Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
The Hungarian composer and pianist Franz Liszt (1811-1886) showed a gift for the piano as a very young boy and composed his first opera at the age of 14. For more than 10 years he lived in Paris, where he frequented the salons and became friends with Frédéric Chopin, Alfred de Musset, Georges Delacroix, George Sand and Marie d'Agoult, with whom he fathered three children. In the course of his career he taught more than 400 pupils all over Europe before dying in Bayreuth subsequent to a bout of pneumonia contracted at the city's famous opera festival.
