This Week in Classical Music: October 19, 2026. Liszt and the 20th century.This is a very full week for a small entry.Two of the very popular composers have their anniversaries, and then there are several more, talented and interesting.The popular ones are Liszt and Bizet.Franz Liszt was born on October 22nd of 1811, in the village of Doborján, in the Kingdom of Hungary (it’s now in Austria, called Raiding).His family was German-speaking; he never learned Hungarian.Later in his life, when he visited Pest, he proclaimed himself Hungarian, but his music was firmly based in the German tradition, despite all the Hungarian Rhapsodies.A child prodigy, he studied with Carl Czerny and made his public debut at the age of 11 in Vienna.In 1823, he moved to Paris.By then, he was already earning good money from his public performances.He settled in Paris, concertizing widely, and became part of the elite society of writers and poets, which included Victor Hugo, George Sand, her lover Frédéric Chopin, Alfred de Vigny, Berlioz, Eugène Delacroix, and others.He also met and befriended Paganini – all that before he turned 23.We’re not going into the details of his long, eventful, and very interesting life (we did write about Liszt on many occasions, including the old entry we published on his 200th birthday, here).Our library has a large selection of his works; it’s worth browsing.
The second popular composer is George Bizet, though he didn’t live long enough to accept his fame: when he died in 1875, at the age of 36, he thought his opera, Carmen, was a failure.And he was right to an extent: the critical and public reaction to the premiere, at the Opéra-Comique three months earlier, was lukewarm at best, and so was the initial run.It was not till the staging of Carmen in Vienna later that year that it achieved recognition: despite deviation from the original French production, it was a success.From there on, opera’s (and its creator’s) fame only grew, conquering one capital after another, so much so that today, by some accounts, it’s the most often performed opera in the world!
Charles Ives, Ned Rorem, and Lucian Berio were also born this week, on October 20, 1874, October 23, 1923, and October 24, 1925, respectively.Ives is one of the most important American composers; Berio – one of the most important composers of the European avant-garde, and Ned Rorem wrote many wonderful songs and a scandalous memoir of his life in Paris.
Liszt and the 20th century, 2026
This Week in Classical Music: October 19, 2026. Liszt and the 20th century. This is a very full week for a small entry. Two of the very popular composers have their anniversaries, and then
there are several more, talented and interesting. The popular ones are Liszt and Bizet. Franz Liszt was born on October 22nd of 1811, in the village of Doborján, in the Kingdom of Hungary (it’s now in Austria, called Raiding). His family was German-speaking; he never learned Hungarian. Later in his life, when he visited Pest, he proclaimed himself Hungarian, but his music was firmly based in the German tradition, despite all the Hungarian Rhapsodies. A child prodigy, he studied with Carl Czerny and made his public debut at the age of 11 in Vienna. In 1823, he moved to Paris. By then, he was already earning good money from his public performances. He settled in Paris, concertizing widely, and became part of the elite society of writers and poets, which included Victor Hugo, George Sand, her lover Frédéric Chopin, Alfred de Vigny, Berlioz, Eugène Delacroix, and others. He also met and befriended Paganini – all that before he turned 23. We’re not going into the details of his long, eventful, and very interesting life (we did write about Liszt on many occasions, including the old entry we published on his 200th birthday, here). Our library has a large selection of his works; it’s worth browsing.
The second popular composer is George Bizet, though he didn’t live long enough to accept his fame: when he died in 1875, at the age of 36, he thought his opera, Carmen, was a failure. And he was right to an extent: the critical and public reaction to the premiere, at the Opéra-Comique three months earlier, was lukewarm at best, and so was the initial run. It was not till the staging of Carmen in Vienna later that year that it achieved recognition: despite deviation from the original French production, it was a success. From there on, opera’s (and its creator’s) fame only grew, conquering one capital after another, so much so that today, by some accounts, it’s the most often performed opera in the world!
Charles Ives, Ned Rorem, and Lucian Berio were also born this week, on October 20, 1874, October 23, 1923, and October 24, 1925, respectively. Ives is one of the most important American composers; Berio – one of the most important composers of the European avant-garde, and Ned Rorem wrote many wonderful songs and a scandalous memoir of his life in Paris.