Music and manners; personal reminiscences and sketches of character

urn:iso:std:iso:639:ed-3:eng

231-232

text excerpt

During Liszt's second visit to St. Petersburg, the Czar Nicholas invited him to a soirée at the Winter Palace, and in the course of the evening personally asked him to play. An imperial request being equivalent to a command, Liszt sat down to the piano and commenced one of his brilliant Hungarian Rhapsodies. The Czar, instead of bestowing that exclusive attention upon the performance to which Liszt was accustomed, and which, in fact, he exacted from his audiences in private as well as in public — no matter of what exalted elements they might happen to be composed— entered into an animated conversation with one of his generals, talking in his usual and by no means subdued tone of voice. Liszt went on playing for a minute or so, at the expiration of which time, seeing that the Emperor was not listening to him, he suddenly came to a full stop, and rose from his seat at the instrument. Tableau! Although he had paid no heed to Liszt's performance, Nicholas Alexandreivich missed the sound of the piano, and sent one of his chamberlains to ask the artist why he had ceased playing — whether he was indisposed or the piano had not been properly tuned. Liszt's steely grey eyes flashed with righteous indignation as he replied: "The Czar well knows that whilst he is speaking every other voice— even that of music — is bound to be mute!" So saying, he turned his back on the astounded official, and abruptly left the room. Everybody present expected that the maestro would receive his passport the first thing on the following morning, with the peremptory order on the part of the Minister of Police to quit Russian territory within four-and-twenty hours. To the surprise of the Court, however, Czar Nicholas took in good part the severe reproof administered to him by the fearless pianist, to whom he sent a costly gift the next day; and ever after, when Liszt's name was mentioned in his presence, spoke of him with cordial admiration as a musician who not only respected himself but had the courage to insist, upon respect being paid to his art, "even" (as the Czar was wont to observe) "by ignorant persons like myself, who know so little about music that they do not deserve that great artists should  waste their time and talents in trying to amuse them." 

excerpt from 'Music and manners; personal reminiscences and sketches of character' pp. 231-232 (401 words)

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1451834982684