Cziffra: Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 - LVSM FALP 610 (ds)

Jacket EX / LP NM

This lovely LP from La Voix de son Maitre (FALP 610, French pressing, red/white semi-circle label, mono) features Gyorgy Cziffra’s high-octane account of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor Op. 23, recorded with André Vandernoot and the Philharmonia Orchestra in the fabled acoustics of London’s Kingsway Hall on 20 September 1958.

Cziffra’s outsize performance contains numerous hair-raising moments – there’s not another Tchaikovsky B-flat minor Concerto quite like this one – extraordinary playing.

Incidentally, the striking cover design was executed by Arthur Joubert. There are fine liner notes on the reverse side of the jacket by noted Mahler authority Henry-Louis de La Grange.