Georges Cziffra

About

Virtuoso musician best remembered for his recordings of Liszt, Chopin, and Schumann. He was one of the 20th century's greatest piano technicians.

Before Fame

He learned piano by watching his sister practice and mimicking what he saw her do. He was the youngest student, being only nine, who was ever accepted into the Franz Liszt Academy.

Trivia

He transcribed Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight of the Bumblebee in interlocking octaves.

Family Life

His parents were impoverished when he was born, and his father was imprisoned during World War I.

Associated With

He performed Bela Bartok's second piano concerto immediately before fleeing from Soviet-occupied Hungary to Vienna in 1956.