Does someone know a pianist who is better than Korsakov Cziffra ?

[Artic_counter]

I stumbled on a video of him playing GGC and I questioned myself on if there has been a pianist who was able to play even faster and/or better than him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SygS5...eature=related

Can you help me ?

[sente3]

Yeah, I have watched that video plenty of times. He is, most likely, the best pianist I will ever see.

[tofurox]

Insane!

Edit: Maybe this guy? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YKg9...eature=related

[OrganisM]

Different pianists are good at different things. Playing fast has nothing to do with skill. Any brain-dead child who plays for a few years can play fast. Dynamics are much more important, if anything. That's what impressive about the piece you posted.

whatever, I'm done sounding patronizing because I can't teach you taste in piano on a forum. You can easily find other pianists on Google.

[MooMoo_Cowfreak]

What about Lizst, the guy who wrote it? Apparently he was like a literal virtuoso and people would come to him with their pieces to see how it sounded when played correctly.

Obviously though, we have no vids of him, so it could all be a lie...

[jimerax]

in terms of speed Richter is outstanding as well.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=GQ-NAgDpRVs

[Sprite-]

Basically what OrganisM said. Being a piano major, it's really annoying when I hear people say "OMG THAT PIECE WAS SO FAST YOU'RE AMAZING"....because that's not true. ANYONE can play a fast piece if they practice it enough (assuming they don't have disabilities to disallow this). It's about the interpretation and balance between voices that really make a good pianist. In my lessons, my professor would demand that we learn the piece up to full speed on our own, then he would guide us in the right direction in terms of interpretation and balancing. Only then, are we considered good. It's the wall between an average pianist and a professional. Speed is NOT the hard part by any means. I learned to play GGC at full speed in about a week and a half. I just didn't want to continue it because there isn't too much room for interpretation in that piece. Which makes it kind of a "cheat piece" - meaning it sounds impressive, but it's really pretty easy.

/end long paragraph

@torufox
That guy may have speed, but he lacks any balancing. The bass drowns out most of the melody in a lot of parts.

[TC_Legato210]

IMHO, Arturo Michelangeli is one of the greatest.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKwN_...eature=related
His technique is flawless.


Also, this sweet dude :P
Not as clean though.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y9Wiqsd9xY

[Sprite-]

Originally Posted by TC_Legato210

IMHO, Arturo Michelangeli is one of the greatest.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKwN_...eature=related

I'm actually learning this right now. Almost done.

[sjoecool1991]

Actually, most people would probably hate me for this, but I don't really like the way Cziffra plays, I don't know why exactly I just.......don't.

[Xandertrax]

Firstoff, it's Georges (or Georgy) Cziffra.

Secondly, some of my favorite modern-day virtuosos are Mark-Andre Hamelin and Boris Berezovsky. Hamelin's recordings of the Godowsky Studies on Chopin Etudes (this <-- go 2 minutes in for epic rendition of op. 25 no. 11. not the best performance, but the only one on yt) are VERY impressive to listen to, considering the difficulty of the work. He's also done superb recordings of the Alkan Concerto for Solo Piano and the Liszt Transcendental Etudes & studies on Paganini.

for my 2 cents.

p.s. dynamics are important too. Go listen to some Gieseking playing Debussy if you want that.

Also, Pollini has done some excellent recordings of Chopin's Etudes, that really capture some of the emotions of the pieces.

p.p.s this guy is definitely the best I've ever heard.

[clarinet89]

Originally Posted by Xandertrax

p.p.s this guy is definitely the best I've ever heard.

That's how I play piano (except not really). I'm a Music Ed major and I'm in my fourth semester of piano. It's hard, but I can definitely see where it can fit in. Group piano classes aren't the best because you don't really get any one-on-one time, so you have to figure it out on your own. I would love to be able to play fluently.

[reptile3141]

Maksim Mrvica is reallllly good. : D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6A-J...eature=related

[Xandertrax]

Originally Posted by reptile3141

Maksim Mrvica is reallllly good. : D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6A-J...eature=related

That is the tackiest stage I have ever seen.

and >>this<< is flight of the bumblebee. Cziffra's version of it, anyway.

p.s. someone step this for ffr nao.

