Franz Liszt: The Piano Phenomenon

When Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy was once asked to comment about Franz Liszt, he simply said: "Liszt's life is a constant change between the scandalous and the divine". Perhaps the statement might be interpreted as being an exaggeration but without doubt the versatile artistry and the controversial life of the "Piano God" Franz Liszt remains remarkable. As a human being and as a musician, he was a revolution itself in a century of revolutions. Regarded as the greatest pianist of all time, who outplayed such greats as Chopin and Thalberg, his genius extended far beyond the piano, to push musical composition and performance well beyond its 19th Century limits. His unique compositions inspired and inflamed the imaginations of his own era, yet quite miraculously he laid the bases for a variety of schools that would grow in the distant…