CATALOGUE OF THE PERMANENT EXHIBITION Dezső Legány: Liszt's homes in Budapest (1984)

Impressum Mária Eckhardt: Introduction Dezső Legány: Liszt's homes in Budapest (1984) János Kárpáti: Ferenc Liszt's pianos in the Liszt Ferenc Memorial Museum in Budapest (1986) CATALOGUE Bibliography List of abbreviations

Liszt, from his childhood, often stayed in the capital city of Hungary. In his earlier years he had no need of an apartment there since his visits did not last very long; indeed, on these occasions he did not lack invitations to stay at the homes of friends and, of course, hotels were plentiful in the city. However, in 1869, when his life had been linked to Rome for over eight years, two events took place: he took up a persistent invitation from the Grand Duke of Weimar and soon after, another to visit Budapest. From then on, Liszt virtually divided his time between these three cities. There was the occasional year when he did not visit Weimar, or when he was far from Rome but Budapest never missed a visit from him in any single year. Until his death seventeen years later he came faithfully, whatever the state of his health or however severe the winter in Budapest, in comparison with autumn and early winter around Rome, where he had always enjoyed tranquillity and even sunshine. On the first two occasions Liszt stayed at the Inner City Presbytery in Pest. It was here that in the winter of 1870/71 he, along with other musicians, gave those thirteen musical mornings, through which he became a national legend in Hungary. Although Liszt enjoyed the hospitality extended to him, his second visit, of close on half a year, convinced him that he could manage to travel to Budapest regularly only if he obtained an apartment of his own. In the spring of 1871 he wrote from Weimar explaining his difficulties to one of the most devoted of his fellow-countrymen, Baron Augusz: "Not having the advantage of being rich, and not wanting to borrow from anyone, I am forced to economise. Where to live is one of my greatest problems in Pest and as soon as this worry is lifted from me, I promise to return next winter. I have absolutely no need of a large salon; for, assuming the morning gatherings are to continue, our excellent friend Schwendtner will be good enough to put the salon of the Presbytery at our disposal."1 On receiving Liszt's letter, Baron Augusz raced to work, and within two months succeeded in taking a second floor flat in the newest quarter of Pest for Liszt. Near the corner of the building ran the Széchenyi Promenade, and opposite the house stood the Frohner Hotel where meals could be had. In his letters Liszt mentions only three pieces of furniture here: a broad, convenient desk which he had asked for from Baron Augusz for composing at and two pianos which were to be sent by Bösendorfer. Otherwise, "the style of my abode must be simple and comfortable, with no trappings."2 On 16 November 1871 Liszt moved into his first permanent home in Budapest. He lived there until March 31st 1873. From April to November 1872 he stayed in Weimar. Less than a few days after moving into his flat he wrote a letter to Princess Carolyne Sayn-Wittgenstein in Rome: "...On my arrival, on Thursday evening, Augusz, Reményi and several other friends were waiting for me at the station. Augusz took me in his carriage to my apartment at number twenty, Nádor Street, where Mrs. Augusz and her daughters, Helen and Ann, welcomed me warmly and saw me settled. You already know how the flat looks. It is quite satisfactory to me: perfectly furnished but without a stock-broker's luxury, comfortable, clean and tidy, well-located and not very expensive so far as the high rents of Pest go. In his next letter Augusz will send you a picture of my doors and windows. And then you will be able to see how comfortable and large the flat is. I have every reason to be satisfied here, particularly if I can use my time well. Usually from half past six till seven I attend mass at St. Leopold's Church which is not far from my home. I shall be taking lunch at the Frohner Hotel."3 This house is still standing today, at Nádor street 23. It was not as conveniently situated as the presbytery where he had previously been welcomed. The flat was some way from the centre of the city, and naturally, from the concert hall and the theatre, too. Liszt did not invite as many people there. Yet, he would have obviously stayed on there longer, perhaps permanently, if a resolution had not been passed by Parliament to establish a National Academy of Music. The outcome of all this was that the Ministry of Religion and Public Education provided both the site for this new institution and accommodation worthy of Liszt. Liszt's second permanent home was at the Fish Market, at