Page:Great Men and Famous Women Volume 8.djvu/195

 FRANZ LISZT 333 mdeed they have been ever since forced to do wherever Liszt appeared — effaced themselves with as good a grace as they could. It is a remarkable tribute to the generous nature as well as to the consum- mate ability of Liszt, that, while opposing partisans have fought bitterly over him — Thalbergites, Herzites, Mendelssohnites versus Lisztites — yet few of the great artists who have, one after another, had to yield to him in popularity have denied to him their admiration, while most of them have given him their friendship. Liszt early wooed, and early won Vienna. He spoke ever of his dear Viennese, and their resounding city. A concert tour on his way to Paris brought him before the critical public of Stuttgart and Munich. Hummel, an old man, and Moscheles, then in his prime, heard him and declared that his playing was equal to theirs. But Liszt was bent upon completing his studies in the celebratec school of the French capital, and at the feet of the old musical dictator, Cheru- bini. The Erards, who were destined to owe so much to Liszt, and to whom Liszt throughout his career owed so much, at once provided him with a magnifi- cent piano ; but Cherubini put in force a certain by-law of the Conservatoire ex- cluding foreigners, and excluded Franz Liszt. This was a bitter pill to the eager student. He hardly knew how little he re- quired such patronage. In a very short time " le petit Liszt" was the great Paris sensation. The old noblesse tried to spoil him with flattery, the Duchesse de Berri drugged him with bonbons, the Duke of Orleans called him the " little Mozart." He gave private concerts, at which Herz, Moscheles, Lafont, and De Beriot, assisted. Rossini would sit by his side at the piano, and applaud. He was a "miracle." The company never tired of extolling his "nerve, fougue et originaliteY' while the ladies who petted and caressed him after each perform- ance, were delighted at his simple and graceful carriage, the elegance of his lan- guage, and the perfect breeding and propriety of his demeanor. He was only twelve when he played for the first time at the Italian Opera, and one of those singular incidents which remind one of Paganini's triumphs oc« curred. At the close of a bravura cadenza, the band forgot to come in, so ab- sorbed were the musicians in watching the young prodigy. Their failure was worth a dozen successes to Liszt. The ball of the marvellous was fairly set roll- ing. Gall, the inventor of phrenology, took a cast of the little Liszt's skull ; Talma, the tragedian, embraced him openly with effusion ; and the misanthropic Marquis de Noailles became his mentor, and initiated him into the art of paint- ing. In 1824 Liszt, then thirteen years old, came with his father to England ; his mother returned to Austria. He went down to Windsor to see George IV., who was delighted with him, and Liszt, speaking of him to me, said : " I was very young at the time, but I remember the king very well — a fine, pompous- looking gentleman. George IV. went to Drury Lane on purpose to hear the boy, and commanded an encore. Liszt was also heard in the theatre at Man- chester, and in several private houses. On his return to France, people noticed a change in him. He was now four-