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Liszt shared mutual respect with Mikhail Glinka. He attended the Paris premiere of the 'Symphonie Fantastique' by Hector Berlioz and the two composers became good friends. His 'Mephisto Waltz' depicts the Devil playing a Paganini-style violin on the piano.ДЇranz Liszt became a friend of many important cultural figures of his time. His elegant, worldly manners in combination with diabolic cynicism and his impressive stage presence and supernatural virtuosity gave cause for rumors, that he must have made a deal with the Devil. His concert performances included his own compositions, regarded by many as the most difficult piano music ever written. He was adulated all-over Europe, from Ireland to Russia. At that time young Liszt began his career of a travelling virtuoso. There he enjoyed an early friendship with FrГ©dГ©ric Chopin, but later they became rivals. In 1823, at the young age of 12, Liszt moved with his parents to Paris. Liszt continued his music studies in Vienna under Carl Czerny and Antonio Salieri. At age 6 he took music lessons from his father, Adam Liszt, who worked at the Court of Count Esterhazy, the main sponsor of Liszt's education and career. His father was Hungarian and his mother was Austrian. He was born in what was then the Austrian Empire. He goes down in history as a great musical pathfinder.Franz Liszt, the virtuoso pianist and composer, was the most famous concert superstar of the 19th century. The Hungarian virtuoso wasnвЂ™t just one of the greatest pianists who ever lived. But he changed the world of concert performance forever. Recitals today are nothing like the scenes elicited by Liszt. It was a phenomenon the great German poet Heinrich Heine dubbed вЂњLisztomania.вЂќ Recitals were scenes of rock star hysteria, with fans ripping at his clothes and hair, grabbing for spent cigar butts or broken piano strings. Liszt went so far as to say he didnвЂ™t just play the music. No pianist had played to such massive crowds.ДЄnd a Liszt performance? They were shows, not just concerts. For example, more than 3,000 people packed halls in Milan and St Petersburg. He performed his own music and was also the first to play the entire keyboard repertory as it existed up to then (Bach to Chopin). He was also the first to enter from the wings onto the stage.ДЄfter doing so, Liszt would perform from memory. The open lid projected the sound better into the hall and allowed audiences to see him in profile. He was the first to place it at a right angle to the stage.

Liszt set a precedent by situating the piano differently. saying cavalierly to the public вЂLe concert cвЂ™est moi.вЂ™ The concert is me.вЂќ

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Imagine that, I have ventured to give a series of concerts all by myself, affecting the Louis XIV style and. Liszt told a friend, вЂњI donвЂ™t know what other name to give these inventions of mine. He even came up with a new name for these solo performances - soliloquies. Until he came along, musicians were all expected to share concerts with other performers. Virtuosity aside, Liszt astonished audiences by appearing alone on the stage. Musicologist Robert Greenberg says it best: вЂњFranz Liszt was the template, the model for every performing concert pianist since the 1840s.вЂќ In doing so, Liszt revolutionized the face of public performance. He concertized in his own way, breaking the rules or making up new ones. He hit audiences across Europe and Asia minor like a ferocious Colorado hailstorm. Then he set off to conquer the concert stage. Liszt, who had worked as a touring concert pianist since age 12, refashioned himself with intensified and longer hours of practice and emerged in rare fighting form, a Colossus of the keyboard.

(Photo: Public domain/Illustration: CPR/Brad Turner) Pianist and composer Franz Liszt

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