Franz Liszt

Franz Liszt

Franz Liszt (1811-1886), Hungarian-born pianist and composer, founder of the solo piano recital and perhaps the greatest pianist of all time, as well as one of the important composers of the 19th century.

Liszt was born on October 22, 1811, in the village of Raiding, near Sopron. He studied the piano first with his father, then with the Austrian pianist Carl Czerny in Vienna, where he also studied theory with the Italian composer Antonio Salieri. In 1823 he moved with his parents to Paris, where he soon established himself as a pianist. Meanwhile, he took composition lessons from the Italian opera composer Ferdinando Paër and the Czech-French composer and theorist Anton Reicha.