FRANZ LISZT 2011: 200-YEAR BIRTHDAY ANNIVERSARY AND NEW BOOK

Icons of Europe

Franz Liszt

Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875), Denmark.

Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727), United Kingdom.

Albert Einstein (1879-1955), Germany - and Switzerland and the United States, awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 1921.

Home	Portal: Liszt 2011 Liszt 200 years Liszt 200-year birthday anniversary Liszt bicentenary Liszt countdown World Liszt Day Liszt Year 2011 Liszt Év 2011 Lisztomania

Franz Liszt (1811-1886), the pianist and composer born in Hungary. Liszt was "a major sensation" in 1841 and 1842, when he played in Brussels on a European tour. Oil painting by Mihály Munkácsy, at the Hungarian National Museum, Budapest.

Liszt 200 years

"Franz Liszt or Ferenc Liszt (1811-1886), virtuoso pianist and composer born in Raiding Hungary, has emerged as one of the most awe-inspiring figures in all of music history. His genius extended far beyond the piano". fls

New book: Chopin / Liszt

Based on recent research,
Le Rêve de Chopin will in 2012 reveal the important role Liszt played over many years in supporting the enshrinement of Chopin's legacy. To be informed when this new book is ready for sale, click here.

200 years in 2013: Wagner | Verdi

Liszt Év 2011

- Liszt 2011 | Budapest
- World Liszt Day 2011
- KLASSZ | Int'l Liszt Association
- Raiding | Thüringen | Bayreuth | BE

Liszt's music demonstrates the "seamlessness of great European culture". This page alone refers to 14.countries plus USA and China.

201 years in 2012

"The lisztomania of the bicentenary of Franz Liszt's birthday provides an opportunity to restore him to his rightful place as a giant of 19th century music." bv | julliard | NYT

Icons of Europe: Recherches historiques indépendantes, publications et événements / A platform for cross-border dialogue and inspiration

Europe
Liszt was played by Daniel Blumenthal at the inauguration of Icons of Europe in 2002 under the auspices of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe.

Hungary
Icons of Europe's EU concert at Brussels in 2002 included Bartók and Kodály. Later, three Chinese virtuosi, pupils of Daniel Blumenthal, played Liszt at Icons of Europe.
>> Icons of Hungary

Chopin
The new book Rêve.de.Chopin will also reveal how Jenny Lind (1820-1887), the Swedish Nightingale worked closely with Liszt to commemorate Chopin's music and life.

Wagner
In the context of his longstanding collaboration with Richard Wagner (1813-1883), Liszt made piano transcriptions from his works: e.g. Lohengrin, Tannhäuser, Tristan und Isolde.

The greatest
composers?
Top 15 | Top 50
Top 100 | NYT list
"Franz Liszt is probably the most important composer of the 19th century after Beethoven" - NYT 631-632.¹ See also 642, 651, 699, 737, 772 and others.

Queen Victoria
In early 1886, Liszt played for Queen Victoria. He died shortly after in Bayreuth, Germany, on 31 July, while attending the Wagner Festival.


Die Wagners in einem Gemälde von Beckmann, 1881: Cosima Wagner (née Liszt), Richard Wagner, Franz Liszt und Hans von Wolzogen in der Villa Wahfried in Bayreuth. Painting by W. Beckmann. Source. © Richard Wagner Museum, Luzern	Franz Liszt entertained over the years a special relationship with Belgium. In February 1841, Liszt first toured Belgium where he again met the piano virtuoso Marie Pleyel to whom Chopin had dedicated Nocturnes Op. 9. She became in 1848 professor of piano at the Conservatoire royal de Bruxelles (today with a Flemish counterpart). Liszt returned to Belgium in 1842 and 1854. He developed close relations with the family of the Belgian cellist François Servais. In 1861, he met Comtesse de Mercy-Argenteau, daughter of Prince de Chimay.

¹ The New York Times blog list: item 631 says it was "prompted" by Icons of Europe's Liszt 2011 portal.
Above large painting: Liszt by Mihály Munkácsy, at Hungarian National Museum, Budapest.