Liszt's Performing in the 40s
  • It's estimated that over the course of the 1840s Liszt performed well over 1,000 concerts (Walker 285)
  • Liszt performed the entire keyboard repertoire from Bach to the present day, and frequently performed entire programs from memory
  • In addition to many of his own pieces, Liszt performed popular arrangements and fantasies (particularly operatic fantasies)
    • Concerning fantasies, Walker (315) gives an interesting discussion of how later 20th century views on authenticity and intent downplayed the role of these in Liszt’s performances
  • Liszt was even capable of playing concert works at sight (as he did for many of his Leipzig pieces)
  • The solo “recital” was essentially invented by Liszt during his trip to England in 1840 (the English were perplexed as to how one could "recite" on a piano)
  • Liszt often had to play on multiple pianos per recital in order to more evenly distribute the stress. Even then snapped strings were not all that uncommon (Walker 287)
  • In the beginning years of his touring Liszt allowed his hosts to organize his concerts and choose what pieces he was to play (Walker 291)
    • As you might guess, this was an entirely unsatisfactory procedure
    • Ultimately Liszt hired Gaëtano Belloni as a companion/factotum/manager/secretary (Walker 365)
    • Naturally, this led to a good deal of local programming (e.g. Hungarian Rhapsodies played in Pest, more Beethoven selections in Germany, etc.) (Saffle 197)
  • As Michael Saffle has noted, Liszt had, at least in Germany, a "primary repertory" of about 17 pieces which earned him the title of virtuoso (Saffle 187)… just looking at the list below can tell you as much!
    • In addition, Liszt had a secondary repertory of about 10 works (mostly Beethoven, with some operatic paraphrases and original compositions)
    • Liszt's tertiary repertory, pieces which appeared on fewer than 5 programs, made up a surprisingly large percentage of his total concert
  • Only a portion of the programs for Liszt's world tour survive, and of these, many are laden with confusion (though a program might say Liszt performed a Chopin étude, rarely is the specific name given) (Saffle 190)
  • In addition to playing solo piano, Liszt did occasionally act as an accompanist or a conductor (see the discussion in Saffle 194-96)
    • Beethoven was Liszt's favorite choice to conduct, and as far as I can tell Schubert was high up on the list of favorite choices to accompany
  • "The most powerful factor governing Liszt's repertory and programming strategy seems to have been showmanship. The overwhelming majority of the works he played repeatedly, at least in Germany, were operatic paraphrases, transcriptions, and showy "finales," especially the Galop Chromatique. Between works like these he sandwiched more "delicate" compositions - as much for musical and emotional contrast, it would seem, as for the sake of the works themselves." (Saffle 202)

Programs/individual pieces listed in Alan Walker's Franz Liszt: The Virtuoso Years