[clarinet89]

oh man. insanity

[who_cares973]

circus gallop is one of the greatest things i've ever heard



+1 for ffr

[Reach]

Originally Posted by Sprite-

Basically what OrganisM said. Being a piano major, it's really annoying when I hear people say "OMG THAT PIECE WAS SO FAST YOU'RE AMAZING"....because that's not true. ANYONE can play a fast piece if they practice it enough (assuming they don't have disabilities to disallow this). It's about the interpretation and balance between voices that really make a good pianist. In my lessons, my professor would demand that we learn the piece up to full speed on our own, then he would guide us in the right direction in terms of interpretation and balancing. Only then, are we considered good. It's the wall between an average pianist and a professional. Speed is NOT the hard part by any means. I learned to play GGC at full speed in about a week and a half. I just didn't want to continue it because there isn't too much room for interpretation in that piece. Which makes it kind of a "cheat piece" - meaning it sounds impressive, but it's really pretty easy.

/end long paragraph

@torufox
That guy may have speed, but he lacks any balancing. The bass drowns out most of the melody in a lot of parts.

I know we've been through this before, but ...what a load of **** @ the 1.5 week thing. It's 11 pages long, at least in the version I have at home. It's not by any means easy to read, and it would take you that long to get through the thing and be able to play it ...coherently at all, let alone up to speed.



GGC is also far from easy and I don't know anyone that would consider it so. Also, saying speed is 'not' the hard part is nonsense, and is your very very biased opinion. I know several piano players that struggle greatly with speed and could never match mine, but play beautifully, and I admire their performances.




Anyway, being able to play quickly and play a piece expressively etc are different skills, but it's not like 'anyone' can just play quickly. It's not exactly easy; actually, I know very very few people that can play quickly (I'll define quick as playing FOTBB up to speed), and uh, no one that could play GGC as quickly as Cziffra. It's incredibly hard to play that fast. It's more than just practise...speed and expressive skill fall together as one in my opinion. I don't see how you develop one without the other.

Also, I think Cziffra played this piece almost perfectly. I've only ever seen it played live a few times and in comparison it was almost laughable. Excellent performance.

[Sprite-]

Lol @ Reach. GGC and the Chopin Ballade weren't hard for me to read at all. I learned all the fast/difficult parts first, which I took about 1 practice session for each section. And my version of GGC was 11 pages long. Believe what you want. I do not care what you think lol.

Edit: Just to clarify, "full speed" refers to the speed that it is supposed to be played at - not as fast as Cziffra played it, since he just plays things much faster than they are meant to be played. It's faster than the FFR version by a good amount, though.

BTW I practice for a MINIMUM of 4-5 hours EVERY day.

Also, Reach you must SUCK so much at the piano if you're saying this to me (which is contrary to what I've heard, but I have no other explanation of why you'd be saying this). Sorry dude :P
Yes, I take your response as a personal attack towards me.

Oh and also, YOU'RE the one who's being biased because of what you CANNOT accomplish. Just becuase you cannot do it, and you don't know anyone else who can, doesn't give you the right to tell me I can't.

[roundb0x]

oh SNAP

[MrRubix]

Cziffra's performance on GGC was great. GGC's really meant to be a showy piece, and Cziffra did a great job at taking the intended sound and emphasizing it through his mastery of speed and technique.

I would say that what makes a good pianist really depends. Some people have absurd speed. Others are brilliant at interpreting or mastering the dynamics. A handful have very developed technical skills. Others can improvise beautifully.

BTW Sprite, your use of "full speed" was not exactly clear, so I wouldn't say that Reach's response was a personal attack, as you both clearly approached the concept differently. However, your response to him is... well, clearly an attack full of flames, which I think is a tad over-defensive considering the nature of the initial miscommunication.

In any case, GGC in 1.5 weeks is feasible, so I don't see why that should be an issue.