Portrait of Franz Liszt

Franz Liszt (1811-1886), Hungarian-born pianist and composer. A Romantic icon and one of the first proponents of the orchestral tone poem, he was an unparalleled keyboard virtuoso and a supremely talented and innovative composer. He was also renowned as a mercurial personality and bandit of love; in short, like the flamboyant violinist Niccolò Paganini, Liszt lived the Romantic ideal to the hilt.

Listen to an example of Liszt's piano music.