Liszt

Franz Liszt, born in October 1811, embarked on his brilliant, if controversial, career at a very early age. His father, Adam Liszt, was his first and perhaps his sternest teacher, but, after the triumph of his first public recital ni 1820, several Hungarian noblemen guaranteed him the means to continue his studies in Vienna. For the next twenty-five years he devoted himself to his role as virtuoso, creating a dazzling reputation in all the major capitals ni Europe until, in 1848, he settled in Weimar, having accepted a permanent position as conductor at the CourtTheatre.

The first section of this copiously illustrated volume catalogues Liszt's meteoric career as a virtuoso concert pianist and his subsequent life as a conductor, composer and, ultimately, a religious semi-recluse, as well as providing a fascinating account of the involved, and often stormy, course of Liszt's notorious love life. Despite his status as a Romantic figure, however, Liszt's chief claim to fame today lies in the fact that he was undoubtedly the creator of modern piano technique.

The second section of the book is devoted to a careful analysis of Liszt's music, both from a technical and an aesthetic point of view, with individual assessments of his piano music, his orchestral works and his religious music.