have i heard such a sustained atmosphere of overwhelming aggression and FURY.
 - BREATHTAKING.

live performance of liszt HR6 on DVD -
i just have to mention this - many people know cziffra's HR6 for the stunning speed of the octave finish - but to me just as remarkable is the tenderness he gives to the slow section - watching and hearing this has brought me to tears.

Cziffra is a PHENOMENAL and BREATHTAKING Liszt interpreter/performer.  His performance of HR6 is hall-of-fame material.

[brewtality]

well, i respect cziffra more than i respect horowitz....horowitz is WAY more famous than cziffra, im not saying either is better(although cziffra had better technique), but that kind of imbalance is criminal!

allegedly.

Cziffra is one of my favourites but I have to admit overall he doesn't move me as much as Hofmann or Horowitz, though I am less likely to classify anything he did as insane (this I can't say about Horowitz).

His tonal and volume control were phenomenal. As a matter of fact, I think his best recording was his studio les jeux d'eau a la villa d'este. The tempo he takes in his live recordings is absurdly fast, but in the studio he took a calmer approach which I feel suits the piece better, also his tonal control of the delicate tremelo parts evoke images in my mind of the water shimmering; it's pure magic! He also plays the best Heroic polonaise I've ever heard. I'm not exactly sure what Chopin wanted, but I hate it when pianists bang out this piece, Cziffra is anything but meek but he holds the chords longer and keeps the tone rounded.

[stevie]

https://s50.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1JY85N7OS1O6Y0WD9G5JKR6M6I