WHO WAS LISZT?

Dominion, Volume 27, Issue 35, 4 November 1933, Page 23

WHO WAS LISZT?

* » « (Born Raiding, Hungary, October 22, 1811. Died Beyreuth, July 31, 1886.) Franz Liszt, the Paganini of the piano, determined that he would attain to that degree of perfection after hearing the great violinist play. He was already master of the instrument, having played, when only nine years of age, at a great concert at which Beethoven was present. In recognition of his talent, six Hungarian nobles had defrayed the cost of his education. His career as a virtuoso began in his twenty-eighth year, when he won triumph upon tyiumph in the great cities of Europe. His earlier performances had won appreciation and wider knowledge for the work of Beethoven. He was now able to introduce the music of Wagner, Berlioz, and Chopin. Settling down for a time as director of the Court Theatre at Weimar, he produced Berlioz’s Venvenuto Cellini and two operas by Wagner, to whom a daughter of his was married. In 1865 Liszt entered the Church, to be known thenceforward as the Abbe Liszt. His compositions, which previously had been brilliant works for the pianoforte, now became mainly suited to the use of churches. . Before his death he was ennobled, and' grantedJ a pension by his native country.