Christian Georges Cziffra (; born Cziffra Krisztián György; 5 November 192115 January 1994) was a Hungarian-French

virtuoso A virtuoso (from Italian ''virtuoso'', or ; Late Latin ''virtuosus''; Latin ''virtus''; 'virtue', 'excellence' or 'skill') is an individual who possesses outstanding talent and technical ability in a particular art or field such as fine arts, ...

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

. He is considered to be one of the greatest virtuoso pianists of the twentieth century. Among his teachers was

Ernő Dohnányi Ernő or Erno is a Finnish language, Finnish and Hungarian language, Hungarian masculine given name. Notable people with the name include: *Ernő Balogh (1897-1989), Hungarian pianist, composer, editor, and educator *Ernő Bánk (1883-1962), Hunga ...

, a pupil of István Thoman, who was a favourite pupil of

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...

. Born in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, he became a French national in 1968. Cziffra is known for his recordings of works of

Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period who wrote primarily for Piano solo, solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown ...

and

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...

, and also for his technically demanding arrangements or paraphrases of several orchestral works for the piano, including

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov. At the time, his name was spelled , which he romanized as Nicolas Rimsky-Korsakow; the BGN/PCGN transliteration of Russian is used for his name here; ALA-LC system: , ISO 9 system: .. (18 March 1844 – 2 ...

's '' Flight of the Bumblebee'' and

Johann Strauss II Johann Baptist Strauss II (; ; 25 October 1825 – 3 June 1899), also known as Johann Strauss Jr., the Younger or the Son (), was an List of Austrian composers, Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas as well ...

's '' The Blue Danube''. Cziffra left a sizeable body of recordings. He died in

Senlis Senlis () is a commune in the northern French department of Oise, Hauts-de-France. The monarchs of the early French dynasties lived in Senlis, attracted by the proximity of the Chantilly forest. It is known for its Gothic cathedral and other ...

in 1994 aged 72.

Early years

Cziffra was born to a poor Romani family of musicians in

in 1921.Morrison (n.d.). In his memoirs, Cziffra describes his father, a player of the

cimbalom The cimbalom, cimbal (; ) or concert cimbalom is a type of chordophone composed of a large, trapezoidal box on legs with metal strings stretched across its top and a damping pedal underneath. It was designed and created by József Schunda, V. ...

, as "a cabaret artist". His parents had lived in Paris before

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, when they were expelled as enemy aliens. His earliest exposure to the

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

came from watching his elder sister Yolande practice. She had decided she was going to learn the piano after finding a job which allowed her to save the required amount of money for buying an upright piano. Cziffra, who was weak as a child, often watched his sister practice, and mimicked her. He learned without sheet music, instead repeating and improvising over tunes sung by his parents. Later he earned money as a child improvising on popular music at a local

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...

. In 1930 Cziffra began to study at the Franz Liszt Academy under the tuition of

until 1941, when he was conscripted into the Hungarian Army. He gave numerous concerts in Hungary, Scandinavia and the Netherlands.

Later years

Hungary was allied with the

Axis An axis (: axes) may refer to: Mathematics *A specific line (often a directed line) that plays an important role in some contexts. In particular: ** Coordinate axis of a coordinate system *** ''x''-axis, ''y''-axis, ''z''-axis, common names ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Cziffra had just married his wife Soleilka, who was pregnant when he entered military training. His unit was sent to the Russian front; however he was captured by Russian partisans and held as a prisoner of war. After the war, he earned a living playing in Budapest bars and clubs,Summers (n.d.) touring with a European jazz band from 1947 to 1950 and earning recognition as a superb jazz pianist and virtuoso. Cited in: LOPARITS, ELIZABETH, D.M.A. Hungarian Gypsy Style in the Lisztian Spirit: Georges Cziffra’s Two Transcriptions of Brahms’ Fifth Hungarian Dance. Dissertation, University of North Carolina Greensboro, 2008. Cited in: LOPARITS, ELIZABETH, D.M.A. Hungarian Gypsy Style in the Lisztian Spirit: Georges Cziffra’s Two Transcriptions of Brahms’ Fifth Hungarian Dance. Dissertation, University of North Carolina Greensboro, 2008. After attempting to escape Hungary in 1950, Cziffra was again imprisoned and subject to hard labour in the period 1950–1953. In 1956, he successfully escaped with his wife and son to Vienna, where he was warmly received. His successful Paris debut the following year preceded his London debut at the

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London, England. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a G ...

playing

Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic period. With a diverse body of work spanning more than six decades, he is considered to be one of the most pro ...

