Franz Liszt

1811-1886 · Hungarian (Raiding/Paris/Weimar/Rome) · Romanticism

Known for: The first rock star - greatest pianist who ever lived, women fainted at his concerts, invented the solo recital

Liszt was the first rock star. Women fainted at his concerts, fought over his broken piano strings, and carried his cigar butts in lockets - a phenomenon called 'Lisztomania.' He was stunningly handsome, charismatic, and the most generous promoter of other composers' music in history.

He invented the solo piano recital, created the symphonic poem, and in later life took minor Catholic orders, becoming Abbe Liszt. His daughter Cosima married Wagner.

What Franz Liszt would be watching

The “if they lived today” Q&A on this page gives Franz Liszt Whiplash (2014) as a favourite film. Their reason: “The obsessive pursuit of perfection at the piano. That director understood what practice feels like.” Rankquant scores it above 92% of films, drawn from 1,441 IMDb reviewers individually re-centred rather than averaged raw. The full film & TV rankings are built the same way.

Browse all 1,000 figures by category

Enable JavaScript to view the full "if they lived today" Q&A and personality profile.