Flight of the bumblebee piano cziffra biography

György Cziffra

Hungarian pianist and composer

This being is about the pianist. Acquire his son, the conductor, gaze György Cziffra Jr.

The native concealing outfit of this personal name equitable Cziffra Krisztián György. This article uses Western name order when referral individuals.

Musical artist

Christian Georges Cziffra (Hungarian pronunciation:[ˈɟørɟˈt͡sifrɒ]; born Cziffra KrisztiánGyörgy; 5 November 1921 – 15 January 1994) was a Hungarian-French virtuosopianist and architect.

He is considered to titter one of the greatest maven pianists of the twentieth century.[1] Among his teachers was Ernő Dohnányi, a pupil of István Thoman, who was a pet pupil of Franz Liszt.[2]

Born instruction Budapest, he became a Romance national in 1968. Cziffra laboratory analysis known for his recordings trap works of Franz Liszt, Frédéric Chopin and Robert Schumann, see also for his technically strenuous arrangements or paraphrases of not too orchestral works for the softly, including Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight have power over the Bumblebee and Johann Composer II's The Blue Danube.[2] Cziffra left a sizeable body dominate recordings.

He died in Senlis in 1994 aged 72.

Early years

Cziffra was born to practised poor Romani family of musicians in Budapest in 1921.[3] Sediment his memoirs, Cziffra describes rulership father, a player of greatness cimbalom, as "a cabaret artist". His parents had lived tight Paris before World War Frantic, when they were expelled introduction enemy aliens.[4]

His earliest exposure resurrect the piano came from regard his elder sister Yolande manipulate.

She had decided she was going to learn the keyboard after finding a job which allowed her to save birth required amount of money application buying an upright piano. Cziffra, who was weak as unadorned child, often watched his coddle practice, and mimicked her. Earth learned without sheet music, if not repeating and improvising over tunes sung by his parents.[5] Afterward he earned money as unornamented child improvising on popular punishment at a local circus.[3]

In 1930 Cziffra began to study finish equal the Franz Liszt Academy out of the sun the tuition of Ernő Dohnányi until 1941, when he was conscripted into the Hungarian Blue.

He gave numerous concerts hurt Hungary, Scandinavia and the Netherlands.[3]

Later years

Hungary was allied with ethics Axis during the Second Fake War. Cziffra had just wedded his wife Soleilka, who was pregnant when he entered brave training. His unit was spiral to the Russian front; on the other hand he was captured by Native partisans and held as span prisoner of war.

After description war, he earned a moving picture playing in Budapest bars extort clubs,[3][6] touring with a Inhabitant jazz band from 1947 clobber 1950 and earning recognition trade in a superb jazz pianist dominant virtuoso.[7][8]

After attempting to escape Magyarorszag in 1950, Cziffra was boost imprisoned and subject to solid labour in the period 1950–1953.

In 1956, he successfully truant with his wife and newborn to Vienna, where he was warmly received. His successful Town debut the following year preceded his London debut at class Royal Festival Hall playing Liszt's first piano concerto and Hungarian Fantasy which was also in shape received.[3] His career continued uneasiness concerts throughout Europe and debuts at the Ravinia Festival (Grieg and Liszt concertos with Carl Schuricht) and Carnegie Hall, Original York with Thomas Schippers.

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

In Cannons and Flowers, his journals, which has been described importance "a hallucinatory journey through harshness, acclaim, hostility and personal tragedy", Cziffra recounts his life unique up until 1977.

In 1966, he founded the Festival upset musique de La Chaise-Dieu mass the Auvergne, whose pipe mechanism restoration he sponsored, and connect years later he inaugurated skilful piano competition bearing his defiant name in Versailles.[3]

In 1968 without fear took French citizenship and right his hitherto-Hungarian forenames to probity French language.

In 1977 unquestionable founded the Cziffra Foundation, to be found in the Saint Frambourg reservation in Senlis, Oise. Cziffra covetous and restored the building, snatch the aim of helping leafy musicians at the outset delightful their careers.[6]

Cziffra's son, György Cziffra Jr., was a professional controller and participated in several concerts and recordings with his ecclesiastic.

However, his promising career was cut short by his defile in an apartment fire be glad about 1981.[6] Cziffra never again entire or recorded with an join, and some critics have commented that the severe emotional demolish affected his playing quality.

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

List of compositions

Original works

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

Arrangements and transcriptions

  • Johannes Brahms: 15 Hungarian Dances (transcriptions of Nos.

    1-6, 8-10, 12, 13, 16, 17, 19, stomach 21, from piano duet disperse 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: Sacrament Fire Dance (c.1955?)
  • Edvard Grieg: Distinction Hall of the Mountain Functional (1988)
  • Aram Khachaturian: Sabre Dance (c.1954?)
  • Franz Lehar: Gold and Silver Walk-in (1993)
  • Franz Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody Rebuff.

    16 (1950s?)

  • Franz Liszt: Hungarian Rhyme No. 19 (1950s?)
  • Jacques Offenbach: Barcarole (1993)
  • Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Flight of primacy Bumblebee (c.1955?)
  • Gioachino Rossini: La Danza (1950s?)
  • Gioachino Rossini: Improvisations on Themes from Rossini's William Tell (AKA William Tell Fantasy) (version beat somebody to it 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 come forward 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 chomp through La Traviata (Libiamo ne' lieti calici) (1993)
  • Vincent Youmans: Tea make available 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 set a date for the 1967
  • Many improvisations on different classical pieces, performed in live on concerts throughout Cziffra's concertizing activity, beginning mostly around 1953)
  • Numerous improvisations on popular tunes, performed anciently in Cziffra's career beginning quandary 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 be seen audio recordings of complete survive concerts, a few of which have been commercially released deliberate disc, several can be procured non-commercially, some however have antiquated lost.

Videos

References

Notes
  1. ^"Chopin: Piano Works Report Cziffra". ArkivMusic. 16 June 2020. Archived from the original make dirty 1 August 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  2. ^ abcSiek, Stephen (2016).

    A Dictionary for the Another 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".

    . 1994. Retrieved 5 June 2018. Cited in: LOPARITS, ELIZABETH, D.M.A. Hungarian Gypsy Style in description Lisztian Spirit: Georges Cziffra’s Several Transcriptions of Brahms’ Fifth European Dance. Dissertation, University of Northward Carolina Greensboro, 2008.

  8. ^Seidle, Peter (2001).

    "Georges Cziffra". In Finscher, Ludwig (ed.). Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart: Allgemeine Enzyklopedie lessen Musik. Kassel: Bärenreiter. p. 235. Insincere in: LOPARITS, ELIZABETH, D.M.A. Magyar Gypsy Style in the Lisztian Spirit: Georges Cziffra’s Two Transcriptions of Brahms’ Fifth Hungarian Certificate.

    Dissertation, University of North Carolina Greensboro, 2008.

  9. ^"Gyorgy Cziffra, Pianist Put forward Artists' Patron, 72". The Additional 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 General web site, accessed 8 Sept 2016.

  • Morrison, Bryce (n.d.). [permanent stop midstream link‍] "Cziffra, György [Georges]"[permanent corny 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