The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1875-10-03

MASTER. ana Wueu ne QuIotly Icit tuo Iootu
we all looked blsnkly and tearfully at eacf
other, and said no word. I have no doub
that many will call this ga scene;" but unles
one has been in the presence of List, or seel
the absolute sway over those with whom b.
comes in contact, one can not realize it. An
too enthusiastic Then, what do you thinl
of those ladies who. have heard, rushed
to the public table after he had breakfasted, t.
secure the coffee-grounds in the bottom of nj:
Guy?
have very pleasant recollections of hin
during one or two of his visits to Florence
when he was gay and amiable and ready tc
enchant us with his divine playing. 1t was
on one of these occasions that 1 extracted
from him the promise of sending me the
photograph of his house, which he accord.
ingly fulfilled, with the additional favor oil
his autograph upon the door, which had not
dreamed of asking for. I never remember
him to have been disagreeable but once, and
| then he was very trying. 1t was on one of
his visits to Madame L She sent me word
unexpectedly one day that "His Majesty "
had arrived, and begged me to make my
appearance at once. I fairly few to the
house, and could scarcely speak when l en-
tered the drawing-room. But no Liszt didsI
see. He had just gone to his room. While 1
waited for his temperance, several other
anxious mortals came in, having also been in
vited to meet the great man. But, alas !!
something had gone wrong; he was in bad
humor, and the demon side of him had
cropped out suddenly. Whatever it was, be
came not, although every subterfuge was en-
ployed to entice him from his lair. Madame
L. made young pupil Of hers play one of his
own works upon the piano, but he pretended
not to hear it, and remained obstinately shut
up. How enraged we all were, and how de-
jectedly we took our departure
have never heard him play in public. but
am told that he has been known to impro-
wise at the end OF a concert. while the audi
ence were entirely ignorant of the fact, sup
posing it o regular part of the programme pre-
pared beforehand. Are there two in the
world who could do such a thing? 1 think
but none, l think, who have the audacity to
do 80 at pubic concert, and the capability
of carrying it out faultlessly. I have exagger-
ated not one point in what have written.
My feelings are a mere echo of all who have
heard him; and say most emphatically, he
is man who stands alone in the world.
My original idea was to have written of
List alone, but l can not refrain from adding
a few words about Won Bulow, who is SO soon
to appear among us, and who in Europe is
generally looked upon as the greatest living
musical artist-always, of course, excepting
List.
l met him in Florence, whittier he had gone
for change of sc enc after his domestic trials.
The poor man was completely broken down
and intensely nervous-at the same time
very irritable and hard to deal with. This,
at least, heard from his intimate friends.
Ny own experiences with him were always of
the most gratifying nature Madame L., who
hoI hin, rro1I for (thay
we're children together), had good
influence over him - and she and l
used often to put our heads together. and
darby scheme for means to amuse him, and
keep his mind off the one painful subject
that was ever present to him. We were, as a
general rule, successful in our little artiices
for he had, to great degree, that excitability
SO frequently accompanying genius At times
he was like child, almost, in his enjoyment
Of trifes He was very fond of kittens and
would amuse himself intensely with them.
Knowing this, Nine. L. presented him with
one to which he became much attached, gave
it some outlandish name and title, and had its
cards printed, name, title and address in full,
to send to ultimate friends.
We had good deal of amusement out of it,
and rung the changes on the kitten joke.
Among other things, he had asked me several
times for my Photographic; but having none, l
had put him off. One day, however, we were
both dining with Madame L., when l took
the occasion to slip into the dining room be-
for dinner was served, and put under his
napkin the photograph of large cat. then
told him that during dinner intended pre-
senting him with the long promised picture
of myself. When the denouement came, we
had good laugh, and it helped once more to
cheer fundamentally. 1 must say, /
thought it very weak joke on my part but
he was much pleased, and seemed to think it
full of esprit.
He is man of unu,ua intelligence in other
ways than that of music He is very quick at
catching up foreign language, and speaking
it fluently. He had been in Florence but
very few weeks when he began to speak Ital-
ian with great ease-not always grammatical
ly. of course, but quite intelligibly and flu
emily. This was in great measure owing to
his love of information and adventure. His
delight was in proving about town, finding
out places and people for himself, and they
say that in few weeks he had found out and
knew more about Florence than some of the
old Florentines. Naturally man of that dis
position must be full of amusing expert
ence; and, indeed, when he was in
a happy vein, he would string off anec-
dote after anecdote full of cleverness and fun.
he Is VI ulSa 1auuHy, hnA LIS moeAoi, L
believe, was not all pleased at the life he
chose to adopt. He manifested his love of
music at the age of eight. He told me that
during a sickness of two or three days, his
mother, to amuse him and keep him quiet,
had given him music to copy. This taught
him his notes, and at that time his musical
career began.
He has to wonderful degree the faculty of
imparting his knowledge, and of interesting
his pupils. know that /, who am ordinarily
The LATEST of mortals, used to practice while
under his tuition six or seven hours a day,
and then left the piano only because some
imperative duty called me away, and would
ong for the time when should again be able
% resume my studies.
While giving a lesson, he walks up and
lown the room, rarely approaching the
piano, never sitting; but SO quick is his ear to
letect, not an inaccurate note, for that speaks |
or itself, but the slightest want of smooth |
hess, that he knows, without seeing, what |
niger you have used on any particular note,
md pounces upon you at once. He will call
rom the other end of the room, "Why did |
'ou put you third finger On such a note ?"
md it would be entirely useless to try to de-
,eive him. He would knolo it to be the third
- L