The calm face is yet another demonstration of Cziffra's UNRIVALLED virtuosity. There have been, and always will be, many great pianists, but this man is in a league of his own!
Why would a calm face be a demonstration of unrivalled virtuosity ... all those pianists who use exaggerated body movements (such as rocking the body) and facial expressions like guitarists (like Steve Vai) aren't doing that because they are such amazing virtuoso emotional players but because they are not. They require theatrics to convince the audience they are playing emotionally. A pianist who doesn't do those things can actually focus better on the musicallity of the piece and obviously on the technical side as well ... so the calm face is not a result of his virtuosity, it is rather cause.
@@pianosenzanima1 No. It was Richter - and then maybe Cziffra and Gilels, at least what the Toccata concerns. Listen to Richter and Gilels, and you'll hardly can breath and think, just marvel.
The technical difficulties of this piece are legendary. But to execute a musically coherent, convincing performance of it is also very difficult. Cziffra wins on both counts. I have listened to many recordings of the Schumann Toccata, but this is the best. Practically superhuman.
@@thegreenpianoman3477 I did listen to it - 11 years ago! But thanks for sending me back. Yes, it's definitely a great performance, better than this one by Cziffra. - Having said that, there is a different performance by Cziffra that I think is far better than the one here. You have to search: Cziffra toccata "live at Ossiach". Also, I just listened to one recorded by Grigory Ginzburg in the 1950s. Unfortunately the audio is not good - but the performance is amazing, both technically and musically. Finally I want to mention another that is among the very best: Rafael Orozco (1967). On this level it is hard to say which is better. In each one I hear things I never heard before. The Toccata is not just a performer's showpiece, it is also an incredibly intricate masterwork of composition.
Incredible wrist technique and finger independence aside, my most favorite aspect of his recording is the narrative sweep of the piece. You can actually hear the softer, more intimate quality of the middle section of the piece in contrast with the boisterous, animated opening. While most people treat this toccata strictly as an etude, Cziffra interprets it in light of Schumann's other works, always keeping in mind Schumann's broad emotional range, animation, and unpredictability.
Wow that's beautiful. Wow. Wow. I love that Cziffra doesn't try to be bigger than the music. So many pianists try to have 'character,' they play melodramatically, they have great exaggerated scowls or gestures . . . Cziffra is such a joy to watch because he just enjoys the music. He plays the same in practise or in performance. He loves the music. Beautiful.
i didn't really think much of this piece until I heard other pianists attempt this, and I just realized when I came back to this, cziffra just owns it, that's why I was like oh okay
There's a grandness to this performance, combined with ecstatic brilliance. Quite unlike anyone else's attempt. Certainly one of the best two or three performances by anyone.
I have clear, acute hearing, and I have listened to this performance many times (along with other performers' recordings.) I find this peformance to be one of the most musically expressive of all, even in the most technically difficult passages. Some of the expression is obvious, and at other times it is more subtle and may be lost to some listeners, but always natural and appropriate. I am sorry that we do not have a perfect recording of this performance.
I'm also sorry that he didn't give us the repeat! It's especially frustrating when a performance of this caliber cheats us out of the whole experience.
Just GREAT! AND he plays most of it LEGATO just as Schumann wrote it which many avoid, because playing all those double notes connected is much more difficult than letting them just bounce along.
im studying and playing this piece and i am really dying, wide fingering, speed, different voices, it looks so easy but its one of the hardest pieces schumann ever wrote.
Not only is his technique unmatched, but also his interpretation. I admire Pogorelich for trying to play the toccata without pedal, but it doesn't really work to play Schumann the same way you play Scarlatti. One could go on for ever about how Cziffra phrases the piece wonderfully etc., but bottom line, he catches the spirit of a piece that can sound boring in the wrong hands and thereby produces a performance that I never tire of listening to. Magnificent!
Cziffra! He knows how to play it! I love it when he plays schumann! and any other componist, it is true to say, that he is great, not only in his technique, but also in his understanding of the music, which is, in my opinion, the most important thing!!
We are very fortunate to see this great artist's technique... video and sound are decent... This is a complicated piece as to its form; one must not only play it but bring out the thematic contrasts and maintain the momentum. He definitely captures the playful spirit Schumann intended: That technical difficulties can be made to seem trivial and that melodies can be inserted alongside "machine-style" (remember, it was the Industrial Revolution!) playing. Bravo Maestro!
William Guldfred yep, pls look at cziffra playing liszt chromatic gallop, when camera focuses on him he shakes his head too fast. So that means videos are speed up.
I am pleased with his tremendous technique, too. He appears not to have to worry about the technical difficulties of the work, as do some performers. Consequently he can play with comfort and can concentrate upon the music. His physical affect also indicates his oneness with the music. He hesitates, emphasizes, softens, or otherwise plays in a non-mechanical manner. If I did not listen carefully, I might miss something.
The moment I opened the video, I thought "Wow, Cziffra must have played this so fast that it fits in 4 and a half minutes", but then I figured he just left out the repeat. I wish he had done the former!
Leaving out repeats really shouldn't be condoned; I am mystified as to why so many people feel it is okay to cheat like that. Edit: It's especially a shame given that the performance is otherwise so extraordinary!!
