Decreto No 8 (Creación Del Ministerio de Telecomunicaciones y de la

When the twelve-year-old Franz Liszt arrived in Paris for the first time in December 1823, his virtuosity electrified and astonished French audiences. Over the course of four months, Liszt played his way to the forefront of the Parisian musical scene, emerging at the end of April with the extraordinary reputation that we still celebrate today. Although virtuosos and child prodigies of all kinds crowded the city’s salons and stages, Liszt and his father managed to create a public persona that captured the attention of both the spectacle- loving public and the musical elite. As the reincarnation of the great eighteenth-century prodigy Mozart, Liszt captivated his audiences and impelled his critics to address

contemporary aesthetic concerns in print. Both Liszt and his critics had much to gain from each other: for Liszt, the financial and artistic success only available in Paris, and for his critics, a model for dealing with the hundreds of foreign performers and composers that challenged the dominance of French music in France. Together, Liszt and the Parisian musical press created a cultural paradigm that fused the brilliance of cosmopolitan

musicianship with local Parisian practice of the 1820s into a prototype of French-based and internationally-recognized virtuosity.

My purpose in this chapter is twofold: first, to deconstruct the myths that surrounded Liszt’s debut in Paris by examining the strategies that he (and his father) employed in carving out a space for yet another child prodigy on the European musical stage; and second, to

investigate the concerns of French music critics of the 1820s as they are reflected in the early reception of Liszt’s performances. To begin, I focus on the anatomy of Liszt’s debut season in Paris, drawing from a plethora of hitherto unknown articles printed in Parisian journals to paint a clear picture of Liszt’s activities and his critics’ reactions to them. Because Liszt’s personal and professional life revolved around Paris for the next quarter-century, his initial connection to the city’s musical community is critical to the study of his later career.

Subsequent accounts of Liszt’s first months in Paris often echo the excitement of his early audiences and critics, tacitly accepting financial success and artistic acclaim as the rightful acknowledgement of Liszt’s legendary gifts.1 Such a viewpoint, however,

downplays the steps taken by Adam Liszt to present those gifts in an advantageous way, and ignores the independent integrity of Liszt’s critics. Had Adam Liszt adopted another strategy in managing Liszt’s debut tour, historians might indeed be writing a different tale. These accounts fail, moreover, to acknowledge that Parisian musical discourse of the 1820s did not spring up around Liszt. Rather, Liszt arrived in the charged arena of post-Rossini/pre-

Beethoven aesthetics in which critics grappled in print with the ramifications of cosmopolitan influences on musical life in France.2 Moreover, his strategy of self-representation in 1824 and the intense public response to it provided a model of presentation and reception through

1

See, for example, other accounts by Alan Walker, Franz Liszt: The Virtuoso Years, 1811-1847 (New York: Alfred Knopf, 1983), and Derek Watson, Liszt (New York: Schirmer Books, 1989).

2

James H. Johnson, Listening in Paris: A Cultural History (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1995). The popularity of Rossini’s music was at its height in the early 1820s, and Rossini himself, director of the Théâtre-Italien after 1824, was the focus of a massive debate in the Parisian press. Beethoven’s music, however, had long since been introduced, but it failed to interest French audiences; only after François Habeneck launched the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire in 1828 with the goal of championing Beethoven did his music take off in France. On Rossini in 1820s Paris, see Benjamin Walton, Rossini in Restoration Paris:

The Sounds of Modern Life (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007). On Beethoven reception in France,

see Beate Kraus, Beethoven-Rezeption in Frankreich: Von ihren Anfängen bis zum Untergang des Second

which future virtuosos could construct their own paths to the Parisian stage as well as a standard against which French audiences could consider new performers.

In the second part of this chapter, I examine how the reception of Liszt’s performances reflects the cultural climate of 1820s Paris. In spite of Liszt’s significant presence in Parisian musical life, his debut has not yet been connected to the broader context of French musical politics. Most significantly, comparing Liszt to the idealized figure of Mozart allowed critics to articulate their experience of Liszt’s playing in terms of an on- going musical debate. The growing affinity of Parisian audiences for music composed and performed by musicians from all over Europe threatened a perceived dominance of a French national school of composition. Invoking Mozart, by now a glorified and neutral figure in French musical politics, made it possible for critics to manufacture a way to consider Italian (and Rossinian in particular) and German influences without compromising their national identity. I will then turn to the less overt threads of child prodigy and improvisation.

