October 17, 2011. Franz Liszt. Saturday October 22nd marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of the great Hungarian composer and pianist Ferenc (Franz) Liszt. He was born in the village of Doborján in the Kingdom of Hungary, now known as Raiding, Austria. His father, Ádám Liszt, a musician, played cello in the Prince Eszterházy’s orchestra under the direction of Joseph Haydn (Ádám also knew Hummel, Cherubini and Beethoven). When Ferenc was seven, Ádám started teaching him piano. Two years later Ferenc was already giving concerts. Thanks to some wealthy sponsors, he went to Vienna to study with Carl Czerny, his one and only piano teacher. (For the first several months Czerny had Liszt play nothing but scales and exercises to strengthen his technique; yet, Liszt would later go on to dedicate his Transcendental Etudes to Czerny). While in Vienna, he also studied composition with Antonio Salieri.
Following his father's death in 1827, Liszt moved to Paris. Penniless, he gave endless piano and composition lessons. He also read widely, fell in love, took up smoking and drinking, decided to join the church (but was dissuaded by his mother) and eventually met a number of artistic and literary figures: Chopin, Berlioz; Victor Hugo; Heinrich Heine; Eugène Delacroix; and, most importantly, the great violin virtuoso Niccolò Paganini. Impressed by Paganini’s phenomenal technique, Liszt decided to become as great a virtuoso on the piano.
In 1833 Liszt began an affair with Marie d'Agoult, then married to Count d'Agoult. She was five years his elder and a noted writer. They moved to Geneva and had three children (their daughter Cosima later became a wife of Richard Wagner). At about that time Liszt started touring Europe. Soon he became acknowledged as the greatest pianist of his generation, if not of the history of piano. By 1842 Lisztomania was in full swing: some described the atmosphere at his concerts as hysterical, others – as that of mystical ecstasy. Longhaired and handsome, he would toss his handkerchief and gloves into the audience – and women fought for them.
In 1847, in Kiev, Liszt met the Princess Carolyne zu Sayn-Wittgenstein. They began a relationship that lasted the remaining 40 years of his life. Caroline persuaded him to concentrate on composition; Liszt acceded and retired from the concert scene at the age of 36 and at the height of his fame. He settled in Weimar, where he stayed for the next 11 years. During that time he composed his most famous pieces: symphonic poems Tasso and Les Préludes, Faust Symphony, Transcendental Etudes, Piano Sonata in b minor, and many more.
In 1861, Liszt settled in Rome and retreated from public life. He had joined the Franciscan order, in 1865 received the tonsure and became known as Abbé Liszt. Still, he traveled extensively between Rome, Weimar and Budapest giving master classes in piano playing. He died in Bayreuth, Germany during the Bayreuth Festival hosted by his daughter Cosima, on July 31, 1886.
We prepared a playlist for the occasion. We’ll start with Orage, from Book I of Années de Pèlerinage: Suisse played by the British pianist Ashley Wass. Then Lucille Chung will play Hungarian Rhapsody No.13. A pianist from Kosovo, Yllka Istrefi, will perform Après une Lecture de Dante. Then the Italian pianist Sandro Russo will play Paraphrase on Quartet from Verdi’s “Rigoletto.” The recent Tchaikovsky winner Daniil Trifonov will play Liszt’s arrangement of the Schubert’s Die Forelle. We’ll finish with The Texas Festival Orchestra under the baton of Gregory Vajda performing the symphonic poem Les Preludes. To listen, click here.
Liszt 2011
October 17, 2011. Franz Liszt. Saturday October 22nd marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of the great Hungarian composer and pianist Ferenc (Franz) Liszt
. He was born in the village of Doborján in the Kingdom of Hungary, now known as Raiding, Austria. His father, Ádám Liszt, a musician, played cello in the Prince Eszterházy’s orchestra under the direction of Joseph Haydn (Ádám also knew Hummel, Cherubini and Beethoven). When Ferenc was seven, Ádám started teaching him piano. Two years later Ferenc was already giving concerts. Thanks to some wealthy sponsors, he went to Vienna to study with Carl Czerny, his one and only piano teacher. (For the first several months Czerny had Liszt play nothing but scales and exercises to strengthen his technique; yet, Liszt would later go on to dedicate his Transcendental Etudes to Czerny). While in Vienna, he also studied composition with Antonio Salieri.
Following his father's death in 1827, Liszt moved to Paris. Penniless, he gave endless piano and composition lessons. He also read widely, fell in love, took up smoking and drinking, decided to join the church (but was dissuaded by his mother) and eventually met a number of artistic and literary figures: Chopin, Berlioz; Victor Hugo; Heinrich Heine; Eugène Delacroix; and, most importantly, the great violin virtuoso Niccolò Paganini. Impressed by Paganini’s phenomenal technique, Liszt decided to become as great a virtuoso on the piano.
In 1833 Liszt began an affair with Marie d'Agoult, then married to Count d'Agoult. She was five years his elder and a noted writer. They moved to Geneva and had three children (their daughter Cosima later became a wife of Richard Wagner). At about that time Liszt started touring Europe. Soon he became acknowledged as the greatest pianist of his generation, if not of the history of piano. By 1842 Lisztomania was in full swing: some described the atmosphere at his concerts as hysterical, others – as that of mystical ecstasy. Longhaired and handsome, he would toss his handkerchief and gloves into the audience – and women fought for them.
In 1847, in Kiev, Liszt met the Princess Carolyne zu Sayn-Wittgenstein. They began a relationship that lasted the remaining 40 years of his life. Caroline persuaded him to concentrate on composition; Liszt acceded and retired from the concert scene at the age of 36 and at the height of his fame. He settled in Weimar, where he stayed for the next 11 years. During that time he composed his most famous pieces: symphonic poems Tasso and Les Préludes, Faust Symphony, Transcendental Etudes, Piano Sonata in b minor, and many more.
In 1861, Liszt settled in Rome and retreated from public life. He had joined the Franciscan order, in 1865 received the tonsure and became known as Abbé Liszt. Still, he traveled extensively between Rome, Weimar and Budapest giving master classes in piano playing. He died in Bayreuth, Germany during the Bayreuth Festival hosted by his daughter Cosima, on July 31, 1886.
We prepared a playlist for the occasion. We’ll start with Orage, from Book I of Années de Pèlerinage: Suisse played by the British pianist Ashley Wass. Then Lucille Chung will play Hungarian Rhapsody No.13. A pianist from Kosovo, Yllka Istrefi, will perform Après une Lecture de Dante. Then the Italian pianist Sandro Russo will play Paraphrase on Quartet from Verdi’s “Rigoletto.” The recent Tchaikovsky winner Daniil Trifonov will play Liszt’s arrangement of the Schubert’s Die Forelle. We’ll finish with The Texas Festival Orchestra under the baton of Gregory Vajda performing the symphonic poem Les Preludes. To listen, click here.