Adding further to Adam's plea was a letter of request in 1822 by Antonio Salieri, Mozart's old rival, who was astonished upon hearing the young Liszt play at a private house. This prompted Salier's offer to freely train the child in composition. The Prince finally gave the Liszt's leave to stay in Vienna. Liszt at this time also studied piano under Carl Czerny - Beethoven's esteemed pupil. This lasted only eighteen months.
Tours and many performances generated amazement and praise for the young Liszt by audiences, musicians and Kings. They were especially impressed by his uncanny ability to improvise an original composition from a melody suggested by the audience. Playing on par with established professionals at age 12 Liszt was fast becoming a sensation.
Eventually traveling to Paris the young Liszt sought admittance to the Paris Conservatory, but was denied by Luigi Cherubini on the grounds that he was a foreigner, even though Cherubini himself was Italian. Adam then resorted to Ferdinando Paer to teach Franz composition in 1824. It was during this time that Liszt wrote his first and only opera Don Sanche, later performed in 1825.
More tours and acclaim followed, as Moscheles wrote, "In its power and mastery of every difficulty Liszt's playing surpasses anything previously heard." In 1826 Liszt's father Adam died leaving the 15 year old boy to care for his mother. Depression and disillusion took hold as he earned a living by teaching piano lessons in Paris. Liszt began to lose interest in music and questioned his profession.
By 1832 Liszt is further inspired by hearing Paganini and meeting Chopin. In 1833 he meets Comtesse Marie d'Agoult as they eventually elope in 1835 and journey to Switzerland. Here Liszt composes several impressions of the Swiss country in Album d'un Voyageur which would later surface as the Années de Pèlerinage - Première Année: Suisse. Upon hearing of Thalberg's success in Paris Liszt returns for his famous piano duel, to ensure his title as King of the piano.
Liszt then devises the piano recital and begins his world famous tours, thus conquering Europe by storm. In Portugal Liszt is described as, "God of the piano," and along his journey he performs charity concerts for various causes. By 1844 Lisztomania is in full bloom, while Liszt's stormy relationship finally ends with Marie d'Agoult, after fathering 3 children and repeated attempts to suppress her manic depressive condition. In 1847 Liszt meets Princess Carolyne Sayn-Wittgenstein in Kiev, and to the world's dismay he retires from the concert stage.
By 1848 Liszt settles in Weimar, living in the Altenberg as Court Kapellmeister. Later Carolyne joins him. The fact that Liszt could have made more money performing reveals Liszt's burning desire to concentrate on a higher mission - the creation of new musical forms, via a fertile and liberated mind. This he achieves in his symphonic poems and unique piano scores. Taking on pupils without fee Liszt cultivates a new breed of pianists nicknamed the Altenberg Eagles. For the next decade a whirlwind of radically innovative works flowed from Liszt's pen and into the concert halls, procuring staunch followers and violent adversaries.
In 1858 Liszt resigns his post as Kapellmeister based upon attacks from conservatives against his and his pupils works. By 1860 Joachim and Brahms publish their Manifesto against Liszt and the modern composers in an unsuccessful effort to thwart new forms. But the old classic traditions would eventually fade to the progress forged by Liszt and the Romantics as the century unfolded.
In 1860 Liszt and Carolyne attempt to wed in Rome but on the eve of their marriage the plans are thwarted due to her unsubmitted divorce papers. A good deal of controversy surrounds this Papal rejection. They remain separate but soul mates for life. In 1865 Liszt took minor Holy Orders in the Catholic Church. Liszt later sets up residence in three cities, Rome, Weimar and Budapest. Establishing the Conservatory of Music in Budapest he is elected its first president. Amidst a bewildered group of conservatives who dismissed most of his output as radical and unmusical Liszt scores success with several pieces, his St.Elizabeth Oratorio among others.
Upon Liszt's visit to Bayreuth to attend a Wagner fest, hosted by his daughter Cosima - the widow of Wagner, he fell gravely ill with pneumonia. Surrounded by his adoring pupils Friedheim, Siloti, Stavenhagen and others, who were eventually refused admittance to his room by Cosima, the grand master died at 11:30 PM on July 31, 1886. At the organ playing solemnly at his funeral was Anton Bruckner. Through the succeeding years Liszt's genius as a composer would gradually surface shedding light on many previously unheard masterworks. That Strauss, Debussy, Stravinsky, Schoenberg, Sibelius and countless others would reap the benefits of studying his innovative work would be evident in time and indelibly mark Liszt's profound impact on music history.
Some of his works:
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