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Composer Franz Liszt's MistressMarie d'Agoult and the Great Hungarian Pianist and Composer
A brief look at the life and career of Franz Liszt, the Hungarian pianist and composer who, later in life, took holy orders in the Roman Catholic Church.
Franz Liszt, born in Raiding, Hungary, on October 22, 1811, was a brilliant pianist and teacher, and a composer of note, although Frederic Chopin did not see any worth in his compositions, dismissing them as unsubstantial and shallow, and saying that "as a creator he is an ass." Many of his works have lived on, however, and audiences are still listening to Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodies, the Piano Concerto in E-Flat Major, Les Preludes and other masterpieces. As a composer Liszt was sucessful in his lifetime but it was as a piano virtuoso that he truly made his mark in the musical scene. Liszt's CompositionsNicolo Paganini, the violinist who was said to be the devil incarnate, had made a brilliant career as a performer and also a composer, and Liszt patterned his own career, to some extent, after that of the violinist. Franz was able to transfix audiences with great virtuosic feats at the keyboard just as Paganini did with the violin. In 1837 Liszt composed the Six Grandes Etudes de Paganini (later revised in 1851) and a year later wrote the Two Etudes de Concert, Gnomenreigen and Waldsrauschen. 1853 saw the Twelve Etudes d'execution trancendante, which featured La Campanella, with its violinistic skips and leaps. Later came the Dante Symphony, the Faust Symphony, Mephisto Waltzes and the monumental b minor Sonata. Liszt's RomancesMarie d'Agoult (born 1805), first met Franz at a party in 1833 at Chopin's Paris apartment, which was attended by Hector Berlioz, Giocomo Meyerbeer, Heinrich Heine,George Sand and the painter Eugene Delacroix. Her attraction to him was instant..."the door opened and a wonderful apparition -for I can find no other word to describe the most extraordinary man I have seen, entered." Apparently it was love at first sight with Liszt also and Marie had finally found the way of escaping life with her uninteresting husband Count Charles d'Agoult . She believed that she would be Liszt's inspiration and would guide him away from the life of a piano virtuoso to a career as a composer .The two left for Geneva in the hope that they would enjoy a life together that would be lived away from the prying eyes of the Paris salons. Liszt's ChildrenThree children were born to Franz and Marie: Blandine in 1835; Cosima (who would later marry the German composer Richard Wagner), in Como, Italy, in 1837 and Daniel in 1839 , who would die at the age of 20. The relationship had by now begun to be a one-sided affair as Liszt constantly chafed against the confinement he felt being tied down and unable to express himself emotionally with other women. Marie became a dutiful wife and made matters worse. Liszt told her that because of his great successes in music "and [you] being nobody, it is necessary for me to be somebody." Liszt now took a mistress, the fiery actress Lola Montez, and Marie penned a novel, Nelida, which bared the truth of her unhappy affair for all to read. Franz was obviously the villain in the work, and when Carolyne von Sayn-Wittgenstein came on the scene Marie was banished forever. For further reading about Franz Liszt see: Franz Liszt SourceLiszt, by Bryce Morrison, Omnibus Press, NewYork 1986
The copyright of the article Composer Franz Liszt's Mistress in Classical Composers is owned by Anya Laurence. Permission to republish Composer Franz Liszt's Mistress in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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