Cicero

Romanian jazz pianist Eugen Cicero established a unique style throughout his career walking the line between classical and jazz. He recorded several theme albums like this one, each drawing on material from a specific classical composer; on this 1966 session Cicero interprets Tchaikovsky, including an excerpt from The Nutcracker Suite.

The Romanian Eugen Cicero was a Wunderkind, performing his first piano concert with a symphony orchestra at the age of six. His first SABA/MPS album, Rokoko Jazz sold over a million copies. Cicero was acknowledged as an "all-around entertainer, someone who gives a damn about stylistic borders and takes whatever is useful, from Bach to Cole Porter".

This 1965 production was at the time a sensation. It was one of the first records of SABA (later MPS) and they presented - unlike the Play Bach records of Jacques Loussier - jazz improvisations moderate and not just themes and variations thereof. This record hit the public taste so well that it sold over a million copies worldwide.