A Hungarian Rhapsody
Back home to the news that Viktor Orbán has been ousted in today’s election in Hungary I thought I’d share something celebratory. Here is a classic recording of the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C-sharp minor by Franz Liszt played by György Cziffra. The second is by far the most famous of the 19 Hungarian Rhapsodies Liszt wrote, although it is based on Romanian rather than Hungarian tunes. Many recordings are available – I have three on CD – and this is my favourite. Cziffra was a very talented jazz musician too (here is his take on Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Lady); Liszt himself was no mean improviser.
I’m not sure of the recording date, but it was made in Hungary (when Hungary was still behind the Iron Curtain) so it would have to be before 1956, as Cziffra escaped to Vienna then and eventually took up French citizenship.
In the Dark 
April 13, 2026 at 9:37 am
Felicitări
April 13, 2026 at 12:24 pm
Last time we were in Budapest, for a family get-together about 12 years ago, you could still hear this style of music played live by small ensembles in restaurants on the Pest side. Sometimes if the musicians spotted a group of tourists (not hard) they’d wander over and offer to play requests. At one spot with a little negotiation and a short run-through they were soon playing “Myfanwy” and “Calon Lan” for us to sing along, although the latter tune did morph into something like “Auld lang syne”, which they were obviously more familiar with. We really liked Budapest as a city, and the people there, although the many Transylvanian flags flying outside the parliament building suggested that talking politics wouldn’t be a good idea. Hopefully things will be better now.
Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsodies for piano are imo very much under-rated. Several of them are just about within reach for a good amateur pianist (including No.2 as long as you don’t let the friska run away with you.) and worth looking at. Some wonderful purple patches – Liszt at his most romantic! But it is essentially urban eating-place music; for sound colour think klezmer not big orchestra.
April 13, 2026 at 12:50 pm
There’s an arrangement of this for a large orchestra which I don’t like at all: it is far too unwieldy
April 16, 2026 at 4:39 pm
The bit at 6.48 will be familiar to Tom Lehrer fans, from his Lobachevsky song.