Cziffra's crazy improv with Chopin Etude

[viktorolaf]

GREATEST PIANIST EVER!!!!!

[paulcopeland]

Absolutely amazing.

[itsanthonyhere]

I see videos like this..and I just wonder why modern pianos' action is so much heavier. This isn't possible THIS fast on a new piano. It's be like the keys are stuck in honey.

[Gamma1734]

I actually like the end

[Achille92190]

En cette année Liszt , comme on oublie trop vite CZIFFRA, Liszt réincarné tel qu'il fut un temps appelé à juste titre, sans nul doute le plus grand virtuose de tous les temps ( je vais en provoquer plus d'un mais tant pis ) ....Quelle leçon extraordinaire pour tous les pianistes et pédagogues , que de le voir s'échauffer ainsi ...

[bhh1988]

Can anyone name any of the pieces that he's playing? (besides the Chopin etude). A lot of them sound like they're at least based off of some piece, not completely made up...

[cowzilla8]

@bhh1988 Read the description, although it is missing some of the other pieces that he's playing here.

[MegaYoshitsune]

I never knew pears could play the piano so well, DO YOU GET IT!?!?!?

But really, Cziffra really is great.

[Nekomajin72]

In what song is the music at 1 min 09 - 1 min 12 ? It is amazing ! this isn't the Chopin etude 25 no. 10 as said in description

[truekingvictory]

This should be used as a video game track...like in one of those chaotic areas in the castlevania series. Could you imagine? Your average gamer would be like WTFFFFF!

[mattssecrets]

"I am finished" love it!!!!!

[itsjustnopinionok]

The piano limped off the stage after that.

[queenandi]

@itsjustnopinionok LOL!!!!!

[cowzilla8]

Now that's how one should shred a piano, just copy that. "Easier said than done."

[jtrstrings]

thank you for this post! very inspiring!

[decemberbenjamin]

and remember, this is just him messing around.

[pigeonwing9172]

piano ultra mega super duper all the gay things a kid would say inserted

RAPE.

[Patryk429]

Bardzo Pięęęęęęęęęęęęęęknie Bardzo Najmocniej Kocham Muzykę Ogólnie Wirtuozów Pianistycznych

[piano0b]

lol this guy doesn't give a shit

[packrat79]

When Horowitz made his debut in Paris in 1924, people thought he must be demon possesed.... what would they have thought of Cziffra?? His talent surely had to be seen to be believed. It's a shame Cziffra's life and career was held back by so many things (imprisonment, son's suicide, death at age 74), which is probably why he never achieved the same level of fame as the other greats.

[sasha42196]

@packrat79 He didn't achieve the same level of fame as the other greats because he was not at their level intellectually and musically. Sure, he was a gifted pianist and could "shred" Chopin or Liszt faster than anyone else. That doesn't make a "great".

[koreanjeenyus]

Um.. If this is his warm up? What's his next performance....? the camera probably blew up and couldn't record it

[Lappith]

Where is the Shostakovich? I can't find it.

[dianamartijn]

this is my fathers uncle, but not my kind of music......

[rmckim]

...i..give up piano.

[yattaw]

is 5:00 improvisation or a pre-existing piece? I have no idea but it sounds more like improv

[TripleRhu]

@yattaw its a piece by chopin, known popular as the maiden's waltz.

[lifeisgood4music]

...I am finished, thank you. (thats all he has to say?)

[cowzilla8]

"This is madness."

"No, this is Cziffra."

[thecarr1547]

well ill never play again.....

[carlosr86]

2:15 Liszt - Funerailles

[yojukitomodele]

Somebody call the police, he's just rapped the piano.

I'm just watching him play the Étude, and my right hand hurts already.

[cowzilla8]

Man, I seriously can't tell if he's left or right handed, or ambidextrous.

[jacobflaschen]

"I am finished, thank you."

He says that with the nonchalance of a diner in a restaurant telling the waiter he can take his plate away. Doesn't he realize what he's just done?

[cowzilla8]

58 people just gave up playing piano after watching this.

[thomasrobinson222]

I thought my diarrhoea had gone. Guess it was a mistake to play this...

[mikiwink]

oh.... my.... god! simply amazing!

