Видео

I just watched the doco/ film “ The Eulogy “ based on Tozer I think I would love to hear a continuing conversation between the two previous contributors ( students) for any insights they might offer.

Geoffrey Tozer's entire CD of Liszt transcriptions of other composers' music is superb. Thanks for posting this live performance of this gorgeous piece!

What a great New Year present! Merci merci merci! Such elegance, freedom, seduction, virtuosity. Bösendorfer warmth.

❤such brilliant light suddenly & silently disappeared from the music scene😢

Jokes aside, he really was a wonderful pianist!!

Beautiful, elegant , charming and a golden tone no longer sought or achieved by the majority of pianists.

I like the way he cooks the 1st movement when his left hand joins the unison bars.

Einfach klasse!!😊

I am going to play for you now a lullaby. I really can't remember it though. My mother would play. Unfortunately, I never got to hear it because when she was playing it I fell fast asleep. Thank you Herr Victor Borge. All the best from you. And may he rest in happiest joyful peace

The thin recording does not diminish just how special this recording is. The conductor [?] gets a really Russian sound from the Melbourne band and, although Tozer seems to want to hurry, the pace of this concerto of many moods is controlled like an ensemble piece. It takes a couple of listenings to comprehend this but once "cops on" it is clear that Prokofiev's own Coppola recording was probably known to most of the musicians. Tozer was clearly a far greater pianist than the composer (who admitted that he couldn't play his own 2nd concerto and late sonatas) but there is no sense of showing off his phenomenal virtuosity as he sometimes did in Medtner. Prokofiev's 3rd concerto became a sort of staple of famous pianists who recorded for the big labels in the 1960s to 1990s period and only a few tackled the 2nd as well. I do not if Tozer did but would bet on it. The composer saw his 3rd as his most 'classical' piano concerto and here we get a sense of Mozart and early Beethoven underpinning Tozer's sense of form in playing a work which still sounds like the ink is barely dry even in 2024. Thank you Alistaire.

Has anyone transcribed the two arrangements of Op.51?

It's not inconsequential that his teacher was Frédéric Lamond who himself was taught by Franz Liszt. There is a voice recording of Lamond, in which he speaks of his time with Liszt: he tells of Liszt's contempt for pianists who play too fast and lose sight of the all-important musical aspect. A lot of this wisdom seems to have filtered through in Borge's wonderful playing.

To quote William Butler Yeats, Borge goes with his interpretation in "the deep heart's core" of this delightful and melancholic Kreisler's jewel

What is the piano?

A great pianist and musician who led a somewhat tragic life.

Yes, Borg Rosenberg was a great pianist as well as a brilliant comedian. There’s a recording of Horowitz playing this recorded at a college auditorium. The sound is not great, but the performance is something that you have to hear if you like this piece it’s on RUclips. ruclips.net/video/GBl3TedxhBQ/видео.htmlsi=Xq7ttxv-qvR70nUr

13:30

who is not shure ..... about the the god

He did his schtick at Central Michigan University in 1968. It was corny. He never played a single piece. I was disappointed. What a waste of time!

This is phenomenally great playing from anyone anywhere, let alone from a pianist with zero recognition in his own native country.

In the style of rachmaninoff.. great phrasing and lyricity and charm

I honestly think this is one of the most important recordings for pianists to listen to, besides those done by pianists like Rubinstein and Horowitz. It showcases the style of the old masters like Liszt and Brahms, something we don’t hear anymore

What a wonderful and nostalgic endition. Full of Old Viena's spirit.

Удивительная интерпретация, где переосмыслена каждая нота...известнейшая пьеса в этом исполнении предстаёт совершенно иначе, чем обычно...в это исполнение вложен огромный интеллект и талант....настолько светлое содержание сквозит в каждой ноте, что начинаешь совершенно по-другому видеть смысл пьесы...не думал, что это настолько возможно и так убедительно....

Borge was one of a sadly decreasing number of pianists who could play in the Viennese 'Grand Manner', giving his performance of this piece such depth and emotion.

Geoffrey was a close friend of ours and visited our home a number of times. He must be numbered amongst the very greatest of pianists. His passing was such a sad occasion. He is sorely missed. I shall never forget the time when he accompanied me as I sang some favourite ballads.

Still keep on discovering Geoffrey and can't help wondering. How could he have done so much. The tape is just a bit too slow (nearly a semitone).

The greatest player ever lived what a sad loss,and so young when he took his own life,and his voice was a pleasure to listen to,

Bravo~

The way he embodies each different composer with each piece is unrivalled.

Very, very good in bits. Not so much in others. In places clarity is lost to passion and impetuosity. Perhaps a Lisztian fault. The best performance for me remains Kocsis. The title of Oz's greatest pianist is contested by Tozer and Newton-Wood (sorry, Eileen and Roger). Both were destroyed, in my opinion, not by jealousy and incompetence but by their inner demons (though I certainly think Tozer was scandalously neglected when he needed help most)

Moments of heart-stopping beauty.

Thank you for posting this lovely performance. It conveys not only the peaceful nighttime scene but Liszt's profound feelings at the birth of his first child, Blandine. Geoffrey Tozer's Chandos CD of Liszt transcriptions/paraphrases/etc. is a treasured personal favorite; his rendition of the "Norma" Reminiscences remains without equal, in my opinion.

A truly great Dane. A wonderful example of how music can affect the emotions. Just hauntingly beautiful.

Wow, beautiful playing.

Certainly one of a kind!!!

A lyrical, romantic interpretation that suits this music perfectly. Had Borge chosen a different path he might have given Rubinstein quite some competition.

Fantastico!

Nostalgia...............Leopold Godowsky's superscription to his piece "Alt Wien", "whose yesterdays look back with a smile through tears", is equally appropriate here.......

My teacher, Mack Jost who was a lecturer in piano at The University of Melbourne and a brilliant piano teacher and master performer was a pupil of Friedman, who studied with Theodor Leschetizky who was a pupil of Liszt. Friedman must have been an extraordinary teacher.

Fave interpretation of this charming piece by far.

Потсающий пианист

Today's obsession with playing piano music fast often destroys the musicality completely ....

Astoundin' performance! Still remember how bad I felt knowin' of his passin' away....too young to die poor Geoffrey! And lots of musical jewels he could've gifted to everybody who loved and still loves his superb Artistry!!

Not often heard. Well played! An anecdote: "Rosina Lhévinne recalled that (Josef) Hofmann heard her husband Josef Lhévinne play Liszt's Lorelei, a piece Hofmann had never heard but went on to play it "just like my Josef (Lhevinne)" for an encore at his concert later that day." (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Hofmann)

Heard Mr.Borge playing Liszt's étude Il Sospiro, and that was a great rendition. And he was able to play many pieces of the classical piano repertoire! However he disappointed me playing this very difficult piece. Many pianists of his time played this piece much better like Magaloff and Horowitz. Maybe he indeed joked to much and forgot about practising his repertoire.🤔

nobody is left with such talent we live with absolute fools and ugliness now

Many years ago we had the privilege of attending one of the last live "Comedy in Music" performances in New York. Never have I seen an audience react as that one did. People were actually, literally, staggering in the aisles, holding their sides from laughing. Sounds unbelievable but I swear it's true. Memories like that console me for being no longer young. He was superb, unique, and you can hear it right here. Thanks for this gift.

What a beautiful piece played with a full heart and soul..

RIP!