Chopin - Waltzes, Impromptus (Georges Cziffra)

Posted By : ArlegZ | Date : 14 Mar 2011 06:14:05 | Comments : 5 |

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Cziffra first recorded Chopin's Waltzes 1-14 along with his electrifying account of the Etudes Op.10 & 25 (now on EMI's recent CZIFFRA plays CHOPIN 5 CD box set 5 85012 2) when he moved from EMI to Philips in 1962. This recording for EMI which includes the additional five posthumous Waltzes, was recorded in 1977/78. In many ways Cziffra's account reflects the style of the so called `Golden Age' of piano playing in that he sometimes plays the left hand slightly before the right to emphasise the melody, adds extra tonic chords at the end of a piece, and plays with some personal rubato, especially in the slower Waltzes such as Op.69 No.1 (L'Adieu), C sharp minor Op.64 No.2, and the A minor (Lento) Op.34 No.2). As you would expect with Cziffra, he is brilliant in the faster Waltzes such as the famous `Minute' Waltz and A flat Op.42 while he captures the tears and wistful sadness behind the simple Waltz steps of the final Op. posth. From 1967 Cziffra used a bright toned Yamaha piano - that and the over close miking makes for a rather hard tone at times but this can be remedied if you adjust your graphic equalizer settings. This is also true to a lesser extent of the four Impromptus recorded in 1975. Here Cziffra is on top form and the improvisatory nature of the pieces suit him much better than the rather confined aristocratic style of the Waltzes. The first Impromptu flows with effortless clarity and brilliance as do the scintillating scale passages in the F sharp major. The latter piece also offers some beautiful lyrical playing as does the exquisite No.3 in G flat while the final Fantasy-Impromptus rippling semiquaver passages fairly sparkle providing an effective contrast to the beautifully `sung' heaven sent melody of the middle section. The Impromptus are certainly one of Cziffra's finest Chopin performances.

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Performer:
Georges Cziffra - piano