's first piano concerto and ''Hungarian Fantasy'' which was also well received. His career continued with concerts throughout Europe and debuts at the

Ravinia Festival Ravinia Festival is a primarily outdoor music venue in Highland Park, Illinois. It hosts a series of outdoor concerts and performances every summer from June to September in a wide variety of musical genres from classical to pop. The first orche ...

(

Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the leading Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use of N ...

and Liszt concertos with Carl Schuricht) and

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

, New York with Thomas Schippers. Cziffra frequently performed with a large leather wristband to support the ligaments of his wrist, which were damaged after he was forced to carry 130 pounds of concrete up six flights of stairs during his two years in a labor camp. In ''Cannons and Flowers'', his autobiography, which has been described as "a hallucinatory journey through privation, acclaim, hostility and personal tragedy", Cziffra recounts his life story up until 1977. In 1966, he founded the

Festival de musique de La Chaise-Dieu The La Chaise-Dieu Music Festival is a classical music festival that takes place every year at the end of August. It is essentially devoted to sacred music and takes place mainly in the Abbey of La Chaise-Dieu. In 2016, the Festival celebrated its ...

in the Auvergne, whose pipe organ restoration he sponsored, and three years later he inaugurated a piano competition bearing his own name in

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

. In 1968 he took French citizenship and adapted his hitherto-Hungarian forenames to the French language. In 1977 he founded the Cziffra Foundation, situated in the Saint Frambourg chapel in

Senlis, Oise Senlis () is a commune in the northern French department of Oise, Hauts-de-France. The monarchs of the early French dynasties lived in Senlis, attracted by the proximity of the Chantilly forest. It is known for its Gothic cathedral and othe ...

. Cziffra bought and restored the building, with the aim of helping young musicians at the outset of their careers. Cziffra's son, György Cziffra Jr., was a professional conductor and participated in several concerts and recordings with his father. However, his promising career was cut short by his death in an apartment fire in 1981. Cziffra never again performed or recorded with an orchestra, and some critics have commented that the severe emotional blow affected his playing quality. Cziffra died in

Longpont-sur-Orge Longpont-sur-Orge (, literally ''Longpont on Orge'') is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France. From 1954 to 1962, the villa in Longpont-sur-Orge owned by William and Noma Copley served as a social hub and a ...

Essonne Essonne () is a department in the southern part of the Île-de-France region in Northern France. It is named after the river Essonne. In 2019, it had a population of 1,301,659, across 194 communes.heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

resulting from a series of complications from

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

. He is buried next to his son.

List of compositions

Original works

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

Arrangements and transcriptions

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period (music), Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, oft ...

: 15 Hungarian Dances (transcriptions of Nos. 1-6, 8-10, 12, 13, 16, 17, 19, and 21, from piano duet to piano solo) (c.1950s?) *

: Hungarian Dance No. 5 (improv version) (1957?) *

: Waltz Op. 39 No. 15 (1993?, much earlier?) *

Frederic Chopin Frederic may refer to: Places United States * Frederic, Wisconsin, a village in Polk County * Frederic Township, Michigan, a township in Crawford County ** Frederic, Michigan, an unincorporated community Other uses * Frederic (band), a Japanese r ...

: Minute Waltz (1993?) * Antonin Dvorak: Improvisation (1988) *

Manuel de Falla Manuel de Falla y Matheu (, 23 November 187614 November 1946) was a Spanish composer and pianist. Along with Isaac Albéniz, Francisco Tárrega, and Enrique Granados, he was one of Spain's most important musicians of the first half of the 20t ...

: Ritual Fire Dance (c.1955?) *

Edvard Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the leading Romantic music, Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwid ...

: The Hall of the Mountain King (1988) *

Aram Khachaturian Aram Ilyich Khachaturian (; 1 May 1978) was a Soviet Armenians, Armenian composer and conductor. He is considered one of the leading Music of the Soviet Union#Classical music of the Soviet Union, Soviet composers. Khachaturian was born and rai ...

