Weimar celebrates 200th anniversary of "Lisztomania"

By Andreas Heimann Apr 26, 2011, 3:06 GMT

Weimar, Germany - The German federal state of Thuringia is planning 200 events this year to celebrate the 200th anniversary of composer Franz Liszt.

Considered the most technically advanced pianist of his age and Europe's first pop star, Liszt was born in the Hungarian village of Doborjan on October 22, 1811 and learnt how to play the piano from his father.

Liszt toured throughout Europe and went on to become one of the most prominent representatives of the 'Neudeutsche Schule' ('New German School'). He lived for many years in Weimar in Thuringia, where 'Lisztomania' is the order of the day for the planned '200 for the 200th' celebrations.

An exhibition titled 'Franz Liszt - A European in Weimar' opens on June 24 while the annual Thuringia Festival, which runs from June 18 until July 10, is dedicated to the composer.

The festival includes two exceptional highlights, namely 'Liszt under Water' at the Toskana Thermal Bath in Bad Sulza and 'Sky over Liszt' at the Jena Zeiss Planetarium.

There is also a special city tour of Weimar that follows in the footsteps of Liszt, including the Russischer Hof hotel where the composer lived and worked.

Tour guide Gudrun Engelhardt also brings visitors to the Herderkirche, where Martin Luther prayed and Liszt once played the organ. The National Theatre with its famous monument to Goethe and Schiller is also on the tour route.

'Goethe was already dead eight years when Liszt first came to Weimar in 1840,' explains Engelhardt.

Liszt travelled to Weimar to see the Goethe House but a year later he returned to play following an invitation from Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, wife of Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.

'He was a charismatic figure who was loved by women,' says Engelhardt.

Women often fought over his silk handkerchiefs and velvet gloves and the Duchess quickly fell under Liszt's spell, offering him the post of Grand Ducal Master of Music, which she paid for out of her own funds.

Liszt moved to Weimar in 1848 where he concentrated on composition as well as writing articles championing Richard Wagner. During the Weimar years, Liszt wrote a series of essays about operas.

Engelhardt strides across Weimar's Marktplatz where during Liszt's time the Hotel Erbprinz - the official postal address of the composer - once stood.

Liszt lived in Weimar with Princess Carolyne zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, whom he met in Kiev in February 1847. It was she who persuaded him to concentrate on composition and give up his career as a travelling virtuoso.

Next on the tour is the monument to Johann Sebastian Bach, who also lived in Weimar for many years.

'Liszt was fascinated by him,' reveals Engelhardt. The nearby High School of Music is named after Liszt while the office of the Liszt Society is also situated here.

The highpoint of Liszt's career as a concert pianist came in the 1840s when he toured Europe, receiving complete adulation wherever he went.

This period of fame is remembered by the 'Kosmos Klavier' which involves international stars such as Arcadi Volodos, Valery Afanassiev, Dezso Ranki, Boris Bloch and Marino Formenti playing at special historic venues.

After some unhappy years in Rome, Liszt returned to Weimar in 1869 where he lived in a house near the Castle for at least a few weeks a year for the next 17 years.

'He spent three months in Rome, three in Budapest, three in Weimar and three travelling,' explains Dr Wolfram Huschke of the High School of Music Franz Liszt. 'The Liszt House was his summer residence.'

The dwelling became an immediate tourist attraction following the composer's death in 1886.

Read more about Travel