Hal square 4, to the left of the Pest abutment of where the Elizabeth Bridge now stands. The house was demolished around 1910. Its site is now marked by a memorial tablet on the wall of what is now number one Irányi street. We have two photographs showing the outside of the house, and a contemporary drawing of part of Liszt's sitting-room. It was Neo-Classic, as were the majority of houses along the impressive old Pest Embankment. The visitor entered the house through a passage with a coffered and vaulted ceiling; the second and third floors were decorated with hood-moulded windows. In the first half of June 1873 the Ministry of Education leased it from the fencing master Ferenc Friedrich to serve the purposes of the Academy of Music and as Liszt's home. Liszt moved in on October, 30th 1873. Next day he gave Princess Carolyne Sayn-Wittgenstein his first impressions in a letter: "I like my new lodging more than the one I occupied for the last two winters. It is quieter and very central, on the first floor and a couple of steps away from the church of the Stadtpfarrei, the chief one in the town, and the best kept. For many years I have been on good terms with the parish priest - Schwendtner, a mitred abbot, who on three occasions, in '65, '67, and '70, has shown me very warm and generous hospitality and became one of my best friends - as well as with all the priests who officiate in his church. It is in this self-same church that I conducted the Gran Mass and the Missa choralis."4 The windows of this apartment opened onto the silent Hal square. Leaning out of them to the left, in the direction of Buda, one could easily see over the Danube across to the Buda bank of the river, to the foot of the hill called Gellérthegy. Opposite, across Hal square, rose the towers of the Inner City Parish church. On this corner, right on the bank of the Danube, with a wonderful view of Buda, was the presbytery where Liszt had stayed more than once. His friend Abbot Mihály Schwendtner, sentenced to death after the failure of the 1848-49 Revolution and War of Independence, had served seven years penal servitude until the brutal General Haynau suddenly fell out of favour with Francis Joseph. Within a mere four hundred meters from the apartment, Liszt could reach the large concert hall (the Vigadó, still standing today) on the bank of the Danube, and at a similar distance was the National Theatre, which has since been demolished. In the neighbourhood of Liszt's home was the Convent of the Blessed Virgin Mary and also nearby stood the Franciscan Church where Liszt used to go to pray each morning, usually at dawn when only very few people were in the streets, and on these occasions he never failed to give alms to the beggars. Our knowledge of this second apartment is rather poor. It consisted of three rooms with windows overlooking the square and a servant's room. Beside the living quarters there was a large hall used for conservatory concerts; it appears to have been created out of a number of adjoining rooms. Next to the large hall was Liszt's sitting room, then came the dining room and the bedroom-cum-study. The rooms opened into each other, and the sitting room directly into the music hall. Two pianos stood on the podium, most likely sent by Bösendorfer. As to the proportions of the flat, we can only surmise. There was also a piano in the sitting room where Liszt gave lessons to pupils from both Hungary and abroad before and after the Academy of Music had opened. It was in the large hall and the sitting room that a glittering audience crowded into on 15 November 1875 for the inauguration of the Academy of Music by Ferenc Erkel. Erkel had been named Director of the Academy of Music and Liszt President. Liszt loved to retreat to his bedroom-cum-study, with - the doors open - some close friends to play cards. At the dinner for twenty-five he gave in honour of Delibes, a large number of guests busied themselves in the sitting room while Liszt and his closest friends played cards there. Famous musicians and other artists, writers and statesmen trooped through the apartment - Wagner, Wieniawski, Jókai, Bodenstedt, the Royal Steward, and others ranging from the Lord Mayor of Budapest to the Dutch Consul (bearing his sovereign's invitation to Liszt). For six years, to the spring of 1879, this flat was one of the intellectual centres of Budapest when Liszt was in the country. During this time the handsome building designed to be the Academy of Music (and Liszt's finest home) was being built in what was then Sugár street (today's Andrássy street), the finest avenue of the city. Its architect, Adolf Lang, had in 1876 thoroughly examined the Academy rooms in Hal square and no doubt, Liszt's private quarters there as well. Consequently, this, the third of Liszt's Budapest apartments was similar in lay-out to the previous one, but on a larger and more elegant scale. In the autumn of 1879 the academic year began in this new building. On 15 January 1880 Liszt returned from the Villa d'Este in Tivoli. The Ministry of Religion and Public Education had reserved and paid for three rooms in the Hungaria Hotel which were at Liszt's disposal for the rest of the academic year, which he spent in Budapest. He gave his lessons in the hotel for he was told that the walls of his apartment in the new Academy building had not as yet dried.