58 people were destroyed by 3:39 - 4:55

[thiswastoogood]

And to think, this is him messing around.

[VenatusGames]

58 people have either no ears or no soul.

[lasalista1000]

Note: No pianos were hurt during the filming of this warm-up. :)

[30inventionman]

@thetickelmonster12 actually,his hand is equivalent to four hands, so he has 8 hands tops.

[30inventionman]

hahaha, hahahaha " i am finished , thank you" so lmao, hahaha.

[bluestickman1]

Oh, I knew that Cziffra wasn't human now

[oHeyitsthatguy]

This is so inspirational. I sat down at my piano, looked at the music for the Chopin Etude, then went back to my computer.

[cowzilla8]

The robot devil called, said that he wants his hands back.

[LetTheMusicFlow1]

@cowzilla8 I love Futurama references.

[Amarelaoo1]

@LetTheMusicFlow1 FUTURAMA SUUUUCKS

[01AlexZor]

At 3'06...it seems to me that he plays the famous tune of Liszt Transcental Etude n°10

great vid !

[Stukov16]

Just hear how the melody is still perfectly performed between all those notes, like in 5:13... The camera angle is mercyful. When you're sitting in front of a piano, the keyboard looks much larger.

[Choltik]

why there is allways someone that don't like it! C'mon, it's impossible to dislike this

[Lappith]

Could someone tell me at what time the Shostakovich comes in? I can't seem to find it.

[ChesterFanningChorno]

Beyond comprehension.

[Santosificationable]

Love the octave spamming.

[gabenovski]

55 Horowitz fans.

[Ally123234]

@gabenovski Im a Horowitz fan and I liked..

[Kofeyy]

Also, i'd love to see a visual demonstration (like Synthesia) of this xD. Would be funny.

[Kofeyy]

Anyone else think that Op.10 No.1 seems really out of place in this?

Other than that, awesome xD.

[cowzilla8]

Gosh, the force is just too strong with this one.

[newFranzFerencLiszt]

what a shit

[alekzlenz]

thanks!! :)

[melagads]

cool trouser, where i can get this?

[explodingpotato7]

HOLYYYY CRAPPPP :OOOO

Gosh I want to be this amazing at piano >_<

[explodingpotato7]

HOLYYYYYYYY :OOOOOO

[bigcalamaro]

think be there during the regitration......

[melagads]

technical maybe best player ever

[Jim341046]

@melagads I think so. In anycase I love his style too. Marc Andre Hamelin is a very good pianist but I think if you pushed them both to their technical limits, in their prime, Cziffra can go just that bit more beserk!!

[Paulland30]

Definitely the piano is good

[Jlan0151738]

If this is his warm up what is his workout?

[pianopablo31]

WOW !

[MattPetersonPhotogra]

nlm



[MattPetersonPhotogra]

nlm

[Backpagetear]

god. thanks

[poll6666]

his body is shaped like a pear

[jewgienij100]

it's etude C-major improvisation, sounds like Liszt paraphrase?

[nylonhead116]

54 people wouldn't know talent if it smacked them in the face

[Ricsman18]

I am finish, tank you! :)

[Pianoforteization]

Too bad nobody can write the sheet music for this, for all of this must be played from the heart and soul.

[tioangelw]

ES UN MAESTRO

[koemeet]

omg he cant playy,. how uglyy.. maybe you guys cant hear it, maybe its because I have musical ears AND YOU GUYS DONT HAVEE.. WHAT A PIECE OF SHIT!!

Thank you!

[TripleRhu]

@koemeet fy ;)

[AlexAlcyone]

2.22-2.30 have you ever heard tone like that? wtf!! amazing!!

Most pianists have hands; Cziffra has wings...

[meilg390]

PAN CZIFFRA - NIEŚMIERTELNY 

[stuffcluster]

his mood at the end seems like "why i waste my time with normal people" lol;

he was a great pianist

[TheInvincibleViolet]

Unbelievable.. Just perfect. I love his fabulous style.. fantastic..

[trevjr]

Just amazing, and he does just rip the first Chopin etude apart, I have not heard piano playing like this.

[fpetya314]

This is a special record of key-touch / sec, but sorry, I feel this impro no connetion with Chopin's full of emotion and sensitivity music.

