28. Pianistic Zenith

Solo music for keyboard instruments gradually found its way into listeners’ hearts starting at least in the 16th century – by the 18th century it was already very fashionable, and in the 19th century it reached the absolute peak of its popularity. Pianists, especially virtuoso composers, achieved star status. Perhaps the most striking example of such a figure was Franz Liszt, whose wild career inspired director Ken Russell to portray him in a film as if he were a 20th-century rock star. It was also, of course, considered proper to count Frédéric Chopin among one’s acquaintances and invite him over if one wished to host a fashionable salon. Liszt and Chopin were, in fact, often compared – the former was said to be the devil, the latter an angel of the piano. During his tour of North America, Paderewski could afford to travel in luxury – not only in his own rail car, but one equipped with a Steinway piano, as he had a contract with the company. We remember Johannes Brahms as a concert pianist with slightly less certainty only because he pursued a multifaceted career – he conducted, he administered... Although we associate the idolization of virtuosos primarily with the 19th century, its origins can be traced back even further. Johann Sebastian Bach was valued during his lifetime as a magnificent organist, organ builder, and organ expert, and he himself traveled to sometimes distant cities to listen to other masters. Domenico Scarlatti, on the other hand, took part in a truly romantic event in Baroque Rome – a duel with George Frideric Handel. Although the Italian lost in the organ category, the harpsichord category ended in a tie.

– Dominika Micał (pisanezesluchu.pl)