* This, however, was purely an excuse to gain time. All the rooms, apart from Liszt's had been in use since the autumn, and Erkel had already settled into an apartment above Liszt's. The Ministry and, last but not least, Liszt's friends all wanted Liszt's new apartment to be made ready with special care, and this necessitated a great deal of time. The interior design and fittings of this apartment were entrusted to the twenty-three year old Sándor Fellner who, after studying in Paris had returned home in 1879. The extensive work was supervised by him from beginning to end. Liszt's apartment had three rooms and a servant's room. The largest was the salon or sitting room which had two windows and French windows opening onto the balcony. Fellner had it papered peacock-blue and the ceiling decorated with richly painted ornaments in 16th century Renaissance style. The furniture was old oak, which was also the colour of the doors, and the windows were stained. Each piece of furniture, designed by Fellner himself, was strictly in early French Renaissance style (meubles Henri II), but with the innovation that leather was used as well as plush. Four doors opened out of the sitting room, three into his suite and one directly into the concert hall of the Academy of Music. Opposite the windows, bordering the glassed-in veranda stood a marble stove and a bench whose upholstery was cross-stitched in faded green. The centre had a wonderful large carpet - a present from Albert Apponyi, Ödön Mihalovich and Frigyes Harkányi. The fine gas chandelier hanging from the ceiling was also a present, from the Mocsonyi brothers. The two pianos sent by Bösendorfer were on the right, near the windows overlooking Sugár street. Here too was placed the combined harpsichord and harmonium which had been brought from his flat in Hal square. The French Renaissance furniture in Henri II style consisted of four armchairs, two chairs, a straddle-legged stool, an ottoman and a card-table. Two of the armchairs were in brown leather and peacock-blue plush, and two in dark green leather and dark red plush. Peacock-blue plush was used for the upholstery of the stools too, as it was for the straddle-legged stool in brown leather. The card-table (also decorated with dark red plush) was covered in a cloth of exceptional beauty: brown with dark red plush embroidered in Holbein stitches. The ottoman upholstery was brown shot with gold and dark red plush; it had four cushions of which three were dark red and one peacock blue; all of them were satin-stitched. The seats of the two piano stools were of cane inter-woven with silk (as Liszt preferred to play on a cane-seat); both had cross-stitched dark red plush. Both the windows and the French window onto Sugár street were hung with curtains of great originality; they were satin stitched and trimmed in cream leace. All of the embroideries were the work of fifteen ladies. With the exception of the cloth covering the straddle-legged stool (which was designed by Fellner himself), they followed old Hungarian embroidery motifs which the director of the Museum of Applied Arts had taught them. These motifs were very different from those prevailing in fashionable salons in Hungary. The revival of old Hungarian embroidery was taken up by certain high social circles. Fellner had this type of handicraft in mind when designing the furniture, but he managed to avoid the over-use of embroidery. About this time or later two very beautiful cupboards (containing some of Liszt's scores) were presented by Sophie Menter and were among the original pieces in the salon. So too in one corner was a miniature bronze statue of Beethoven which he had received from the Austrian Beethoven Commemorative Committee in token for his concert in Vienna in 1877. The original could not have been commissioned without Liszt generously foregoing a concert fee on that occasion. Among the pictures in the salon were two crayon drawings, illustrations of the Dante Symphony and "St Francis over the Waves," by Gustave Doré. The dining-room (to the right of the sitting room) had less luxury. Its valuables were the fine editions, memorial wreaths