Search - Liszt, Odp, Cziffra :: Liszt: Concerto for Piano No. 1

No one like him

Mark McCue | Denver, CO USA | 09/01/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Hungarian pianist Gyorgy Cziffra was famous for his Liszt interpretations more than anyone perhaps since Bolet or Petri. While this doesn't really show him at his best, it does indicate why he was so closely identified with the composer. Here we have him in decline, but the leonine technical prowess is still there amid the clatter and the clomp. The tremendous bravado of the bass, the fantastic acuity of inner voicings, and a hand-over-hand three-staff technique bar none splashes above a level of slackness, bored patterning and rush to board. Cziffra really needed an audience to show his stuff, but this is good enough to make your shelf space available. However, it's cleaner than RAI live-tapings with Conz and Cattini that had Cziffra with a bound-up mood in a tiring tour situation. Curously, the Orchestre de Paris under Jr. follows the lead of the soloist: passages of great refinement alternate with slapdashery and shakey chording, but if the soloist doesn't care, why should you? It's all tremendously enterntaining, and you find yourself sticking with it to the end. You wonder if this might not be pretty close to what a Paris performance with Liszt himself might have been like.All told, this is a "must" reissue for Lisztians of all stripes. I'm knocking it out of 5-category simply because the sound shows its age compared to the 1970s Connoisseur Society vinyl issue that sounds like it was recorded last night. If you've got your vinyl, keep it there, lousy pressing and all."

GEORGES CZIFFRA - the ultimate keyboard sorcerer!

arffizc268@hotmail.com Alan Albes | London | 04/22/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Marcel Dupré described Cziffra as `La réincarnation de Liszt' and listening to this disc we can truly hear why. It is absolutely stunning. At the outset of Cziffra's career, Liszt's first concerto and Hungarian Fantasy were his calling cards.. Wherever he played them he caused a furore - whether it be at London's Royal Festival Hall, the Salle Pleyel in Paris or in Carnegie Hall New York and the inevitable encores had the effect of driving his audiences to near orgasmic hysteria! This is Cziffra's fourth recording of the first concerto{1969}. He first recorded it in Budapest in 1956; again in 1957 with Pierre Dervaux {making his name familiar in the West} and in London with André Vandernoot in 1961. Obviously, he loved this concerto and when I listen to it, I like to visualize the premier performance with the young ` klaviertiger' Franz Liszt at the keyboard, and the equally dazzling orchestrator and conductor Berlioz on the rostrum. Oh! to have been there! I'm convinced though, that listening to Cziffra play these works is like listening to Liszt! Cziffra's playing has that extra dimension beyond playing the right notes - dotting the I's and crossing the T's. It has style! It's all in the rhythm, nuances - knowing when to press forward and when to hold back; those snatched staccato notes; his famous crescendos and diminuendos within the bar and the knack of lifting the pedal off at spectacular moments for utmost clarity and brilliance. When the opening Paganinian double octaves return to announce the finale of the first concerto Cziffra plunges down to the low octave B flat and pauses like a tiger waiting to pounce - a moment of sheer imagination. Similarly, in the first descending double note cadenza of the second concerto Cziffra pauses on the top note as if looking over the edge of a precipice before hurtling earthwards. Cziffra's virtuosity is `all-embracing' and he had the grand manner at his command. At his best he produced a really massive sonority as well as a beautiful singing tone and you will notice this in the lyrical moments throughout these exciting works. Cziffra was also the ultimate sorcerer of the keyboard and both he and his son have a field day in `Totentanz'{dance of death}. From the opening timpani thwacks and the first pyrotechnical volcanic eruption from the keyboard, we are treated to an unparalleled display of character virtuosity; I love the way Cziffra at one point introduces a very personal `devil's trill laughter' - Liszt would have been delighted! He is equally diabolic in the Hungarian Fantasy - playing with all his improvisational flair and joining in the orchestral tuttis with exuberant double octaves, sheer abandonment and joie de vivre - Cziffra and his son relishing every moment of Liszt's {and their own} genius. The piano is somewhat recessed at the beginning of the first concerto, so turn the volume level up to obtain the full Lisztian - Cziffrian impact!"

Cziffra: Incredible Technician and Musician

Elias-Axel Pettersson | Maryland | 11/16/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Considering Cziffra had perhaps the greatest technique ever (rivaled only by a select few like Barere, Horowitz, and Lhevinne), it is surprising he is not better known, especially in the United States. Though he has certainly picked up the label as a "Liszt specialist," he is quite excellent in other repertoire as well (though I do have a few qualms about his Chopin interpretations).

The works for piano and orchestra presented on this CD are incredible themselves, and are brought to a substantially greater level through Mr. Cziffra's playing. In addition, it is nice to hear the collaboration with his son conducting (it is unfortunate that his son died young and there is a small recorded legacy of their collaborations). In any case, Cziffra's style of playing is certainly of an "older school" and he willing takes liberties throughout (though not so much in concerti as in solo repertoire).

His Liszt Concerto No. 1 is certainly one of my favorites and ranks at the top with Argerich, Watts, and Richter, though I personally like Cziffra's version. His Totentanz is perhaps the greatest recording (perhaps Zimmerman is in a similar league as well, but not as fiery). I would highly recommend this CD, though perhaps the recording quality is not of the highest caliber (of course one must keep in the mind when it was recorded).

For those of you interested in more Cziffra, listen to his Islamey (there are a couple versions), his solo Liszt repertoire, his Bach, and Scarlatti. I would highly recommend the EMI DVD that is quite easy to find."