He was a legendary showman whose flamboyant stage presence inspired women to toss jewels at him and left others swooning. A notorious lover, he had at least 26 serious romantic affairs, which included dalliances with countesses and princesses, two of whom left their husbands to live with him. Arguably the greatest pianist of his time, he was also a prolific composer whose prodigious output totals nearly 3000 works. Oh, the Who’s Roger Daltrey played him in a movie. He was Franz Liszt, a 19th century rock star.
2011 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Liszt, whose rise to fame was launched with performances as a child prodigy. He won the seal of approval of no less a titan than Beethoven, who publicly acclaimed young Franz with a kiss on the youngster’s forehead. For the better part of two decades, Liszt took his act on the road, playing recitals (he was the inventor of the solo piano recital as we now know it) and building a considerable store of riches.
Liszt wrote strikingly innovative music in all genres. He invented the symphonic poem (he wrote 12 of them and Les préludes is the most famous) but is forever immortalized as, perhaps, the greatest composer of piano music who ever lived. Fans of Beethoven, Chopin and Rachmaninov might disagree, but when Liszt sat down at the keyboard he put music on a revolutionary path.
In this anniversary year there will be many new recordings of Liszt’s music but few have been as eagerly anticipated as Khatia Buniatshvili’s debut recording, Franz Liszt. Legendary pianist Martha Argerich has said of her, “Khatia is a young pianist of extraordinary talent.” Listen and see if you agree. When you buy Franz Liszt as an MP3 or Lossless digital download you receive an exclusive digital bonus track of Liszt’s “Transcendental Etude No. 5, ‘Feux Follets.’”
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by Craig Zeichner
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