Possessing unadulterated natural genius along with the ability to display it on command were key elements of the virtuoso profile; as a child and an improviser, Liszt met both criteria. Even as they intersected with conversations about Mozart, the discourses of prodigy and improvisation connected Liszt to the broader extra-musical context of French culture by comparing him to other public figures.

Liszt’s Debut in Paris: Setting the Stage

Liszt’s public debut concert in Paris occurred nearly two years after Liszt and his parents left their home in Raiding, Hungary (now Austria), in pursuit of musical instruction and

his search for a way to support his family during an extended stay in Vienna. There he hoped to obtain for his son further musical training (in particular, with Carl Czerny) and to expose him to the outstanding musical offerings of a capital city, planning eventually to tour the musical stages of Europe. After extended negotiations with Prince Nicholas Esterházy, Adam Liszt’s employer, the father took a leave of absence from his duties in Raiding and arranged Liszt’s first public concerts in the fall of 1820 in Ödenburg and Pressburg, Hungary (now Sopron, Hungary, and Bratislava, Slovakia, respectively). The profits from this

concert—and the sponsorship of several noblemen who had attended the Pressburg concert— helped to support the next few years of Liszt’s studies.3 The family’s long-term finances nevertheless remained uncertain until Liszt’s highly lucrative performances in Paris.

The family arrived in Vienna in the spring of 1822, where the ten-year-old Liszt immediately began lessons in piano with Czerny and in theory with Antonio Salieri. Approximately ten months later, on 1 December 1822, Liszt gave his first concert for the Viennese public. Although Czerny had counseled against the concert, Liszt’s playing was greeted with great enthusiasm from audiences and journalists alike, which encouraged Adam Liszt to arrange several additional concerts in Vienna.4 By the spring of 1823, Adam Liszt judged his son adequately prepared to conquer new horizons, and the family left Vienna to tour Western Europe.

Alan Walker’s account of Liszt’s early career suggests that the eighteen months spent in Vienna served several purposes. First, the young pianist embarked on his first European tour an experienced musician, having spent at least six months performing for the notoriously

3

Walker, Virtuoso Years, 66-70. 4

critical audiences in one of Europe’s musical capitals. Adam Liszt had gained valuable experience as well: in navigating the Viennese concert circuit on his son’s behalf, he had acquired practical skills in concert management that could be applied in other contexts. Father and son also had formed connections among the Viennese elite, rubbing shoulders with such formidable figures as Prince Klemens von Metternich, Minister of Foreign Affairs in Austria and a former ambassador to Paris. This connection later helped the Liszts to penetrate Parisian society. Liszt’s lessons with Czerny and Salieri, their pedagogical value aside, symbolically linked him to the musical legacies of Beethoven and Mozart.5

Throughout his career as a performer and a composer, Liszt drew on his musical heritage to align himself with the Austro-German masters at the foundation of an emerging art-music canon.6 Furthermore, the positive reception of Liszt’s playing by Viennese audiences provided a platform for the 1823 tour. Liszt had amassed enough money to finance the first stage of the tour and had earned a reputation as a child prodigy and pianistic phenomenon that preceded him wherever he went. Finally, the idea that Liszt channeled the spirit or talent of Mozart can be traced to remarks in the German-speaking press.7 The themes of prodigy,

5

Liszt’s connection to Beethoven in Vienna during the early 1820s played an essential role in the development of his adult persona as an interpreter of Beethoven’s music. The concurrent presence of Beethoven and Liszt in Vienna has complicated discussions of the most famous of Liszt’s legends, dubbed the Weihekuss, or the kiss of consecration. While several variations on the story emerged from Liszt’s biographers and personal

correspondence, a common theme unites them. Beethoven encountered Liszt (in public or private), heard him play (or improvise), kissed him, and foretold a great future for the young artist. Scholars have found no solid evidence for their meeting. Nevertheless, the story reappeared throughout Liszt’s life, symbolically tying him to his idol again and again. Liszt’s proximity to Beethoven in the early 1820s lent plausibility to his story and was picked up by Parisian journalists as they tried to grapple with Liszt’s performances of Beethoven in the 1830s and beyond. On the debate over the Weihekuss, see Allan Keiler, “Liszt and Beethoven: The Creation of a Personal Myth,” 19th-Century Music 12 (1988): 116-131; Keiler, “Liszt Research and Walker’s Liszt,” Musical

Quarterly 70 (1984): 374-403; and Walker, Virtuoso Years, 81-85.

