He was born in Angel Court, a shanty town on the outskirts of Budapest, on November 5th , 1921. He was brought up in abject poverty and, in fact, his father and one of his sisters died of starvation. At a very early age he could imitate, by ear, his sister’s piano playing and by the age of five was working at the Grand Circue du Budapest, improvising on themes requested by the audience.

In 1930 Cziffra auditioned for Ernö Dohnányi, the Director of the Franz Liszt Academy, and was admitted to the Conservatoire. At the Academy Cziffra worked with Imre Keeri-Szanto and attended the master classes of Liszt pupil István Thomán and Dohnányi. He was conscripted into the Hungarian Army in 1941. In 1942 he married Soleika Abdin, a daughter of an Egyptian diplomat. Their son, Gyorgy Jr., was born a year later.

Cziffra suffered through a hellish existence during WW II and was a POW of the Red Army for a number of years, finally being released in 1947. He was reunited with his family after five years of separation. To support his wife and young son he started performing in the burgeoning underground nightclub scene in postwar Budapest. It was the combination of his amazing improvisations and his interpretations of Romantic warhorses that made him the most popular cabaret pianist in Hungary. In addition to his playing he also worked as a bouncer at many of the seedier Budapest clubs, and he even dabbled in amateur boxing. In 2003 Madame Cziffra told me about his pugilistic activities, remarking that "György’s nose was broken many times."

A chance meeting with respected pedagogue György Ferenczy put in motion his return to serious music and performing in concert. Ferenczy was flabbergasted by Cziffra’s cabaret performances and convinced him to return to the Liszt Academy. In his book "Pianoforte" Ferenczy remarked that Cziffra "made two years’ worth of progress in as many months". He was stunned by Cziffra’s work ethic and dedication in learning enormous portions of the classical repertoire after so many years away from serious music and the Conservatoire.

Cziffra was politically active against the Communist regime in Hungary and attempted to escape to the West in 1950, but was captured, along with Soleika and their son. He was sentenced to three years at hard labor. His captors, knowing he was a pianist, focused their tortures on his hands and wrists. Cziffra was sent to a number of punitive labor camps and was forced to work ten hours a day carrying heavy blocks to build the University of Miskolc. His wife and son were also imprisoned and Gyorgy Jr. almost died during his incarceration. Soleika was released in 1952 and Cziffra in 1953. He was certain he would not be able to play again, but his indomitable spirit and work habits, practicing ten to fourteen hours a day, enabled him to regain his form. He began to record for the state-approved labels Hungaroton and Supraphon and was allowed to concertise in Hungary.

Cziffra was offered concerts in the Soviet Union and its satellite countries, but secretly harbored a desire to live in the West. Destiny was on his side, for on October 22 1956, the eve of the Hungarian revolt, he performed the Bartok 2nd Piano Concerto with conductor Mario Rossi at the Theatre Erkel in Budapest; some feel this was one, of the many, catalysts to the uprising the next day. The audience left the Theatre singing the Hungarian National Anthem, and nationalistic fervor and revolution were in the air. The Cziffras joined the stream of refugees and walked across the Austrian border to Vienna. Cziffra made his Western debut at the Brahmsaal on November 17, 1956, creating a sensation. His Paris debut two weeks later is legendary: a recording exists of this event and the audience can be heard tearing the hall apart, with applause and screaming lasting for over fifteen minutes. Cziffra immediately became the most celebrated pianist in Europe. He began recording for EMI and later for the Philips label, being touted as "Liszt reincarnated".

He made France his home and became a French citizen in 1968; President Charles DeGaulle personally handed him his citizenship papers. In 1973 Cziffra began a project which became his life’s work: the purchase and restoration of the Chapel Royal of St. Frambourg in Senlis, France. Taking the advice of the French Minister of the Arts and novelist André Malraux, he purchased the historic but dilapidated cathedral using entirely his own funds. The Chapel was in execrable condition and was being used as a car garage. Cziffra substantially increased his recording and concert schedules to pay the onerous costs of restoring the once-magnificent chapel. In 1975 he was allowed to accept donations, which eased the huge financial burden on him. The artist Joan Miro donated eight stained-glass windows and thus the conversion of the ancient building to a modern temple of the arts was completed. On September 24, 1977 the "Foundation Cziffra" was inaugurated in the "Franz Liszt Auditorium".

Cziffra, together with Gyorgy Jr., was responsible for the restoration of the organ at another historic building, the Abbey of La Chaise-Dieu, as well as starting a music festival there. The hall was renamed "Salle Cziffra" and to this day it attracts major artists. All these projects were undertaken by Cziffra to "help young artists in difficulty". "I secretly vowed to open the temple gates I had been kept away from for so long," he said. "I am reminded of my own years of hardship and enforced silence". These quotes from his autobiography "Cannons and Flowers" (APR Publications) were not mere hyperbole. Cziffra followed through on his mission to support, develop, encourage and present promising young talent. In addition to his private and master-class pedagogical activities (all provided without fee), he created the "Competition Cziffra" to help the careers of young pianists. Jean-Philippe Collard and Cyprien Katsaris were two artists whose careers were favorably impacted by Cziffra’s efforts.

In 1981 Gyorgy Cziffra Jr. burned to death in an accident in his home. Cziffra Jr. was an excellent young conductor and was Cziffra’s only collaborator in concerto repertoire, both in concert and the recording studio. In his son’s honor Cziffra did not perform with orchestra again. This devastating blow would have destroyed lesser men, but Cziffra rose from this unimaginable tragedy to resume teaching and performing. In 1983 he returned to Hungary to play several concerts and was named the French Cultural Ambassador to Hungary. Cziffra’s last public performance was at La Chaise-Dieu in 1989. Although he suffered a heart attack before the concert, he went on to perform a shortened program. Many years of heavy smoking had its effects and in the early 1990s Cziffra suffered from lung cancer. He died from a heart attack on January 15th, 1994 at a hospital in Morsang-sur-Orge. A music society to honor his life and work was started in 1995 in France, with branches in the USA, Japan and the UK.

by Francis Romano, Administrator of the U.S.Chapter of

The International Society of the Friends of Gyorgy Cziffra