Franz Liszt

Franz Liszt was the first modern superstar performer. Born in Raiding, Hungary, in 1811, he became the most famous pianist in Europe, and audiences responded with a frenzy the press called Lisztomania. He essentially invented the solo piano recital: one performer, alone on stage, playing entire concerts from memory, with the piano turned sideways so the audience could watch his hands.

At 35 he walked away from touring. As music director in Weimar he championed other composers and developed the symphonic poem, a single-movement orchestral work that tells a story or paints a scene. Later he moved to Rome, took minor religious orders, and spent his last decades between Rome, Weimar, and Budapest, teaching generations of pianists for free.

Start with the Piano Concerto no. 1 in E flat major, then dip into Années de pèlerinage, his "years of pilgrimage" travel diary for solo piano.