Portrait of Liszt: By Himself and His Contemporaries

Franz Liszt has been described as "one of the most wonderful human beings that have ever lived, and one of the greatest and most original artists of the nineteenth century". Born in Hungary in 1811, at the very moment when the Great Comet blazed most brillantly in the heavens, he rapidly achieved fame as a phenomenally gifted pianist, and in the course of his long life, which ended in 1886, he travelled extensively through Europe. So extraordinary was the enthusiasm--indeed, adulation--with which his magical playing and fascinating personality were received, that it promped Heinrich Heine to coin the term "Lisztomania". Williams presents extracts from the diaries, letters, and reminiscences of Liszt's contemporaries that describe his bewitching playing and magnetic personality, along with newspaper reviews and passages from Liszt's own letters and writings. What emerges is not only a uniquely comprehensive and extremely readable look at one of the most prodigiously gifted of all musicians, but also an absorbing picture of the rich musical tapestry and cultural life of nineteenth century Europe.