Unbelievable! You know when Cziffra tenses his jaw even a little bit, the piece is hard beyond reckoning. What was Schumann thinking anyway? Was he trying to kill someone by writing this piece?!
truekingvictory People forget he was just 18 when he started to write this. He reworked it before publication when he was about 20. His intention was to compose the most difficult piece ever written. And it was, for a while. But then came Liszt, Chopin Debussy etc. Many think it was in trying to strengthen his fingers in a device of his own invention in order to play the Toccata that he injured his hand and ended his own performing career.
@@colinpountney333 In 1829 this was the hardest work (the early version) but Liszt topped it with his 1838 Etudes. I don't think Chopin or Debussy ever wrote anything as difficult but surely Ravel and Brahms did.
This Etude is driving through the North Sea 50-foot high waves with Maestro Cziffra driving this Super Tanker Etude through the terrifying waves, the great movement through the High Seas of Pianism, virtuosity and great musical artistry and inspiration. Beware the North Seas !! It can destroy anything unless under the direction of Maestro Cziffra !!
If you are a musical talent/genius and you are willing to practice 12-15 hours for many years/decades as Cziffra did then you will have chance to achieve this level, maybe! :-)
Amazing performance. Technique is tremendous, speed is high and he makes it look effortless. Excellent blend of staccato vs legato. Plays not like a machine but has many expressive and poetic touches of phrasing, more than most performances on YT. I also like the simple camera angle, preferable to many videos that vary angles and zoom all around, but don't show the hands much of the time! I like it to be about the pianist, not the videographer.
Monstrueux... Notez bien, il a une telle faculté d'écart de doigts qu'il est capable d'alterner 4e et 5e doigts sur la note supérieure dans tous les passages en octaves répétées - ce qui donne une fluidité et une légèreté difficile à atteindre pour le commun des mortels 😁
And, understand Cziffra the genius of improvisation, watch many of his video performances, and then: he is improvising within the composition, even if he plays the composition exactly as written - but he is always playing from his perspective of improvisation. In this concept, he is unique.
Exactly. This makes Cziffra a very fun pianist to listen to even if he does not follow the composer's intent ever time. We have plenty of great pianists who are faithful to the score.
@F1R1NMAHLAZAH This is the Schumann Toccata, one of the most difficult pieces to master. I've never seen anything like this performance. It's totally amazing! How he manages to look like it's so effortless!!! In music school, I had a friend who slaved over this composition and could never manage it. WOW!
At first in 0:05 I thought Cziffra was literally using one hand until few seconds later he was using 2 hands but not clearly seen. Also you can see the reflection so yeah
Compare Ciffras calmness and relaxation in the face of this monster of a piece to the wild, uncoordinated motions of Kissin while playing it... I just love the old pianists. They were so much better than the newer ones are!!
This is a guy who also had vast periods of his life away from the piano and unable to practice due to conscription during the war. On top of this, he had permanently damaged ligaments in his right wrist (you can see pictures of his wrist support leather band in other videos/pictures) due to forced labour after he tried to flee the war. In light of all this, it's mind boggling how he had complete mastery over the keyboard as he did, not mention his ridiculous prowess in improvisation.
XyX YxY kissin is one of the greatest ever. Maybe with age he has become a bit more original and unafraid to express his own concept of pieces. The young (14 year old) kissin was able to plow through rach and lizst etudes with outstanding ease. Look at a video of him playing schubert and scriabin recently. Maybe the best rendition of op 8 no 12.
This is both ear-popping and eye-popping! This is so technically phenomenal that it risks obscuring Cziffra's considerable musical merits, not to mention Schumann's. Is this an example of a piece of great music serving as a performer's technical vehicle (awe-inspiring though it might be) rather than a performer's technique as the servant of the music? Or did Schumann compose his Toccata with this sort of performance in mind? Or is Cziffra so freakish that such issues don't apply?
I had never heard Stadtfeld at all. I find his Toccata perfectly accurate and clear, but musically pedestrian. Getting back to Cziffra, I'm starting to notice more of the subtleties in his interpretation. I said before I would prefer a little slower tempo, but in fact, he varies the tempo in different places to accentuate musical structure. I especially love the rallentando to round off the section at 1:13-1:19; the accel. at 3:07 is very effective, etc.
As I said in an earlier comment (earlier for me, but later than this one), if you want a slightly slower version that is even more expressive, find Cziffra's performance of it under "Live at Ossiach", which is also on RU-vid but for some reason doesn't come up in general searches.
I'm so curious that how Cziffra can make clear sound with just 'grazing keys very lightly'. As in his short clip video of totentanz, his hand flys very light touch. Also music, techiques are perfect to me. Is that possible because he is Cziffra?(haha) Merci, Maestro Cziffra!
Multiple factors, finger strength/agility and of course how the piano has been prepared ... you can set it as lightly as possible or use standard setup ... even I as a rather amateur pianist in comparison have had my grand piano prepared so I can use the lightest touche.
Not everything about his technique is great, his octaves look quite te we and from a weird angle but still he can play like that. He is very much one with the key before he uses it which makes his playing very elastic.
no, he plays it two handed - look, the piano board is angled, so you can see both hands like it was a mirror and there you can see left hand moving a little bit.
