Franz Liszt in Budapest
Until the 31st of December, the Palace of Arts in Budapest exhibits “The Many Faces of Liszt” as part of celebrations for the 200th anniversary of the birthday of Hungarian musician Franz Liszt. This exhibition makes a journey through his life and travels through photographs and an interactive map designed by the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design Budapest. For this, the National Archive has cooperated by providing photographs and archival materials for the exhibition.
Franz Liszt was born in Raiding, on October 22, 1811, while that territory was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He began studying piano with his father and continued in Vienna, where he was the disciple of the pianist, Karl Czerny and studied composition with the Italian Antonio Salieri. In 1823 he moved with his family to Paris, a place that allowed him to begin his career as a musician and concert pianist. Taking advantage of his stay in in Paris, he followed lessons in composition with Ferdinando Paër, famous in his time by composing operas in Italian. He also took classes with the theorist and composer Anton Reicha.
His virtuosity in music, especially on the piano, took him to be one of the most important concert performers of Europe during the nineteenth century. It was said that his mastery over the piano and the quality of his performances led him to create advanced sounds, drastically changing the classical music and its interpretation.
As a composer he became the most prominent of the New German School and composed varied piano rhapsodies and concerts. His compositions notoriously influenced the twentieth century music.
But Liszt wasn’t only a pianist, composer and director; he also devoted his time to teach more than four hundred students. As a composer, he created nearly 350 works, wrote and collaborated on eight volumes of text, not including his correspondence with musicians and artists of his time. He made nearly 200 paraphrases and transcriptions of other piano composers.
Liszt was one of the most innovative musicians of the nineteenth century, being demonstrated in the creation of complex nuanced chords that surprised critics of his time, because of his break with musical traditions. For this, he explored new musical paths with his technique of thematic variations. We can appreciate them in the Sonata in B minor, 1853, as the simple beginning notes that are being transformed to give the work a strength tone. This technique influenced dramatically in the work of Wagner and Strauss. His compositions for piano required a difficult technique, which gave the instrument a completely new sound.
All these qualities of his work, made Liszt to be one of the most famous musicians of his time and thats what this exhibition is, a full tribute held in Hungary to one of the most important men in music history.
For more information http://mupa.hu/en/program/the-many-faces-of-liszt-photo-exhibition-2011-10-08_10-00-elocsarnok
Nancy Guzman
Music is always a good stimulator to senses, so if you want to assist to the tribute to one of Hungarys most important musical artists of the nineteenth century, rent apartments in Budapest and come to the Palace of Arts.
Translated by: Hans
Contact Me
