| The Lovers | |
|---|---|
| Franz Liszt
(1811-86) was a Hungarian-born child prodigy who grew up to become one of the most influential composers of the 19th century. By the age of six he was displaying exceptional musical ability. He gave his first concert at the age of 9, and by 11 had published his first piano piece and performed in Vienna before some of Europe's most eminent musicians. As a teenager he took Paris society by storm with his virtuosity and remarkable skill in sight-reading and improvisation. Of his 700 and more compositions, perhaps his most important works are the Piano sonata in B Minor, the Dante Symphony, and the Faust Symphony. He had two great loves in his life, Comtesse Marie d'Agoult, and later Princess Carolyne Sayn-Wittgenstein. A man of strong religious feeling, passion, and intelligence he ended his life as a cleric in minor orders, dying at 74 at Bayreuth in Bavaria. |
Marie de Flavigny,
Comtesse d'Agoult (1805-76) was descended from German bankers and minor French aristocrats. She was Liszt's mistress for 10 years. A competent writer, she is best known for her novel Nélida--a thinly disguised account of her relationship with Liszt--which she wrote using the pen name Daniel Stern. The hero of the book fails to fulfill himself as an artist after the end of a long affair, but is reunited with his lover on his deathbed and dies in her arms. Cosima, the second of Marie's three children by Liszt and the only one to survive to old age, married the composer Richard Wagner. |
