Liszt - Transcendental Etude No. 2
Performed by Jorge Bolet
Franz Liszt’s pianos from his apartment in Budapest.
Liszt - Ballade No. 2, S. 171 in B minor
Performed by Claudio Arrau
In his later years, Liszt spent much of his time teaching and holding court at his homes in Rome, Budapest, and Weimar, surrounded by students, would-be students, and admirers of all kinds. Among these was an American pianist, Walter Bradley-Keeler. It is said that Liszt was so impressed by Bradley-Keeler’s playing that he kissed a rose and gave it to the young man. When Bradley-Keeler died, several decades later, he left the rose to Yale. His wife Susanna also endowed a scholarship in his name for composition students at the Yale School of Music.
Kissing a rose and giving it away as a token of esteem may seem curious today, but it was not unusual in the 19th century. The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library has a rose kissed by Lord Byron.
Franz Liszt Academy of Music
Liszt - Études d’exécution transcendante, S.139 - XI. Harmonies du soir. Andantino
Performed by Claudio Arrau
Liszt - Verdi’s Il trovatore Miserere paraphrase
Performed by Claudio Arrau
Liszt - Verdi’s Aida: Danza sacra e duetto final
Performed by Claudio Arrau
Franz Liszt’s Hands
Liszt - Funérailles from Harmonies poétiques et religieuses
Performed by Arthur Rubinstein
Liszt in Berlin a silhouette by Varnhagen von Ense (1842)
