Liszt hungarian rhapsody 6 cziffra biography

György Cziffra

Hungarian pianist and composer

This like chalk and cheese is about the pianist. Be glad about his son, the conductor, gaze György Cziffra Jr.

The native organization of this personal name commission Cziffra Krisztián György. This article uses Western name order when note individuals.

Musical artist

Christian Georges Cziffra (Hungarian pronunciation:[ˈɟørɟˈt͡sifrɒ]; born Cziffra KrisztiánGyörgy; 5 November 1921 – 15 January 1994) was a Hungarian-French virtuosopianist and framer. He is considered to put right one of the greatest maestro pianists of the twentieth century.[1] Among his teachers was Ernő Dohnányi, a pupil of István Thoman, who was a tribute darling pupil of Franz Liszt.[2]

Born outer shell Budapest, he became a Romance national in 1968. Cziffra critique known for his recordings representative works of Franz Liszt, Frédéric Chopin and Robert Schumann, turf also for his technically trying arrangements or paraphrases of a sprinkling orchestral works for the softly, including Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight many the Bumblebee and Johann Composer II's The Blue Danube.[2] Cziffra left a sizeable body make a fuss over recordings.

He died in Senlis in 1994 aged 72.

Early years

Cziffra was born to unadorned poor Romani family of musicians in Budapest in 1921.[3] Unplanned his memoirs, Cziffra describes enthrone father, a player of authority cimbalom, as "a cabaret artist". His parents had lived replace Paris before World War Beside oneself, when they were expelled primate enemy aliens.[4]

His earliest exposure commerce the piano came from observation his elder sister Yolande investigate. She had decided she was going to learn the softly after finding a job which allowed her to save illustriousness required amount of money tail buying an upright piano. Cziffra, who was weak as swell child, often watched his nurture practice, and mimicked her. Subside learned without sheet music, alternatively repeating and improvising over tunes sung by his parents.[5] Closest he earned money as excellent child improvising on popular tune euphony at a local circus.[3]

In 1930 Cziffra began to study make certain the Franz Liszt Academy decorate the tuition of Ernő Dohnányi until 1941, when he was conscripted into the Hungarian Grey. He gave numerous concerts clear Hungary, Scandinavia and the Netherlands.[3]

Later years

Hungary was allied with loftiness Axis during the Second Earth War. Cziffra had just united his wife Soleilka, who was pregnant when he entered militaristic training. His unit was purport to the Russian front; regardless he was captured by State partisans and held as out prisoner of war. After probity war, he earned a exact playing in Budapest bars topmost clubs,[3][6] touring with a Indweller jazz band from 1947 take in hand 1950 and earning recognition chimp a superb jazz pianist additional virtuoso.[7][8]

After attempting to escape Magyarorszag in 1950, Cziffra was put back imprisoned and subject to unchangeable labour in the period 1950–1953. In 1956, he successfully free with his wife and pin down to Vienna, where he was warmly received. His successful Town debut the following year preceded his London debut at influence Royal Festival Hall playing Liszt's first piano concerto and Hungarian Fantasy which was also pitch received.[3] His career continued take on concerts throughout Europe and debuts at the Ravinia Festival (Grieg and Liszt concertos with Carl Schuricht) and Carnegie Hall, Fresh York with Thomas Schippers.

Cziffra frequently performed with a weak leather wristband to support glory ligaments of his wrist, which were damaged after he was forced to carry 130 pounds of concrete up six flights of stairs during his team a few years in a labor camp.[2]

In Cannons and Flowers, his experiences, which has been described pass for "a hallucinatory journey through rigour, acclaim, hostility and personal tragedy", Cziffra recounts his life unique up until 1977. In 1966, he founded the Festival bring down musique de La Chaise-Dieu pointed the Auvergne, whose pipe tool restoration he sponsored, and years later he inaugurated uncomplicated piano competition bearing his heighten name in Versailles.[3]

In 1968 subside took French citizenship and fitted his hitherto-Hungarian forenames to grandeur French language. In 1977 fair enough founded the Cziffra Foundation, insane in the Saint Frambourg pagoda in Senlis, Oise. Cziffra covetous and restored the building, junk the aim of helping growing musicians at the outset look after their careers.[6]

Cziffra's son, György Cziffra Jr., was a professional manager and participated in several concerts and recordings with his paterfamilias. However, his promising career was cut short by his surround in an apartment fire elaborate 1981.[6] Cziffra never again finish or recorded with an belt, and some critics have commented that the severe emotional whine affected his playing quality.

Cziffra died in Longpont-sur-Orge, Essonne, Writer, aged 72, from a unswervingly attack[9] resulting from a group of complications from lung cancer.[10] He is buried next offer his son.

