If ever there was a humbling story of an artist pulling him/herself up from nothing, the life history of Hungarian-born pianist Gyorgy Cziffra certainly qualifies. In fact, as a result of being politically imprisoned and tortured twice, he was forced to rebuild his career more than once, each time emerging as an even stronger, more prominent artist. This album, recorded in 1957 with the Paris Conservatoire Orchestra, features a passionate performance of the Tchaikovsky First Concerto. In many ways, his playing is ...
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If ever there was a humbling story of an artist pulling him/herself up from nothing, the life history of Hungarian-born pianist Gyorgy Cziffra certainly qualifies. In fact, as a result of being politically imprisoned and tortured twice, he was forced to rebuild his career more than once, each time emerging as an even stronger, more prominent artist. This album, recorded in 1957 with the Paris Conservatoire Orchestra, features a passionate performance of the Tchaikovsky First Concerto. In many ways, his playing is reminiscent of Rubinstein in that his technique is far from perfect; in fact, there are fistsfuls of wrong notes at times. But the overriding sense that listeners come away with is one of intense musicality and sensitivity. Cziffra's desire to emote sometimes gets the better of him, however, and in the third movement in particular, tempos are quite slow and dragging to accommodate musical expression. This CD also features two of Liszt's Transcendental Etudes. Without the imposed structure of...
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Add this copy of Piano Concerto / Hungarian Fantasy for Piano & to cart. $13.99, like new condition, Sold by Wonder Book - Member ABAA/ILAB rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Frederick, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2008 by Archipel.
