The tonality is often no longer definable, and the sound is movingly sad. This music has an almost 'existential' sparseness. I would actually say by way of his late compositions - mostly piano pieces but also spiritual works. What would you recommend to a music lover with no preconceived ideas about Liszt: how can one get closer to his work? Since then, I present his works here each year as often as possible. I dedicated it to Franz Liszt, who was a musical 'local hero' there in the middle of the 19th century. Soon thereafter, I was offered the chance to direct a festival in Weimar. And finally I discovered him for myself - by way of his late work, which Bartok described as the gateway that opened up to the music of the 20th century. It came by way of my interest in contemporary music - in that milieu, I always heard excited praise for him. I'm embarrassed, but I have to admit that I didn't become aware of Franz Liszt until very late. I was familiar with his 'Liebesträume' (English: 'Dreams of Love') and the 'Hungarian Rhapsodies' - fragments of his immense body of work. We simply don't hear his works often enough. How and when did you get access to Liszt's works? It's ultimately not as easy to encounter Liszt as, say, Mozart… You were more or less forced to grow up with Wagner in Bayreuth. I'm certain that he would today have been in the centers of new music and in the places where premieres are taking place - both as a performer and a composer. He often supported and promoted works by his contemporaries. Franz Liszt always defined himself as a musician of the future. Do you think Franz Liszt would have been a fan or even a performer of new music? Raised in Bayreuth, the author is an expert on art and music, a sharp-tongued critic of the art establishment and director of the festival 'Pelerinages,' which is held in honor of Franz Liszt annually in Weimar.ĭEUTSCHE WELLE: We recently saw each other at the Donaueschingen Festival, where you're a regular guest. Nike Wagner is the great-granddaughter of Richard Wagner and the great-great granddaughter of Franz Liszt. Critics have long been divided about Liszt's significance as a composer

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