List of compositions

Original works

  • Improvisation en forme de valse (1950)
  • Ouverture Solennelle (Solemn Overture), vindicate piano
  • Pastorale pour Gerbert, for softness or organ (1976)

Arrangements and transcriptions

  • Johannes Brahms: 15 Hungarian Dances (transcriptions of Nos. 1-6, 8-10, 12, 13, 16, 17, 19, take precedence 21, from piano duet indicate piano solo) (c.1950s?)
  • Johannes Brahms: Ugric Dance No. 5 (improv version) (1957?)
  • Johannes Brahms: Waltz Op. 39 No. 15 (1993?, much earlier?)
  • Frederic Chopin: Minute Waltz (1993?)
  • Antonin Dvorak: Improvisation (1988)
  • Manuel de Falla: Service Fire Dance (c.1955?)
  • Edvard Grieg: Blue blood the gentry Hall of the Mountain Nifty (1988)
  • Aram Khachaturian: Sabre Dance (c.1954?)
  • Franz Lehar: Gold and Silver Triumph (1993)
  • Franz Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody Rebuff. 16 (1950s?)
  • Franz Liszt: Hungarian Jingle No. 19 (1950s?)
  • Jacques Offenbach: Song (1993)
  • Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Flight of prestige Bumblebee (c.1955?)
  • Gioachino Rossini: La Danza (1950s?)
  • Gioachino Rossini: Improvisations on Themes from Rossini's William Tell (AKA William Tell Fantasy) (version inducing the William Tell Overture) (1956)
  • Johann Strauss II: An der schönen, blauen Donau (The Blue Danube) (c.1955?)
  • Johann Strauss II: Die Fledermaus (1st version) (1950–55)
  • Johann Strauss II: Die Fledermaus (2nd, shortened version) (1955)
  • Johann Strauss II: Réminiscences give in Johann Strauss (from various Composer compositions) (1956)
  • Johann Strauss II: Tritsch-Tratsch Polka (c.1955?)
  • Johann Strauss II: Der Zigeunerbaron (The Gypsy Baron) (c.1955?)
  • Franz von Vecsey: Valse triste (c.1955?)
  • Giuseppe Verdi: Concert Paraphrase on Themes from the Opera Il trovatore by G. Verdi (c.1955?)
  • Giuseppe Verdi: Improvisation on a Theme circumvent La Traviata (Libiamo ne' lieti calici) (1993)
  • Vincent Youmans: Tea be directed at Two, improvisation (1977)
  • Traditional: Román cigányfantázia (Rumanian Gypsy Fantasy) (AKA Fantaisie roumaine, improvisation in gypsy style) (1957) An alternate version was privately recorded by Cziffra intricate the 1967
  • Many improvisations on different classical pieces, performed in be present concerts throughout Cziffra's concertizing vocation, beginning mostly around 1953)
  • Numerous improvisations on popular tunes, performed anciently in Cziffra's career beginning dependably 1926)
  • Numerous jazz improvisations (mostly 1947-50, 1977–78)

Media

Audio

Main article: György Cziffra discography

In addition to the above discography of commercially-released recordings, there surface audio recordings of complete support concerts, a few of which have been commercially released inhale disc, several can be procured non-commercially, some however have anachronistic lost.

Videos

References

Notes
  1. ^"Chopin: Piano Works Diary Cziffra". ArkivMusic. 16 June 2020. Archived from the original tidied up 1 August 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  2. ^ abcSiek, Stephen (2016). A Dictionary for the Original Pianist. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 34. ISBN . Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  3. ^ abcdefMorrison (n.d.).
  4. ^Cziffra (2006), "Prelude"
  5. ^Cziffra (2006), "In the Circus Ring"
  6. ^ abcSummers (n.d.)
  7. ^"We remember Georges Cziffra". PORT.hu. 1994. Retrieved 5 June 2018. Cited in: LOPARITS, ELIZABETH, D.M.A. Hungarian Gypsy Style in nobleness Lisztian Spirit: Georges Cziffra’s Yoke Transcriptions of Brahms’ Fifth European Dance. Dissertation, University of Ad northerly Carolina Greensboro, 2008.
  8. ^Seidle, Peter (2001). "Georges Cziffra". In Finscher, Ludwig (ed.). Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart: Allgemeine Enzyklopedie shaving Musik. Kassel: Bärenreiter. p. 235. Uninvited in: LOPARITS, ELIZABETH, D.M.A. Magyar Gypsy Style in the Lisztian Spirit: Georges Cziffra’s Two Transcriptions of Brahms’ Fifth Hungarian Pull. Dissertation, University of North Carolina Greensboro, 2008.
  9. ^"Gyorgy Cziffra, Pianist Be proof against Artists' Patron, 72". The New-found York Times. 18 January 1994. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  10. ^"Gyorgy Cziffra (Piano) - Short Biography".
Sources
  • Cziffra, György, tr. John Hornsby (2006). Cannons and Flowers, on MusicWeb Worldwide web site, accessed 8 Sep 2016.
  • Morrison, Bryce (n.d.). [permanent category link‍] "Cziffra, György [Georges]"[permanent ancient link‍] in Oxford Music Online, accessed 6 September 2016. (subscription required).
  • Summers, Jonathan (n.d.). "Gyorgy Cziffra", from A-Z of Pianists, Naxos Records web-site, accessed 6 Sept 2016.
  • New York Times, Obituaries, Published: January 18, 1994.

External links