Brief History of a Piano Man
Rock stars pre-date rock by a lot longer than you might think
Welcome once again to our Musical Zodiac - a weekly series in which we arbitrarily match up a musical instrument (or instrument family) with an astrological sign. This month, we matched Taurus with the mighty Piano, so we must talk about one of the original Piano Men.
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Most kids in my generation will recognize this song thanks to Bugs Bunny.
I suspect that the vast majority of Gen X Americans are only as familiar as they are with “classical music” thanks to Bugs Bunny cartoons. Maybe if that leads to curiosity about the music and the people who made it, it’s not such a bad thing?
But before you can learn more, you have to know that the piece Bugs butchers in that cartoon is Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 by Franz Liszt, one of the original “rock stars” of 19th-century Europe.
Young Franz Goes Viral
Two hundred years ago, if you wanted to listen to music, you had two options:
Play it yourself on whatever instrument you have on hand
Attend a performance.
Having easy access to music and musicians was a sign of wealth and influence. If you were a man in the European middle class who wanted to show off your rising social status, you bought a piano and encouraged your children to learn to play.
Two hundred and five years ago, in 1820, a nine-year-old Hungarian boy named Franz posted his first TikTok ...er, I mean, performed his first public concert. He was very successful, and several wealthy sponsors offered to finance his musical education in Vienna. His father jumped at the opportunity this presented, and young Franza collected an impressive number of likes and subscriptions.
Over the next seven years, Franz studied under famous teachers and teachers who had taught or studied under other famous musicians. He rubbed elbows with the great Beethoven and learned composition from Salieri, who taught Beethoven and Schubert. (You might know him from the 1984 film about Mozart, Amadeus, where Salieri was played by F. Murray Abraham.)
Franz kept performing, and his concerts pulled in a lot of money. He even staged an opera shortly before his 14th birthday. The opera was warmly received, though it only ran for four performances. But otherwise, things seemed to be going very well for young Franz Liszt, seen here giving Justin Bieber a run for his “cutest boy artist” title.
Rise of the Piano Man
In 1827, Franz's father died of typhoid fever, and for eight years, Franz lived in Paris with his mother. He taught piano and composition, keeping long hours and picking up smoking and drinking habits to get through his day. But he also came into contact with authors, artists, and musicians of the time. He met Hector Berlioz and befriended Frederic Chopin, and in 1832, attended a concert featuring violinist Niccolò Paganini, which inspired him to become as great a virtuoso on piano as Paganini was on violin.
Franz led a mildly scandalous personal life, starting an affair with a married woman, Countess Marie d'Agoult. They had a daughter together and left Paris for Geneva in 1835. Franz taught at the newly founded Geneva Conservatoire. For nine years, he would travel on his own more frequently, and they separated in 1844.
During that same decade, Franz started a beef with a Swiss pianist named Sigismond Thalberg. Thalberg gave a series of successful concerts in Paris while Liszt was living in Geneva, and in 1836, Liszt published a review of Thalberg’s compositions, calling them “boring” and “mediocre.” This led to two “duels” between the two pianists—concerts in which each played two pieces, hoping to outshine the other. The first duel was inconclusive, and the second, held in March 1837, led one critic to declare that "Thalberg is the first pianist in the world – Liszt is unique."
But despite that, Liszt received the ovation of the evening, and Thalberg soon disappeared from the concert circuit.
The Life of a Rock Star
Sources1 estimate that Liszt appeared in public over one thousand times during the eight years after he separated from his Countess, Marie.
Concerts in Berlin in the winter of 1841–1842 marked the start of a period of immense public enthusiasm and popularity for his performances, dubbed "Lisztomania" by Heinrich Heine in 18442. Described as similar to "the mass hysteria associated with revivalist meetings or 20th-century rock stars", women fought over his cigar stubs and coffee dregs, and his silk handkerchiefs and velvet gloves, which they ripped to shreds as souvenirs. Liszt had a legendary stage presence and was regarded as handsome. Heine wrote of his showmanship during concerts: "How powerful, how shattering was his mere physical appearance". Here he is, doing his best Steve Vai impression:
Unlike modern rock stars, however, Franz retired from the concert platform at the age of 35, while still at the height of his powers. Thus, he succeeded in keeping the legend of his playing untarnished. He continued to be an influential composer and teacher, and the rest of his biography is worth reading, but this was the end of his rock star story.
He was in relatively good health until he fell down a flight of stairs at the Hofgärtnerei in July 1881, and remained bedridden for several weeks after this accident. A number of ailments, such as a cataract in the left eye, dental issues, and fatigue, began to plague him until his death five years later. He died near midnight on 31 July 1886, at the age of 74, officially from pneumonia.
Postscripts
I didn’t dwell on the less savory parts of Liszt’s “rock stardom,” but not paying attention to the dark side of being a rock star doesn’t make that dark side go away. I recommend
’s important statement on this subject:
This essay leaned heavily on the excellent and well-developed Wikipedia article on Franz Liszt. I have been a donor and sometime editor of Wikipedia for over a decade, and it represents the best democratized ideals of the internet. Right now, it is being threatened by the fascists who have taken over the U.S. government, so if you agree with me that it is an incredibly valuable resource, please visit and consider donating to keep the lights on.
Lastly, I don’t want you to leave with only the Bugs Bunny version in your ears, so here is Valentina Lisitsa playing Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 on May 22nd, 2010, in Leiden, Holland.
Eckhardt, Maria; Mueller, Rena Charnin; Walker, Alan (2001). "Liszt, Franz [Ferenc]". Grove Music Online. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.48265. ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0. (Subscription, Wikilibrary access, or UK public library membership required.)
Pesce, Dolores; Eckhardt, Maria; Mueller, Rena Charnin (2023). "Liszt, Franz [Ferenc]". Grove Music Online. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.48265. (Subscription, Wikilibrary access, or UK public library membership required.)