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I regret to say that for the longest time, I was very ignorant to Cziffra's recordings/interpretations besides the super-virtuoso stuff, like Chopin etudes or his transcriptions... But I was recently very moved by his take on Ravel's Jeux d'Eau and Chopin's B Flat Minor Scherzo Op. 31.
I used to be the opposite. I LOVED Cziffra, and I imported the complete studio recordings and everything. Eventually my tastes changed.
The problem with Cziffra is that for the romantic composers, he basically Cziffrizes everything. It's hard to find a piece by Schumann/Chopin/Liszt that he doesn't play with the exaggerated tempo fluctuations of a Hungarian rhapsody.
I recommend his French Baroque stuff, like Lully and Rameau. Very sensitive, thoughtful interpretations. His Rachmaninov G Minor Prelude is pretty awesome as well.
The problem with Cziffra is that for the romantic composers, he basically Cziffrizes everything. It's hard to find a piece by Schumann/Chopin/Liszt that he doesn't play with the exaggerated tempo fluctuations of a Hungarian rhapsody.
I used to be the opposite. I LOVED Cziffra, and I imported the complete studio recordings and everything. Eventually my tastes changed.
The problem with Cziffra is that for the romantic composers, he basically Cziffrizes everything. It's hard to find a piece by Schumann/Chopin/Liszt that he doesn't play with the exaggerated tempo fluctuations of a Hungarian rhapsody.
I recommend his French Baroque stuff, like Lully and Rameau. Very sensitive, thoughtful interpretations. His Rachmaninov G Minor Prelude is pretty awesome as well.
Better than a cold cut typical player today
"The eyes can mislead, the smile can lie, but the shoes always tell the truth."
The problem with Cziffra is that for the romantic composers, he basically Cziffrizes everything.
One could look at it that way. But like with Virgil Fox on the organ, Cziffra's idiosyncrasies either 'work' for you or they don't.
I've enjoyed most of the Cziffra recordings I've heard (hardly all of them). He is certainly very unique, and always brings something fresh to my listening experience. That said, I wouldn't want to make a steady diet of his recordings!
I used to be the opposite. I LOVED Cziffra, and I imported the complete studio recordings and everything. Eventually my tastes changed.
The problem with Cziffra is that for the romantic composers, he basically Cziffrizes everything. It's hard to find a piece by Schumann/Chopin/Liszt that he doesn't play with the exaggerated tempo fluctuations of a Hungarian rhapsody.
I recommend his French Baroque stuff, like Lully and Rameau. Very sensitive, thoughtful interpretations. His Rachmaninov G Minor Prelude is pretty awesome as well.
Better than a cold cut typical player today
Oh, agreed. He's definitely one of the immortals (especially in terms of technique...talk about fingers of steel). There's no lack of personality in his playing, unlike a number of today's top pianists.
The problem with Cziffra is that for the romantic composers, he basically Cziffrizes everything.
One could look at it that way. But like with Virgil Fox on the organ, Cziffra's idiosyncrasies either 'work' for you or they don't.
I've enjoyed most of the Cziffra recordings I've heard (hardly all of them). He is certainly very unique, and always brings something fresh to my listening experience. That said, I wouldn't want to make a steady diet of his recordings!
That's a good point. Perhaps I've become disenchanted with Cziffra precisely because I did (at one point). I guess if you listen to him only occasionally (or a small selection of his repertoire) you don't really notice how his Cziffrism kind of seeps through every note (an exception are his Beethoven/Mozart recordings, which are amazingly humble, straightforward, and dare I say, bland).
him perform it?
