Performing Liszt: His Style and Technique!

I am particularly interested in Liszt’s lieder transcriptions. Do you have any favorites? Do you approach the learning process differently than his regular works?

I have a work conflict, but will be sure to check out the recording of the event.  Think I've generally felt intimidated by Liszt's music due to the technical difficulty.

Hi Dominic,

I watched the recording of the live stream, and loved it.  Learned so much more about Liszt and your tips on playing Liszt such as ghosting the less important notes in his compositions certainly makes his music more accessible.  Only had time to watch the first half, but I do plan to watch the rest of it as it was so informative and engaging.

Today I am happy that I get to watch this - from the beginning! Dominic, you're absolutely right about Thalberg being the person who pioneered the "three-hand" piano sound. I just read about this in Alan Walker's biography (Vol. 1 of 3) about Liszt.

And, yes, Liszt did not charge students for piano lessons. Both Czerny and Salieri did not charge the Liszt family for lessons for Franz Liszt either. Salieri even wrote a heartfelt letter to Prince Esterhazy, in which he expressed "amazement at hearing Liszt sight-read and improvise"...advocating for better lodging for Franz Liszt and his father, Adam so that Franzi would not be so tired when he arrived for his lessons. (Please see p. 74-75):

Franz Liszt's nickname: Franzi

"When Liszt became his pupil, Salieri was already past seventy. But he was an outstanding teacher, and since he was still the Royal Kapellmeister...his name carried weight and authority - the very reason Adam [Franz Liszt's father] chose him to be his son's mentor. Salieri showed great kindness to the young boy. He, like Czerny, taught Franzi free of charge, evidence of a rarely reported aspect of his character...Liszt [age 10] commenced his lessons with Salieri in mid-July 1822 and that father and son used to walk from their temporary lodgings in the Mariahilf to Salieri's house three times a week. Because the journey was a long one, the boy used to arrive at Salieri's house exhausted. The Royal Kapellmeister's voice was now added to the growing list of those who interceded with Prince Esterhazy on Liszt's behalf."

Salieri wrote to Prince Esterhazy from Vienna, August 25, 1822: "...The young boy Francesco Liszt whom I heard by chance in a certain house while he was sight-reading and improvising on the piano, has left me so entranced that I actually believed I had been dreaming...I learned, after speaking to and heartily complimenting the father, that he is in Your Highness's service...

...on hot days the boy, accompanied by his father, always used to arrive...at my home, perspiring heavily and overheated...I pointed out that it would be necessary to find accommodation in the city. [Others had written to Esterhazy to make this happen.]

...I wish simply to add my most fervent entreaties to those of the aforementioned petition, and to promise Your highness to double my zeal by having him come to my home every day, since I feel that his God-given musical talents are worthy of attention."

That episode where Liszt met Beethoven is described on p. 83-84 of Alan Walker's aforementioned book, Volume 1. It is an account of what Liszt told one of his students - fifty years after the event had taken place.

This is an excerpt:

When I had concluded Beethoven caught hold of me with both hands, kissed me on the forehead, and said gently, "Go! You are one of the fortunate ones! For you will give joy and happiness to many other people! There is nothing better or finer!"

Liszt told the preceding in a tone of deepest emotion, with tears in his eyes, and a warm note of happiness sounded in the simple tale. For a brief space he was silent, and then he said, "This event in my life has remained my greatest pride - the palladium of my whole career as an artist. I tell it but very seldom and - only to good friends!"

"And Beethoven's Conversation Books corroborate that this [Beethoven's home] is where a meeting [with Liszt] actually did take place."

Yes, it was Beecham as the conductor:

"Fifty years ago, the conductor, the late Sir Thomas Beecham, was also making his first appearance in this country. And the concerto was the Tchaikovsky in B Flat Minor. So explosive was Horowitz's performance of the famous piece that the report that has come down to this day has never been denied: Horowitz reached the end of the concerto ahead of Sir Thomas and the orchestra. Some time later, when he was rehearsing it with Sir Thomas again. Beecham said to the sensational young Russian. "Mr. Horowitz, really, you cannot play like that. It is incredible, not permissible. My orchestra can't live up to it."

Vladimir Horowitz did his first U.S. performance on January 12, 1928. With Thomas Beecham conducting.

"From his first U.S. performance on January 12, 1928 — 93 years ago today — Horowitz established a special bond with American audiences — a bond that would make him the best known and most beloved pianist in his adopted country for the next 60 years.

Horowitz was not the primary draw for the concertgoers attending his debut at Carnegie Hall. The headliner that night was Sir Thomas Beecham, acting as guest conductor of the New York Philharmonic."

On the occasion of Horowitz's death in 1989, the American pianist, Emmanuel Ax, offered an assessment that was probably shared by the audience in that first American concert 61 years earlier:

"He brought the idea of excitement in piano playing to a higher pitch than anyone I've ever heard....There was the sense of an unbelievable energy being harnessed, and the feeling that if he ever let it go, it would burn up the hall."