Editing Franz Liszt (section)

=== Touring Europe ===
==== Affair with Countess Marie d'Agoult ====
[[File:Marie d’Agoult by Henri Lehmann.jpg|thumb|upright|Marie d'Agoult (1843)]]

In 1833, Liszt began a relationship with the Countess [[Marie d'Agoult]], who was married to a French cavalry officer but living independently.{{sfn|Eckhardt|Mueller|Walker|2001|loc=§6}} In order to escape scandal they moved to [[Geneva]] in 1835;{{sfn|Eckhardt|Mueller|Walker|2001|loc=§7}} their daughter Blandine was born there on 18 December.{{sfn|Hilmes|2016|pp=54-55}} Liszt taught at the newly founded [[Conservatoire de Musique de Genève|Geneva Conservatoire]] and contributed essays for ''[[L'Artiste]]'' and the ''[[Revue et gazette musicale de Paris]]''.{{sfn|Celenza|2021}}{{sfn|Eckhardt|Mueller|Walker|2001|loc=§7}}

For the next four years, Liszt and the countess lived together. In 1835 and 1836 they travelled around Switzerland, and from August 1837 until November 1839 they toured Italy. It was these travels that later inspired the composer to write his cycle of piano collections entitled ''[[Années de pèlerinage]]'' (''Years of Pilgrimage'').{{sfn|Jost|2021}}{{sfn|Jost|2020}} Their daughter, [[Cosima Wagner|Cosima]], was born in [[Como]] on 24 December 1837, and their son Daniel on 9 May 1839 in [[Rome]].{{sfn|Hilmes|2016|pp=65,59}}

That autumn relations between them became strained. Liszt heard that plans for a [[Beethoven Monument]] in Bonn were in danger of collapse for lack of funds and pledged his support, raising funds through concerts.{{sfn|Eckhardt|Mueller|Walker|2001|loc=§7}} The countess returned to Paris with the children, while Liszt gave six concerts in Vienna, then toured Hungary.{{sfn|Searle|1995|p=30}} Liszt would later spend holidays with Marie and their children on the island of [[Nonnenwerth]] on the Rhine in the summers of 1841 and 1843. In May 1844, the couple finally separated.{{sfn|Hilmes|2016|pp=73,85}}

==== The Ivory Duel ====
[[File:Sigismond Thalberg (by Grevedon).jpeg|thumb|upright|Sigismond Thalberg (1836)]]
Swiss pianist [[Sigismond Thalberg]] moved to Paris in 1835 after several successful years of touring. His concerts there were extremely well received, and Liszt, at the time living in Geneva, received news of them from his friends in Paris. In the autumn of 1836 Liszt published an unfavourable review of several of Thalberg's compositions in the ''Gazette musicale'', calling them "boring" and "mediocre". A published exchange of views ensued between Liszt and Thalberg's supporter, the critic [[François-Joseph Fétis]].{{sfn|Hall-Swadley|Liszt|2012|pp=17-18}}

Liszt heard Thalberg perform for the first time at the Paris Conservatoire in February 1837, and to settle the disagreement the two pianists each arranged a performance for the public to compare them the following month. Liszt performed his own ''Grande fantaisie sur des motifs de Niobe'' and Weber's ''[[Konzertstück in F minor (Weber)|Konzertstück in F minor]]''. This was considered to be inconclusive, so the two agreed to perform at the same concert for comparison on 31 March, at the salon of the [[Cristina Trivulzio Belgiojoso|Princess of Belgiojoso]], in aid of Italian refugees. Thalberg opened with his ''Fantasia on Rossini's "Moses"'', then Liszt performed his ''Niobe'' fantasy.{{sfn|Hall-Swadley|Liszt|2012|p=18}}

The result of this "duel" is disputed. Critic [[Jules Janin]]'s report in ''[[Journal des débats]]'' asserted that there was no clear winner: "Two victors and no vanquished; it is fitting to say with the poet '{{lang|la|et adhuc sub judice lis est}}". Belgiojoso declined to declare a winner, famously concluding that "Thalberg is the first pianist in the world{{snd}}Liszt is unique."{{sfn|Eckhardt|Mueller|Walker|2001|loc=§7}} The biographer [[Alan Walker (musicologist)|Alan Walker]], however, believes that "Liszt received the ovation of the evening and all doubts about his supremacy were dispelled. As for Thalberg, his humiliation was complete. He virtually disappeared from the concert platform after this date."{{sfn|Walker|1973|p=40}}

==== Lisztomania ====
{{further|Lisztomania}}
[[File:Franz-liszt-in-hungarian-costume-watercolour-by-josef-friehuber-1838.jpg|thumb|left|upright=.8|Watercolour of Liszt (1838) by [[Josef Kriehuber]] ]]
After his separation from Marie, Liszt continued to tour Europe. His concerts in Berlin in the winter of 1841{{endash}}1842 marked the start of a period of immense public enthusiasm and popularity for his performances, dubbed "[[Lisztomania]]" by [[Heinrich Heine]] in 1844.{{sfn|Pesce|Eckhardt|Mueller|2023|loc=§1.iii}} In a fashion that has been described as similar to "the mass hysteria associated with revivalist meetings or 20th-century rock stars", women fought over his cigar stubs and coffee dregs,{{sfn|Eckhardt|Mueller|Walker|2001|loc=§8}} and his silk handkerchiefs and velvet gloves, which they ripped to shreds as souvenirs.{{sfn|Walker|1987|p=289}} This atmosphere was fuelled in great part by the artist's mesmeric personality and stage presence: he was regarded as handsome,{{sfn|Hensher|2016}}{{sfn|Burton-Hill|2016}} and Heine wrote of his showmanship during concerts: "How powerful, how shattering was his mere physical appearance".{{sfn|Walker|1987|p=289}}{{sfn|Hilmes|2016|p=73}}

It is estimated that Liszt appeared in public well over one thousand times during this eight-year period.{{sfn|Eckhardt|Mueller|Walker|2001|loc=§8}} Moreover, his great fame as a pianist, which he would continue to enjoy long after he had officially retired from the concert stage, was based mainly on his accomplishments during this time.{{sfn|Walker|1987|p=285}}

Adding to his reputation was that Liszt gave away much of the proceeds of his work to charity and humanitarian causes. He donated large sums to the building fund of [[Cologne Cathedral]] and [[St. Stephen's Basilica]] in [[Pest, Hungary|Pest]], and made private donations to public services such as hospitals and schools, as well as charitable organizations such as the Leipzig Musicians Pension Fund. After the [[Great Fire of Hamburg]] in May 1842, he gave concerts in aid of those left homeless.{{sfn|Walker|1987|p=290}}

During a tour of Ukraine in 1847, Liszt played in [[Kiev]], where he met the Polish Princess [[Carolyne zu Sayn-Wittgenstein]]. For some time he had been considering retiring from the life of a travelling virtuoso to concentrate on composition, and at this point he made the decision to take up a court position in [[Weimar]]. Having known Liszt for only a few weeks, Carolyne resolved to join him there.{{sfn|Walker|1973|pp=55-56}} After a tour of Turkey and Russia that summer,{{sfn|Predota|2019}} Liszt gave the final paid concert of his career at [[Elizabetgrad]] in September,{{sfn|Walker|1973|p=55}} then spent the winter with the princess at her estate in Woronińce.{{sfn|Searle|1995|p=31}} By retiring from the concert platform at the age of 35, while still at the height of his powers, Liszt succeeded in keeping the legend of his playing untarnished.{{sfn|Walker|1987|p=442}}