"Liszt is now [1840] probably about thirty years old. Every one knows
well that he was a child phenomenon; how he was early transplanted to
foreign lands; that his name afterward appeared here and there among
the most distinguished; that then the rumour of it occasionally died
away, until Paganini appeared, inciting the youth to new endeavours; and
that he suddenly appeared in Vienna two years ago, rousing the imperial
city to enthusiasm. Thus he appeared among us of late, already honoured,
with the highest honours that can be bestowed on an artist, and his fame
already established.
"The first concert, on the 17th, was a remarkable one. The multitudinous
audience was so crowded together that even the hall looked altered. The
orchestra was also filled with listeners, and among them--Liszt.
"He began with the Scherzo and Finale of Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony.
The selection was capricious enough, and on many accounts not happy. At
home, in a _tete-a-tete_, a highly careful transcription may lead one
almost to forget the orchestra; but in a large hall, in the same place
where we have been accustomed to hear the symphony played frequently and
perfectly by the orchestra, the weakness of the pianoforte is striking,
and the more so the more an attempt is made to represent masses in their
strength. Let it be understood, with all this, we had heard the master
of the instrument; people were satisfied; they at least, had seen him
shake his mane. To hold to the same illustration, the lion presently
began to show himself more powerful. This was in a fantasia on themes by
Pacini, which he played in a most remarkable manner. But I would
sacrifice all the astonishing, the audacious bravura that he displayed
here for the sake of the magical tenderness that he expressed in the
following etude. With the sole exception of Chopin, as I have already
said, I know not one who equals him in this quality. He closed with the
well-known Chromatic Gallop; and as the applause this elicited was
endless, he also played his equally well-known bravura waltz.
"Fatigue and indisposition prevented the artist from giving the concert
promised for the next day. In the meantime a musical festival was
prepared for him, that will never be forgotten by Liszt himself or the
others present. The giver of the festival (Felix Mendelssohn) had
selected for performance some compositions unknown to his guest: Franz
Schubert's symphony (in C); his own psalm, As the Hart Pants; the
overture, A Calm Sea and a Prosperous Voyage; three choruses from St.
Paul; and, to close with, the D-minor concerto for three pianos by
Sebastian Bach. This was played by Liszt, Mendelssohn, and Hiller. It
seemed as though nothing had been prepared, but all improvised
instantaneously. Those were three such happy musical hours as years do
not always bring. At the end Liszt played alone, and wonderfully.
"Liszt's most genial performance was yet to come--Weber's Concertstueck,
which he played at his second concert. Virtuoso and public seemed to be
in the freshest mood possible on that evening, and the enthusiasm before
and after his playing exceeded anything hitherto known here. Although
Liszt grasped the piece, from the beginning, with such force and
grandeur of expression that an attack on a battle-field would seem to be
in question, yet he carried this on with continually increasing power,
until the passage where the player seemed to stand at the summit of the
orchestra, leading it forward in triumph. Here, indeed, he resembled
that great commander to whom he has been compared, and the tempestuous
applause that greeted him was not unlike an adoring "Vive l'Empereur!"
He then played a fantasia on themes from the Huguenots, the Ave Maria
and Serenade, and, at the request of the public, the Erl-King of
Schubert. But the Concertstueck was the crown of his performances on this
evening."