As it is universally admitted by members of the craft that Liszt has been, for at least fifty years of his life, pre-eminent amongst pianoforte players in interpretation, execution and improvisation alike, there is, I think, abundant justification for the belief I have entertained ever since I first heard him perform — namely, that he is in all respects the greatest pianist who ever lived. This, moreover, was Kichard Wagner's opinion of him. Wagner, who was not given to hero-worship, and whose capacity for enthusiasm was always kept under control by his critical faculty, frequently confessed that words failed him to express his wondering admiration of the gift that enabled Liszt to invest himself with the personality of whatsoever composer whose works he might be engaged in rendering.