Family
  • Maria Anna Liszt née Lager (1788-1866) was born in Krems, Austria. Her father died when she was eight, and her mother followed six months after. As a young woman, she worked as a chambermaid in Vienna, and later moved to Mattersdorf, where her brother Franz lived. Georg Liszt was the overseer of the Esterházy estate in Mattersdorf. Twenty-two year old Anna married thirty-four year old Adam Liszt in January 1811. She spent time in Graz with her sister while a young Liszt toured in the early 1820s. Around 1827, she moves to Paris with Franz after Adam’s death. In 1839, Anna takes Liszt’s two daughters, Blandine and Cosima, in after Marie and Franz’s relationship begins to fizzle. Daniel arrived in Paris to join them in 1841. Anna raised the three children, while Liszt sent her money.
  • Blandine Liszt (1835-1862): Born in Geneva, her birth certificate is nearly completely fabricated - wrong name, age, residence, and birth place of the mother (officially Marie D’Agoult). This was done because Marie did not want Blandine recognized as the child of the Count Charles D’Agoult.

-There is a chapter on Blandine Liszt in New Light on Liszt and His Music titled "Selections from the letters of Blandine Liszt" Call #MUS ML 410.L7 N3 1997

  • Cosima Wagner née Liszt (24 December 1837 [some controversy about the date - Cosima and Richard Wagner both refer to her birthday as Christmas day, but her birth certificate and a letter written by her mother confirm that it was actually Christmas Eve7] - 1930): Born in Como, Italy. Met Richard Wagner in 1853 the age of fifteen. Five years later she married conductor and pianist Hans von Bülow (two children - Daniela and Blandine). Began relationship with Wagner around 1863 - their first daughter, Isolde, was born in 1865, while Cosima was still married to Von Bülow. Their second daughter, Eva, was born in 1867. Von Bülow granted Cosima a divorce in 1869, and in the next year she married Wagner. Became Protestant after this, much to Liszt’s dismay.

Side note: Liszt was an only child according to most sources, but Alan Walker discusses a speculation that Liszt had three older siblings from an unconfirmed previous marriage of Adam Liszt. In a letter to Marie D’Agoult he wrote of a brother who died of consumption. Further research by Walker proves that Georg Adam Liszt (Franz’s grandfather), mentions that his son, Adam, has four children (when Georg moves in with Adam and Anna, he write this to Prince Esterházy). The gap in the history of Adam Liszt from about 1800-1810 further encourages this exploration, which at this point is still speculation.

Walker, Alan. Franz Liszt. New York: Knopf, 1983. ML410.L7W27

Walker, Alan. “Franz Liszt.” Grove Music Online.