Liszt et la France: Musique, culture et société dans l’Europe du XIXesiècle ed. by Malou Haine, Nicolas Dufetel (review)

The bicentenary of Franz Liszt’s birth in 1811 was the occasion for multiple conferences in France. Papers from three conferences contributed to the publication of the present volume. The volume comprises thirty-four articles, twenty-four in French and ten in English; each article has an abstract written in the other language, although several of the abstracts in English are marred by awkward and sometimes confusing syntax and a few ‘Gallicisms’. Contributors represent a broad spectrum: musicologists, musicians, professors and teachers, and librarians; they hail from nine countries: (in order of numbers of contributors) France, USA, Hungary, Italy, Belgium, Canada, UK, Switzerland, and Germany.

The book is divided into seven sections. These sections are not always balanced in numbers and quality of articles. An introductory article by Nicolas Dufetel makes an excellent case for studying Liszt’s ‘French’ period, underscoring the position of Paris on the nineteenth-century music scene. Dufetel recalls Liszt’s role as a sort of ambassador for France—its language, its customs, and what was known as ‘l’esprit français’ (p. 25).

The articles in ‘Politique et mediation culturelle’ (Politics and cultural mediation) delve further into Liszt’s French and especially Parisian forays, both during his early years in the capital and after his departure for Italy, Germany, and Hungary. Serge Gut discusses the role of France in the Franco-German dualism, using mostly biographical retrospectives of Liszt’s travels. Dana Gooley revisits the events surrounding Liszt’s concert year to raise money for a German opera troupe, especially in the light of his support of Georg Herwegh, which was perceived by many to be an anti-French gesture. Heretofore unexamined documents from the secretary of the German troupe prove invaluable here in shedding new light on situation. Kenneth Hamilton’s article admirably follows Gooley’s in addressing criticisms of Liszt’s alliance with Germanic conceptions of progress in musical composition, especially with regard to symphonic music. Criticizing Hanslick’s probable part in this reproach, Hamilton attempts to rectify the lack of recognition of Liszt’s French allegiance, as well as his debt to Hungarian music tradition. Alexander Rehding re-examines Liszt’s essay on Wagner’s music through the lens of the notorious Paris performances of Tannhauuser in 1861, applying the ‘cultural transfer’ methodology of the 1980s and 1990s to French and German reactions amid growing nationalistic tensions. Corinne Schneider considers the difficulty of pinpointing Liszt’s political opinions, given the apparent contradictions of his devotion to early socialist theoreticians (Saint-Simon foremost), his perceived support of the Second Empire, and his close ties with the Vatican. Deploying documents of events and dates of his constant manifestations of loyalty to Hungary, Mária Eckhardt presents Liszt as a mediator between French and Hungarian cultures, especially in light of his simultaneous and equally constant loyalty to his French education.

In ‘Littérature’ (Literature), Emmanuel Reibel undertakes to examine Liszt’s role in the 1830s debate in France over romanticism, an especially difficult task given the paltry occurrence of ‘romantic’ and ‘romanticism’ in Liszt’s writings (articles and correspondence)—the suggestion being that there might have been an attempt to avoid participating directly in the debate. Alban Ramaut looks at Liszt’s intellectual, aesthetic, and spiritual personality in relation to Pierre-Simon Ballanche, a much-neglected relationship in contrast to those with Saint-Simon and Lamennais. Personal correspondence, Lettres d’un bachelier ès musique, as well as his music, underpin this article. Michelle Biget-Mainfroy examines representations of Liszt during the July Monarchy. Through the writings of Berlioz and Wilhelm von Lenz, she investigates what she sees as Liszt’s influence in matters of the virtuosic in various literary works, notably those by Balzac and Marie d’Agoult. Adrienne Kaczmarczyk takes on the rarely noted influence of Graeco-Latin literature on...