Programme:
Rameau: Suite in A minor
Scarlatti: Sonata in A major
Couperin: Le tic-toc-choc, ou Les maillotins
Marais: Pièces de viole, Book I – Suite No. 1 in D minor » No. 24 Rondeau (piano transcription)
Turrini: Sonata in G minor » I. Presto
Beethoven: Polonaise in C major, Op. 89
Intermission
Mozart: Piano Sonata No. 8 in A minor, K. 310
Liszt: Consolations (first version) » No. 4 in D-flat major
Rachmaninoff: Prelude in G minor, Op. 23 No. 5
Balakirev: Islamey – Oriental Fantasy
In the years following World War II, György Cziffra was as familiar with Budapest’s nightlife venues as he was with the prison system of the Rákosi era. For many years, he was forcibly absent from the classical concert stage, but in 1954 he made a triumphant return. During the two years leading up to his emigration in 1956, he rose to the ranks of celebrated and acclaimed artists. This period was crowned on 9 February 1956 with a remarkably diverse solo recital at the Liszt Academy of Music. At the time, Antal Molnár wrote: “Cziffra is not merely a pianist, but the embodiment of the pianist—he is the piano virtuoso as one might imagine in one’s dreams.”
Seventy years later, János Balázs recreates the programme of Cziffra’s—long considered his final—solo recital at the Academy. Audiences may also look forward to a selection of encores, including some of Cziffra’s own transcriptions.
Ticket prices: HUF 3,800 – 14,900