: Sabre Dance (c.1954?) * Franz Lehar: Gold and Silver Waltz (1993) *

: Hungarian Rhapsody No. 16 (1950s?) *

: Hungarian Rhapsody No. 19 (1950s?) *

Jacques Offenbach Jacques Offenbach (; 20 June 18195 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera ''The Tales of Hoffmann''. He was a p ...

Barcarolle A barcarolle ( ; from French, also barcarole; originally, Italian barcarola or barcaruola, from 'boat') is a traditional folk song sung by Venetian gondoliers, or a piece of music composed in that style. In classical music, two of the most fa ...

(1993) *

: Flight of the Bumblebee (c.1955?) *

Gioachino Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. He gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote man ...

: '' La Danza'' (1950s?) *

: Improvisations on Themes from Rossini's William Tell (AKA William Tell Fantasy) (version of the

William Tell Overture The ''William Tell'' Overture is the overture to the opera '' William Tell'' (original French title ''Guillaume Tell''), composed by Gioachino Rossini. ''William Tell'' premiered in 1829 and was the last of Rossini's 39 operas, after which he w ...

) (1956) *

: '' An der schönen, blauen Donau'' (The Blue Danube) (c.1955?) *

: ''

Die Fledermaus ' (, ''The Bat'', sometimes called ''The Revenge of the Bat'') is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée, which premiered in 1874. Background The original literary source for ' was ...

'' (1st version) (1950–55) *

: ''

'' (2nd, shortened version) (1955) *

: ''Réminiscences de Johann Strauss'' (from various Strauss compositions) (1956) *

: '' Tritsch-Tratsch Polka'' (c.1955?) *

: '' Der Zigeunerbaron'' (The Gypsy Baron) (c.1955?) * Franz von Vecsey: '' Valse triste'' (c.1955?) *

Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( ; ; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for List of compositions by Giuseppe Verdi, his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the province of Parma ...

: Concert Paraphrase on Themes from the Opera '' Il trovatore'' by G. Verdi (c.1955?) *

: Improvisation on a Theme from '' La Traviata'' ('' Libiamo ne' lieti calici'') (1993) *

Vincent Youmans Vincent Millie Youmans (September 27, 1898 – April 5, 1946) was an American Broadway composer and producer. A leading Broadway composer of his day, Youmans collaborated with virtually all the greatest lyricists on Broadway: Ira Gershwin, ...

: Tea for 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 in the 1967
* Many improvisations on various classical pieces, performed in live concerts throughout Cziffra's concertizing career, beginning mostly around 1953) * Numerous improvisations on popular tunes, performed early in Cziffra's career beginning in 1926) * Numerous jazz improvisations (mostly 1947-50, 1977–78)

Media

Audio

In addition to the above discography of commercially-released recordings, there exist audio recordings of complete live concerts, a few of which have been commercially released on disc, several can be obtained non-commercially, some however have been lost.

Videos

* Cziffr
playing
for

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

broadcasts (1962-1963) * Cziffr
plays

's Piano Concerto No. 1

References

;Notes ;Sources *Cziffra, György, tr. John Hornsby (2006).
Cannons and Flowers
', on MusicWeb International web site, accessed 8 September 2016. *Morrison, Bryce (n.d.)
"Cziffra, György [Georges
/nowiki>"">/nowiki>Georges">"Cziffra, György [Georges
/nowiki>"in ''Oxford Music Online'', accessed 6 September 2016. . *Summers, Jonathan (n.d.)
"Gyorgy Cziffra"
from ''A-Z of Pianists'',

Naxos Records Naxos comprises numerous companies, divisions, imprints, and labels specializing in classical music but also audiobooks and other genres. The premier label is Naxos Records, which focuses on classical music. Naxos Musical Group encompasses about ...

web-site, accessed 6 September 2016.
New York Times, Obituaries, Published: January 18, 1994.

External links

* *

( Spanish)
Fondation Cziffra
( French)
Cziffra Fondation Vienna
( German) {{DEFAULTSORT:Cziffra, Georges 1921 births 1994 deaths Musicians from Budapest 20th-century Hungarian classical composers Franz Liszt Academy of Music alumni Deaths from lung cancer in France Hungarian male classical composers Hungarian classical pianists 20th-century French male classical pianists 20th-century French classical pianists Composers for piano Hungarian jazz pianists Hungarian male jazz musicians Hungarian Romani people Naturalized citizens of France Male jazz pianists Pupils of Ernő Dohnányi