Franz Liszt Archives » Voices of British Ballet

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Franz Liszt (1811-1886). Austrian composer and musician
Franz Liszt was an Austrian composer and virtuoso pianist. He studied piano with Carl Czerny, but did not attend higher education, instead learning from the influence of his friends and colleagues, Hector Berlioz, Nicolai Paganini and Frédéric Chopin. His piano works are uniquely virtuosic and dramatic, and served as a perfect inspiration for Kenneth MacMillan when he created Mayerling in 1978. His music also influenced the choreographer Frederick Ashton, who created Mephisto Waltz, Apparitions, Dante Sonata and Marguerite and Armand to compositions by Liszt.

Timeline Event » 1971 – Premiere of Peter Darrell’s Othello by New London Ballet

In 1971 Peter Darrell took Shakespeare’s tragedy and conceived Othello, a powerful and dramatic one-act ballet for New London Ballet. It was later performed by Scottish Ballet in 1978. The...

Timeline Event » 1978 – Premiere of Kenneth MacMillan’s Mayerling by The Royal Ballet

With his fourth three-act ballet, Mayerling, Kenneth MacMillan cemented his legacy for reinvigorating the full-length narrative ballet for the modern age. Mayerling, first performed by The Royal...