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Liszt and His Piano Students

The Teaching Career of Hungarian Pianist Franz Liszt

Jun 9, 2008

Franz Liszt was the piano teacher of his time. Everyone sought to study with him at one time or other, and many made fine careers.

There were several noted and famous piano teachers, or masters, as they were called, in Europe at the time of Franz Liszt. That he outshone them all is not surprising in view of his tremendous virtuosity at the piano. But he was not the only teacher to bring forth fine students.

Theodore Leschetizky

His students included many who went on to fame and fortune and their names are still known to musicians today:

Ignaz Jan Paderewski, famed Polish pianist and politician
Ossip Gabrilowitsch
Mark Hambourg: see The Hambourg Conservatory
Fannie Bloomfield-Zeisler, one of the foremost female pianists of the nineteenth century
Artur Schnabel, renowned Beethoven scholar.

Anton Rubinstein

Had many very talented students but is remembered for his star performer:

Josef Hofmann

There were other teachers such as Johann Nepomunk Hummel, Friedrich Kalkbrenner, Ignaz Moscheles and their colleagues who each produced one or two pupils who became famous performers, but the ideal of the 19th century was to study with Franz Liszt. And many did; some for a long period of time and many for shorter sessions. But to say that you had studied with Liszt brought you immediate carte blanche into many of the salons of Europe. Many would attend a master class just to be able to make this claim.

Liszt's Students

Those who became famous pianists included:

Hans von Bulow, pianist and conductor
Alexander Siloti, pianist and cousin of Sergei Rachmaninoff
Peter Cornelius
Felix Draesecke
Julius Reubke
Sofie Menter, who had a very successful career as a touring pianist
Arthur Friedheim, who had a successful career in America
Moritz Rosenthal, very famous as a pianist
Emil Sauer, very successful in his career
Alfred Reisenauer

It has been recorded that Liszt's roster of students filled five pages and this did not include the many who just attended one master class.

Liszt's Teaching

Liszt expected all of his students to come to him with a finely honed piano technique, and was indignant if someone approached him with woefully inadequate equipment. He would tell them to go to one of the many conservatories in the country and get a good grounding before returning to him. Interpretation was paramount with him. The true meaning of the music must be sought and the spirit of the music must shine at all times. One could not bring out the real meaning of the score without abundant technique of scale, chord, arpeggio and tone colors.

Franz Liszt died in Bayreuth in 1886.

For further reading about pianists see Rudolf Firkusny and Sara Davis Buechner.

Sources

Liszt by Bryce Morrison, Omnibus Press, New York, 1989

Life and Liszt by Arthur Friedheim, Taplinger Publishing Co, Inc., New York 1961

The copyright of the article Liszt and His Piano Students in Classical Composers is owned by Anya Laurence. Permission to republish Liszt and His Piano Students in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.