[InosensuNoUtagoe]

....this is just scary. it's scary amazing. how is it humanly possible to play like that?! O:

[jensh684]

it's like... nothing to him.

o so freaking good.

[msg355]

i am finished, thank you.

[krokigrygg]

@msg355 LOL :D

[seraphimist]

2:10 - 2:15 is absolute amazing part

[dustovshio]

best chopin #1 etude ever

[funfor1life]

The weird thing is that there's probably nothing to UNDERSTAND and still I feel ashamed I don't understand everything of this.. Wonderful, and the word is week!

[ykpatr]

Bardzo Bardzo Pięęęęęęęęęęęknie Bardzo Najmocniej Kocham Muzykę 

[Sizacu]

Whoever makes this into sheet music deserves +3 internets.

[jesus45137]

wooooooooooooooooow

[MisterBREADbasket]

his right pinky is disgustingly flexible

[jefftam1234]

@MisterBREADbasket I am so freaking jealous of his fingers and dexterity.

[JKarioun]

lol at the cameras

[MrStrav81]

I don't see a clear connection between 0:43 and the Chopin Etude Op. 25, No. 10. I'm not sure that was his intention.

[grimmbo93]

best part from 0:50 to 1:07

[6cob6hc6]

I'd love to see this done on a guitar!

Cziffra is the man!

[Virtuosic1]

@6cob6hc6 Impossible. Even for Stanley Jordan. Not enough fretboard. The layout is far more limiting. You'd need a 5 foot fretboard and an 18 inch hand span!

[6cob6hc6]

@Virtuosic1 XD

[busashka]

Killing.

I was searching for different interpretations of Chopin's #1 op10.

Now I understand that I am nothing and nowhere.

His performance is out of range. The only comparable I heard by Lazar Berman, live. He could improvise too.

S.

[Virtuosic1]

@busashka Berman was incredible. In the very next tier of virtuosi right under Cziffra. No other pianist had a dynamic range like Berman. During the Liszt Sonata, he BROKE the low E string on the BOSENDORFER during a volley of sFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFz double octaves! I thought the piano wa going to raise a white flag! The man had a range of 10 to 150 decibels!!

[busashka]

@Virtuosic1

I may be wrong, but I read that at 140dB of hearing threshold human ear is becoming destroyed...

[Virtuosic1]

@busashka Actually atabout 150 db the ears will be damaged irreperably. At 180db and above sound can actually become a destructuve OBJECT!

[RichardMartin2]

@Virtuosic1 I guess Nyiregyhazi must have broken a few strings as well then as doesn't he have the (informal) record as the loudest ever pianist?

[kasyapa]

@RichardMartin2 - nyiregyhazi had the biggest sound of them all.

[Virtuosic1]

@RichardMartin2 Being able to play loud alone isn't the same. You'd have to have taken in Berman's dynamics live. His range, and ability to instantly or gradually shift were unmatched. No other pianist could create macro crescendos of such length and be able to interpolate other dynamic nuances within that macro crescendo. Just amazing dynamic control I've never heard equaled. Recordings fall short of live performance to gauge this.

[Ste86Horus]

impressive :D totally crazy

[Sylvain894]

What heavy cameras and man !

[smutery]

i didnt like it

[001ArtistJoker]

Nincs Komment, Megismételhetetlen! Unrepeatabble!:)

[egonsky]

Thanks God im not a pianist...!

[TheInvincibleViolet]

PURE PIANO GENIUS. IVE NOT HEARD ANY BETTER IN MY LIFETIME.

[Virtuosic1]

@TheInvincibleViolet There aren't any better to hear. Cziffra's unparalleled technical headroom dwarfs all of his peers, past, present, and likely, the future.

[TheInvincibleViolet]

@Virtuosic1 YES !!!

[Virtuosic1]

@TheInvincibleViolet Most would have to be skilled towards the top end of the technical spectrum to even begin to realize just how far beyond that top end Cziffra's technical ability is! It's one thing to play fast, but to play blindingly fast with complete control of the contour, envelope, and dynamic of each note is something else. Cziffra has no peers at this, and likely never will. He's Babe Ruth, hitting more home runs each season than any other entire TEAM!! Nobody even close.