  • Vienna, 1838
    • Weber’s Concertstück
    • Fantasy on themes from Bellini’s I Puritani
    • Transcendental Études – “Vision”
  • Vienna, December 1839
    • Beethoven’s C minor Concerto
    • Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto
  • Pressburg, December 1839
    • Rakóczy March
  • Pest, January 4, 1840
    • Paraphrase of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor
    • Grand Galop chromatique
    • Rakóczy March
  • Pest, January 11, 1840
    • Conducted Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy
    • Conducted Mozart’s Overture to The Magic Flute
    • Conducted Weber’s Overture to Oberon
  • Oedenburg, February 18, 1840
    • Fantasy on themes from Bellini’s I Puritani
    • Schubert’s “Ständchen”
    • Schubert’s “Erlkönig”
    • “Hungarian Melody and March”
  • Dresden, March 16, 1840
    • Schubert’s “Erlkönig” and other songs
  • Leipzig, March, 1840
    • Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto in d minor
    • Beethoven’s 6th Symphony - Scherzo and Finale
    • Weber’s Concertstück
    • Hiller’s “Studies”
    • Schumann’s Carnaval
  • London, May-June 1840
    • Reminisces of Bellini’s I Puritani
    • Fantasy on Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor
    • Grand Galop chromatique
    • Beethoven’s //6th Symphony - Scherzo and Finale
    • Schubert’s “Serenade” and “Ave Maira”
    • Héxameron Variations
    • Neapolitan Tarantelles
    • Moscheles’s “Studies” & later Preciosa Variations
    • “Pagainini Studies”
    • Beethoven’s Kreutzer Sonata
    • Handel’s Fugue in e minor
    • Rossini’s Overture to William Tell
  • Dublin, December 1840
    • Extemporaneous variations on an audience member’s theme, the “Russian Hymn” and “The Wanted Governess”
  • Paris, March-April 1841
    • Reminiscences on Meyerbeer’s Robert le Diable
    • Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto
  • London, June 1841
    • Hummel’s Septet
    • Thalberg’s Fantasy on Bellini’s Norma
  • Berlin, December 1841 (see Walker’s large chart, p.372) - this was all done by memory
    • Played 80 works in 21 concerts over 10 weeks
    • Bach: Chromatic Fantasy & Fugue in d minor; Organ Prelude and Fugue in A minor; Organ Prelude and Fugue in e minor; Prelude and Fugue in c minor
    • Beethoven: Sonata in c-sharp minor; Sonata in d minor; Sonata in f minor (Appasionata); Sonata in Ab Major (Funeral March); Sonata in Bb Major (Hammerklavier); Scherzo and Finale from Symphony 6; Funeral March from Symphony 3; Song Cycle: Adelaïde
    • Chopin: Studies; Mazurkas; Waltzes
    • Handel: Fugue in e minor; Theme and Variations (d minor suite)
    • Hummel: Septet; Oberons Zauberhorn
    • Mendelssohn: Cappriccio in f sharp minor
    • Moscheles: Studies
    • Paganini: La Campanella; Carnival of Venice Study
    • Rossini: Overture to William Tell; Tarantella; La Serenata e l’Orgia
    • Scarlatti: Sonatas
    • Schubert: “Erlkönig”; “Ave Maria”; “Ständchen”; “Lob der Thränen”
    • Liszt’s operatic paraphrases: Don Giovanni; Robert le Diable; Lucia di Lammermoor; Niobe; La sonnambula; I puritani; Norma; Lucrezia Borgia; Les Hugenots;
    • Liszt’s original compositions: Valse à capriccio (no.3); “Heil im Siegerkranz”; Grande Valse di bravura; Grand Galop chromatique; Au Lac de Wallenstadt; Au bord d’une source; Hungarian Rhapsodies; Hungarian March; Transcendental Studies: Mazeppa; Hexaméron Variations
  • St. Petersburg, April 8, 1842
    • Rossini’s Overture to William Tell
    • Andante from Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor
    • Fantasy on Mozart’s Don Giovanni
    • Schubert’s “Erlkönig” and “Ständchen”
    • Beethoven’s “Adelaïde”
    • Grand Galop chromatique
  • Moscow, 1843
    • Improvised rhapsody on Muscovite Gypsy themes
  • Arad, November 10, 1846
    • Andante from Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor
    • Paraphrase of Bellini's Norma
    • Magyar Dallok
    • Schubert's Ave Maria & Erlkönig
    • Fantasy on Meyerbeer's Robert le diable
  • Jassy, January 11, 1846
    • Impromtu variations on Fechtenmacher's Moldavian Overture and the hora national dance
  • Kiev, January-February, 1847
    • Hexaméron Variations
    • Weber’s Concertstück
    • Schubert’s “Trout”
    • Chopin’s “A Study”
    • Weber’s Invitation to the Dance
  • Constantinople, July, 1847
    • Andante from Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor
    • Rossini's Overture to William Tell
    • Fantasy on themes from Bellini's Norma

A complete list of Liszt's German concerts (with programs, when available)