6

This is an issue around which Liszt danced throughout much of his life, playing up his Hungarian nationality when it suited the situation or submerging it beneath his ties to Germanic traditions when he felt it necessary. 7

Mozart was mentioned in a review published by the Augsburger allgemeine Zeitung following one of Liszt’s concerts in Augsburg; see Watson, Liszt, 15.

virtuosity, and Mozart that emerged from his reception in Vienna would also contribute to his Parisian identity.

Liszt’s “Grand Tour” opened in Pest, Hungary, in May 1823.8 Then, with one eye trained on France and England, Liszt played his way through the German states and Belgium, eventually arriving in Paris on 11 December 1823.9 Within a few days, news had spread that the Liszts now resided in the French capital. Liszt’s reputation as a spectacular pianist, established over months of well-publicized concertizing, attracted public attention before he played even a note. The evening daily newspaper L’Étoile announced his appearance in an article on 22 December 1823 and speculated about what Paris might expect from a pianist of such advertised talent.

Paris possesses at this moment a true phenomenon: it is a young Hungarian of eleven years named Leist [sic]. This child already possesses a talent of the first order for the piano…Friends of the arts must make wishes for this prodigy to be heard in public.10 The journalist also hinted at a possible comparison to Mozart on 22 December 1823: “Since Mozart, who astonished several European courts at the age of eight, the musical world has certainly seen nothing as surprising as the young List [sic].”11

8

Liszt gave three concerts in Pest on 1 May, 19 May, and 24 May 1823. Adam Liszt positioned Liszt as a Hungarian prodigy by encouraging audiences to consider the potential glory that Liszt would bring to their country by advertising himself as a Hungarian in other European cities. Liszt even played the symbolic Rákóczy

March at the 19 May concert; see Walker, Virtuoso Years, 86-87. Liszt’s nationality also served him well in

Paris; most reviewers mentioned that he was Hungarian (many called him “the young Hungarian”), which is not surprising given that being foreign was a key element of the virtuoso profile.

9

Walker, Virtuoso Years, 92. 10

“Paris possède en ce moment un véritable phénomène: c’est un jeune Hongrois de l’âge de 11 ans, nommé

Leist. Cet enfant possède déjà un talent du premier ordre sur le piano…Les amis des arts doivent faire des vœux

pour que ce prodige se fasse entendre en public”(L’Étoile, 22 December 1823). 11

“Depuis Mozart, qui étonna plusieurs cours de l’Europe à l’âge de huit ans, le monde musical n’a certainement rien vu d’aussi surprenant que le jeune List” (L’Étoile, 22 December 1823).

Upon their arrival in Paris, Adam Liszt immediately tackled the crucial task of finding Liszt an instrument on which to practice and to perform. He and his son first stopped at the shop of the most innovative piano builders in France, Sébastien Érard and his nephew Pierre.12 Sébastien Érard, inventor of the recently-patented double-escapement keyboard action, was already well known in Paris and England, as were the firm’s pianos. Érard apparently agreed on the spot to supply Liszt with practice instruments and to allow him use of the premises for private performances. The ensuing relationship between the Érard family and Liszt benefited both parties: Liszt had access to the best pianos in Paris, and the Érards had a rising virtuoso to showcase their latest inventions. Over the next fifteen years, the Érard family provided Liszt with pianos, both in Paris and abroad.13 In return, Liszt conspicuously advertised that he played Érard’s instruments.14 By the mid-1830s, Liszt’s brand of pianistic virtuosity had become synonymous with the sounds of the Érard piano.

