A Hungarian composer and virtuoso pianist who expanded the technical and expressive range of the instrument.
Franz Liszt was the most famous pianist of the nineteenth century, and arguably the first true musical celebrity — audiences across Europe met his playing with a frenzy a contemporary dubbed “Lisztomania.” Born in Hungary and trained in Vienna and Paris, he eventually gave up the touring life to compose, teach and conduct, and late in life he took minor holy orders in the Catholic Church.
Liszt expanded what the piano could do. Works such as the Transcendental Études, the Hungarian Rhapsodies and the Sonata in B minor pushed technique to its limits, and he all but invented the modern solo recital. His writing can be dazzling and orchestral in scale — yet he also wrote music of great tenderness and calm, which is easy to forget behind the fireworks.
Much of Liszt is for advanced players only, but there are gentler doors in. The famous Liebestraum No. 3 is a warm, singing piece within reach of a committed intermediate pianist, and the three Consolations — especially the third — are quieter still. Begin there, and the towering works reveal themselves as a destination worth years of climbing.