[VanargrandsEnd]

@Virtuosic1 To be quite honest even though i do agree with you i cant help but feel that Art Tatum should be brought into this conversation , possibly the only other known person to ever rival Cziffra in my opinion. Or that ive come across, there are millions of unknown pianists as well who could potentilaly rival this but until there found its just those two :P

[Virtuosic1]

@VanargrandsEnd Technically, Tatum isn't even close to Cziffra, although near the top of the technical spectrum of jazz piano. If you've never heard Martial Solal, give a listen. The technical headroom of Tatum with the inventiveness and harmonic language of Lennie tristano. Totally unique! But again, like Tatum, technically they are children next to Cziffra.

[VanargrandsEnd]

@Virtuosic1 Ill be sure to check Martial Solal ill let you know what i think. I always suspect though that Cziffras talent stems from the struggles he faced in life unfortunatly the last blow seems to have taken a massive chunk of his love for piano away who can blame him at any rate . Vast majority of pianist who play near to this caliber of playing or composing seem to have something unfortunate happen to them. Shame there are no modern recordings of Cziffra.

[Virtuosic1]

@VanargrandsEnd True, but on a pure technical level, genetic neurology plays a major factor. technique is systemic. Like a man who has the potential to throw a 98 mph fastball, genetics determine being able to manually operate at this high level of velocity.

[VanargrandsEnd]

@Virtuosic1 Martial is quite talented actually the first white person ive seen play jazz piano that well in a very long time not being racist or anything. I suppose that is very true. Then again its possible for someones neuronic (not sure if that is a word) pathways in the brain to cross paths resulting in something spectacular like Synesthesia to happen, though the odds are very very slim. Still im eager to hear the next Cziffra surface.

[Virtuosic1]

@VanargrandsEnd Search Martial Solal - On Green Dolphin Street. he's at his technical pinnacle here. Sort of like an amalgam of Peterson and Bela Bartok!

[Virtuosic1]

@VanargrandsEnd Search Wes Montgomery - Blue Monk - 1965. Martial plays the most outrageously inventive blues choruses I've ever heard at 3:38, and I studied with Tristano for 10 years! 

[VanargrandsEnd]

@Virtuosic1 That was something i cant even begin to understand its inventiveness or complexity in one sitting, and you studied with Lennie Tristano? Envious. Extremely envious. I would have loved to have a Teacher like that, there are not many Jazz piano teachers where i live, or should I say many who teach how i learn.

[Virtuosic1]

@VanargrandsEnd I have a video on here, search Virtuosic1, of my playing Lennie's Scene and Variations from the Atlantic 1357 "New tristano" album, with a denser and more intricate inter-note counterpoint. Like anything else, I play a piece or improvise on something differently every time. I've transcribed and play everything by lennie.

[Virtuosic1]

@VanargrandsEnd The thing to understnd about Lennie's sense of harmony is that it is HARMONIC COUNTERPOINT created by the propogation of linearity. That is, even themovement of 13 to 15 note aggregates (chords), as I play in the Virtuosic1 video, are not conceived vertically! These vertical aggregates are coincidental nodes of individual notes, inividual phrases, all gravitating independently!! Truly completely linearly conceived!

[Virtuosic1]

@Virtuosic1 Lennie's harmonic concepts were the byproduct of complex linear phrases. Harmonically, Lennie was actually far closer to early 20th composers rater than jazz musicians!!!! Listen to that video again. Then listen to Bartok's music for strings percussion and celeste, or Honegger's X-man Cantata, or Varese, Ives Central Park in the Dark. All of the "chords/aggregates" in the music of those composers can be found IN TRISTANO'S HARMONIC COUNTERPOINT". Lennie was unique in jazz.

[VanargrandsEnd]

@Virtuosic1 I listened to you playing Lennie on piano, your the fluidity and articulation in your playing is top notch i genuinely was not expecting that level of playing. How long did it take you to develop arpeggios like that? Any good books you could recommended? To be quite honest my jazz or even general musical knowledge is very limited being self thought and what not.