Reports from the winter and spring of 1824 illuminate the early stages of what

became a long-lasting and fruitful partnership between Liszt and the Érards. On 10 February 1824, Liszt gave a private performance in the Salle Érard, playing a new seven-octave grand piano—an instrument similar to (if not the same as) the piano he would use for the 7 March

12

The stagecoach on which the Liszts traveled from Strasbourg (where they had been before coming to Paris) terminated in the Rue de Mail, the same street on which the Liszts’ hotel and the Érards’ piano shop were located; see Emile Haraszti, “Liszt à Paris: Quelques documents inédits (1),” Revue Musicale 17 (1936): 245- 46. According to most accounts, Liszt’s first meeting with Érard occurred the very afternoon of his arrival in Paris. This meeting is generally reported as a fortunate coincidence. The great lengths to which Adam Liszt went in order to secure the best possible situation for Liszt’s performances, however, suggest that his decision to install the family at the Hôtel d’Angleterre may also have been motivated by its proximity to one of the most esteemed piano shops in Paris.

13

Sébastien Érard died in 1831, at which time his nephew Pierre Érard (son of Sébastien’s brother and partner Jean-Baptiste) assumed responsibility for the business; see René Beaupain, La Maison Érard: manufacture de

pianos, 1780-1959 (Paris: L’Harmattan, 2005), 19.

14

concert. Reviews of this performance linked the names of Liszt and the Érard firm in print for the first time.15 At the 10 February event, Liszt performed one of his own compositions, identified in L’Étoile simply as a “thême varié” for solo piano.16 Most likely, this became Liszt’s first Parisian publication, the Huit variations pour le pianoforte, issued in 1825 by the Érard publishing firm with a dedication to Sébastien Érard.17 As Walker’s analysis

demonstrates, the scope and texture of the work accentuate the unique qualities of the Érard piano.18 A performance of this piece on 10 February would have showcased the instrument and honored Liszt’s sponsors. Later, as the response to the 7 March concert unfolded, the Érard pianos earned high praises from most critics, who lauded the rapid action and sonorous depth of Liszt’s concert instrument.19

With the pianos secured and a letter from Metternich in hand, the Liszts then approached the social and musical elite of Paris, for whom Liszt performed approximately thirty-eight times between his arrival in December 1823 and his departure in early May 1824.20 Most of these performances occurred within the context of the salonand other private gatherings.21 Audiences included both men and women of the aristocracy and wealthy bourgeoisie, and were generally restricted to the invited guests of the host. While each salon developed its own character according to the interests and tastes of its

15

La Pandore (11 February 1824), L’Étoile (11 February 1824).

16

L’Étoile,11 February 1824.

17

The Érard publishing branch, Mesdemoiselles Érard, was run by Marie-Françoise and Catherine-Barbe Marcaux, nieces of Sébastien and Jean-Baptiste Érard.

18

Walker, Virtuoso Years, 105-106. Walker implies that Liszt did not compose this work—or any of his early publications—until after he had left Paris for the summer 1824 tour in London.

19

For example, see Journal des débats (23 March 1824), and La Pandore (11 February 1824). 20

Metternich’s letter is reprinted in the original German in Haraszati, “Liszt à Paris,” 243-44. 21

participants, many salons of the 1820s and 1830s prominently featured musical

performances. For musicians recently arrived in Paris, gaining entrance to these elite venues was critical to achieving wider public success; although salonaudiences were socially

exclusive, the reception of new works and performers in salonperformances could determine their destiny in the broader field of Parisian musical life. Performers and composers

established valuable connections with potential patrons, which, as I shall explore in later chapters, allowed them to supplement their income with lessons, commissioned

compositions, publication sales, and additional performance opportunities.22 Also among private audiences were members of the Parisian press, whose early reviews could make or break a fledgling career even before a musician’s first public concert.23

The Liszts’ campaign for the support of the Parisian aristocracy was by all accounts a successful one. Within a few weeks, the young pianist was welcomed in the most elite circles of Paris, performing in the illustrious salonsof the Duc d’Orléans, the Duchesse de Berry, and Madame Cresp-Bereytter. The first of Liszt’s private performances occurred at a

soirée given by the Duc d’Orléans (soon to become King Louis-Philippe in 1830) in celebration of New Year’s Eve.24 A few weeks later, he played in the salon of Cresp-