Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner I've said it before, and I'll say it again

Bartok Piano Concerto No. 2 has to be the greatest piano concerto ever written.

Usually I will listen to it a lot, but then start to listen to other stuff and realize that other stuff is really good, too.

And I forget how great the Bartok is.

Then, every single time I listen to it again after such a hiatus, it immediately strikes as the greatest piece of music I've ever heard. Every time.

Amazing! Man, the middle of that 2nd movement is WILD...

Actually I was looking for this piece recently, I have never heard it. Can you recommend a good recording of it?

I have 2 - Cziffra and Richter. Cziffra's playing is much more interesting IMO (if you can listen through the poor sound quality - well worth it).

I'm with you Sam, it really is incredible - Bartok had such an amazing use of colour in his harmonies. It's also one of the few concertos where I feel it is perfectly balanced in terms of the length and material in each movement.

Although probably not authoritative (like that really matters), I would recommend Cziffra's recording of this concerto, for something that is virtually incomparable in its endless fire, struggle, and humanity, not to mention technical perfection from a pianistic point of view. It is a live recording made very shortly before the Hungarian Revolution in 1956, and I have read accounts of the concert (including one from Cziffra's own memoirs) that relate the patriotic fervor that permeated Budapest and the concert hall itself, which was overcrowded with people, who filled the aisles or listened from the lobby. Days later, Cziffra would escape Budapest and begin the international career he had been fighting for for the last decade and a half.

So, the recording is filled with intensity and passion that would possibly be impossible to replicate, given the unique circumstances surrounding the recording. It may *not* be authoritative in the fact that it lacks a certain gloss and polish you would find in some of the other great recordings out there, but it is possibly the most human recording available (and no, I can not speak for all other recordings, because I have not heard all of them, so other opinions on the matter are welcome).

And by the way, this concerto is easily one of my favorites as well. It speaks volumes to me, and not just because of Cziffra's (and the other Hungarians') story.

Andsnes/Boulez. On the same disc Zimmerman plays #1 and Grimaud plays #3, but #2 is by far the best.

Ive never heard it. I'm waiting for an oppertune moment to introduce myself to it, lol. A whole concerto takes my full undivided attention to appreciate, especially for the first time. At the moment my favourite is the Prokofiev 2nd.

Does anyone know where I can find Cziffra's recording? I checked online and couldnt find it.

I think that the Bartok sounds like the influence of drugs.

Daniel

Bartok Piano Concerto No. 2 has to be the greatest piano concerto ever written.

Sam,
I'll be seing Lang Lang perform this piece in Carnegie Hall on March 3, 2007 along with the Dance Suite and Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta - with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra - Barenboim conducting. An entire program of Bartok. I'm really looking forward to this one!

Best regards,
Roger