and other objects, all kept in two glass-cases. The door out of the dining-room led into the bedroom-study. It had the appearance of a small museum. Liszt's valuable collection of books was kept there. On the desk and on a small table beside it were kept what he needed for correspondence and composing. On the top of the desk, framed portraits and other souvenirs were placed. Above the desk in a niche stood a marble statue of St. Elizabeth of Hungary. On the walls were portraits, landscapes and caricatures. Above the bed a tapestry of great value decorated the wall. Near the bed stood a prayer-stool, on it were presents received from Pope Pius IX in 1869: a prayer-book and a key which secured Liszt's access to the Vatican city. On the prayer-stool also stood some bronze statuettes. There was a piano table from Bösendorfer which had an extendable three-octave keyboard with a very soft tone, and a chaise longue for repose. Returning to the sitting room one could walk directly on to the podium of the concert hall of the new Academy of Music. At first there were two Bösendorfer pianos here, and later a fine piano sent by the American Chickering Company as a gift to Liszt. The work of preparing the apartment was finally concluded by the end of 1880. On 15 January of the new year, Liszt left Rome for Budapest. He broke his journey in Venice, and then came from there through Trieste and Fiume by a direct fast train. The journey took some twenty-nine hours. On his arrival and on the two days following, the apartment was awash with bouquets of flowers. On that very day, January 20th, he wrote to Princess Carolyne Sayn-Wittgenstein: "This morning I arrived. As I did not wish to be of trouble to anyone, I restrained myself and informed no-one as to the day and hour of my arrival. Nevertheless, Zichy and Ábrányi were waiting for me at the station and escorted me to my new lodging, which is decorated in perfect taste. You must surely know from the papers that some ten ladies have decorated my armchairs and divans with beautiful embroidery, in such magnificence that they are worthy even of a prince's palace. Certainly, Balzac would have taken pleasure in describing their monograms, wreaths and symbols. Many friends have presented me with carpets, which are in harmony with the curtains and with the symphonic whole of all the hung and fixed finery. Each of them is surpassed by that most precious and valuable talisman carpet you embroidered in Weimar. (It is on the wall above my bed.) His Eminence Cardinal Hohenlohe's present, a wonderful coverlet with flowers rests on my bed in the day-time. In the sitting room, your lovely china vase decorates the table, a present from Princess Wrede, and is the kind neighbour of your 'Notre Dame de Lourdes' by Lassarre."5 Right up to his death Liszt spent every winter in Sugár street. Of his valuables, quite a number remain with us, the most important being, of course, his scores and books. Some of the rest - on the unfortunate advice of Liszt's legatee, Princess Carolyne Sayn-Wittgenstein - were removed by their donors after Liszt's death. The whereabouts of their descendants is not known nor how many of these valuables now remain after two world wars. It is surely worth every effort to search for them so that they can take their place beside the musical instruments, chairs, armchair, stove-bench, prayer-stool, the collection of scores and books and all the other remaining furnishings of Liszt's apartment, the restoration of which is now, happily, in progress. One of the most valuable composer homes of the 19th century is now being restored, and in all probability will be completed by 1986, the centenary year of Liszt's death. One hopes then that the atmosphere created by the talent of the great man will be restored too, the very atmosphere the young Dohnányi, Bartók and Kodály were steeped in at the beginning of our century, attending their lessons in composition in Liszt's former sitting room. _____________________________________________________ Notes: 1 Csapó: Franz Liszt's Briefe an Baron Anton Augusz, 1911, letter of 27 May 1871, p. 169. 2 ib., dated 20 September 1871, p. 176. Quoted from Legány: Liszt and His Country, 1983. 3 Br. VI, letter of 19 November 1871, p. 314. 4 Br. VII, letter of 31 October 1873, p. 40. Quoted from Legány: Liszt and His Country, 1983. 5 Br. VII, p. 308. Reprinted by kind permission of The New Hungarian Quarterly (first published in Vol. XXV, No. 93, Spring 1984). * Editor's note: Liszt willingly accepted the postponement of his removal to the new building, see his unpublished letter of 13 June 1879 to Amália Fábry (facsimile on p. 94), new acquisition of the museum in 2004 (LM Ep.L. 214).

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