[VanargrandsEnd]

@VanargrandsEnd I understand what your saying though about Lennies harmonic concepts after Charles Ives but i think it will be a while before i fully appretiate it, because i have not heard enough of Lennie or even of jazz music itself. What you played, not all of it was Lennie right? it seemed to be more like you played like Lennie but with alot of improv expanded scenes so to speak? i could be wrong though

[Virtuosic1]

@VanargrandsEnd Yes. I expanded the amount of independent voices. The underlying harmonic structure and melody is "Melancholy Baby". There are some voicings here with 15 notes! To play Lennie's music, you hav to develop facility to quickly play with the thumbs or pinky's splayed across 2 or 3 notes so you're playing 8 notes per hand, and the targeting demands are beyond normal pedagogy. Agan, these are all LINEARLY CONCEIVED INDEPENDENT LINES, a grand triple fugue so to speak!

[Virtuosic1]

@VanargrandsEnd Superb Technique can best be acheived by PLAYING PIECES IN EVERY KEY!!! By 16, Lennie had me playing the Chopin Etudes in every key, at performance tempi. Taking stretches that fit quite comfortably in the pianistic hand due to being performed in a specific "piano-friendly" key, and tranposing them to all keys will eventually build an incredible technique with few limitations.

[ChrisWatch]

around 5:10 to 6:00 is a Rachmanioff ending. only beefed up with virtuosi visuals/sounds. :P

[LordOn64]

Definitely the best point of classic music is that when you learn more you enjoy it more. Each time I hear to Cziffra I enjoy it even more.

'Composing is not difficult, what is difficult is dropping the redundant notes under the desk' Brahms.

Brahms' gets a fatality owned.

[kisfaszzongorita]

wtf?

[Musiker81]

absolutely incredible... i can tell nothing

[BassicStorm]

video of virtuosity :)

[devoludo]

HAHAHAHA "I am finished thank you."

[snake1179]

@bariguru where did you find this? Is there a DVD with the rest of the performance?

[lacheeky123]

damn... poor piano... :'(

[ScaryIndeed]

6:38 I am finnnished, thank you! ;D haha

[hoiszhdfoifh22]

1:56

What the hell IS that? Please? anyone? My god it's good!

[cowzilla8]

Lol, he has devilish hands.

[DADALITES]

bariguru Sir

if you add

yt:stretch=4:3

in your tags box as a last tag, Cziffra will not be so skinny and we can enjoy this video even more:)

thx

[largolegato]

Ok, I admit, I suck~~~ :(

[DenebWallace27]

Magical.

[jjp009]

Why is he playing a small grand piano instead of a nine-foot concert grand? It would have sounded even better.

[afertyus1000]

sounds like a locomotive starting off then goes mennnnnnnnnntalllllllllllllll

[GabrieleCorniani]

Non ci sono parole...

[synesthetically]

Where is this video from? What's the source?

[anelacadillo]

I think that in minute 1:45  there`s a part of Rachmaninoff`s 3rd. piano concerto 3rd. movement. Don`t you think? He totally dominates the pianio, he is a genius!!

[BassicStorm]

O_O

[777mrpiano777]

Who wouldn't want to play piano after that? honestly lol

[marisasw]

48 people happen to be jealous.

[Szotyka]

unbelievable

[RemovdSande11]

he sort of calmed down when he heard Chopin's etude op10 . no1 haha : )

[About14Pandas]

that was so amazing O__o

[arkat80]

I QUIT!!!!!!!!!

[mikern2001]

Poor recording, small piano, old footage, probably only one microphone, but it sounds fantastic. Think what he would sound like had this been done with today's recording techniques.

[ChesterFanningChorno]

Absolutely spellbinding improvising. Incredble, sick, mind blowing, fantabulous, transcendental, other-worldy. Yes, I liked it also.

[grimmbo93]

I can't recognize Liszt's Dante Sonata. :-( Which part of the sonata is in here? Or did you mean Dante Symphony?

[Werwolf2x]

the beginning sounds like Ligeti's "Devil's Staircase"

[MrMusic1983]

@Werwolf2x Indeed - there is a passing similarity...very interesting!

[blueside714]

Cziffra could have made a ton in the pickpocketing racket :] lucky for everyone he chose pianos instead!

[RPTilos]

Bejátszás...

[cicciontek]

Certo che i suoi compaesani possono andarne fieri ...

[Caynda]

What is he playing in 03:40 ?