Thuringian cities celebrate a great composer from 4 to 9 June 2025
More than ten years after the start of this undoubtedly extraordinary festival, this major collaborative project following on from the Liszt anniversary year 2011 is once again bringing together more than a dozen organisers throughout Thuringia as independent partners in a coordinated effort. We hope for your interest and participation.
And we wish you heart-warming experiences.
The man was a star. And he was a believer, writing not only piano music but also great sacred works. Franz Liszt usually went on tour with several grand pianos and a large crucifix in his carriage. He was the first international pianist ever. Women loved him. He came from Hungary, was a cosmopolitan, an educated citizen and donated part of his income to good causes...
Sometimes he felt like a trained poodle. "Stylistically speaking, Liszt was a chameleon," says Prof Dr Wolfram Huschke, Liszt expert and former rector of the Franz Liszt School of Music in Weimar. And in an almost postmodern way: "The man constantly reshaped his own works." A personality ahead of his time?
The piano musician and composer Franz Liszt arrived in Weimar in 1848. Here, on the Ilm, people were urgently looking for a worthy replacement for Schiller and Goethe and found him in Liszt. There he was, cultural input in a class of its own. The people of Weimar were happy. And so was Liszt. He enjoyed the tranquillity of the small town, the recognition, the steadiness of his new existence - and created the majority of his works in Thuringia.
Incidentally, the piano world back then looked very different to ours. Do you know any piano maker other than Steinway? Exactly. Back then there were Èrards, Boisselots, Broadwood & Sons. Each manufacturer produced instruments with an unmistakable sound. The music of the Hungarian Franz Liszt changed with the development of piano-making technology. From a mobile phone bone with an aerial to an iPhone within a few years - Franz Liszt must have experienced something similar in the 19th century.
3 June 2025, 7.30 pm, Coudray-Kirche Rastenberg
Music by Fanz Liszt, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy and improvisations
4 June 2025, 7.30 pm, Staatstheater Meiningen, main theatre
music by Franz Liszt, Igor Stravinsky (Palm Symphony) and Maurice Ravel (Daphnis et Chloé)
4 June 2025, 6.30 pm, music grammar school of Weimar, Belvedere Palace
4 June 2025, 6 pm, Sondershausen Palace, octagonal building
Music by Ferrucchio Busoni (Bercuse élégiaque), Franz Liszt (piano concerto No. 1) and Richard Wagner (symphony in C major)
5 June 2025, 6 pm, Schloss Elisabethenburg, marble hall
Nike Wagner: "The Wagners and Liszt - a via crucis or grand galopp?" (German)
Nejc Kamplet: piano pieces by Liszt, Brahms and Ravel
Free entrance, reservation recommended
5 June 2025, 7.30 pm, Kulturhaus Gotha
"Liszt, Chopin and Beethoven – Landscapes of the Soul"
5 June 2025, 7.30 pm, Herz Jesu Kirche Weimar
Organ improvisations on themes by Franz Liszt,
Franz Liszt: Ave Maria; Via crucis
5 June 2025, 8 pm, Volkshaus Jena
Music by Andrea Lorenzo-Scartazzini and Gustav Mahler (8th symphony)
6 June 2025, 7.30 pm, Staatstheater Meiningen, main theatre
Franz Liszt: music for piano - solo / piano concerto Nr. 1 / Les Préludes
Mariam Batsashvili (piano), GMD Kilian Farrell (conductor)
6 June 2025, 7 pm, Music and Art School of Jena, main theatre
piano music by Franz Liszt and contemporaries
6 June 2025, 7:30 pm, Landestheater Eisenach
"Liszt, Chopin and Beethoven – Landscapes of the Soul"
7 June 2025, 7.30 pm, Meininger Stadtkirche
Free entrance, donations requested
7 June 2025, 11.00 am, Liszt-Haus Weimar
Music by Franz Liszt, Frédéric Chopin and Ludwig van Beethoven / Premier Students Piano Classes of Franz Liszt Music Highschool, Weimar
7 June 2025, 7.30 pm, Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar
Music by Hector Berlioz, Marie Jaéll and Franz Liszt
8 June 2025, 11.00 am, Villa Strupp / Max Reger Conservatory of Music / concert hall “Fritz Steinbach" in Meiningen
Soloist: Andrey Doynikov (piano)
8 June 2025, 11.00 am, Heizhaus Altenburg
Chamber concert of Theatre Altenburg-Gera
8 June 2025, 7 pm, Staatstheater Meiningen, main theatre
Hector Berlioz: overture of "Benvenuto Cellini"
Marie Jaell: piano concerto No. 1
Franz Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsodies
8 June 2025, 7:30 pm, Predigerkirche Erfurt
Compositions by Franz Liszt a.o.
9 June 2025, 11.15 am, Schloss Elisabethenburg, marble hall
Chamber music with the Davidoff Trio
Johannes Wendel (violin), Christoph Lamprecht (violoncello), Yona Sophia Jutzi (piano)
Entrance: 10€ (reduced fee 8€)
9 June 2025, 5 pm, Church of Denstedt
Music by Franz Liszt, Frédéric Chopin, César Frankc, John E. West and Michael von Hintzenstern (premiere)
9 June 2025, 5 pm, Wandelhalle Bad Liebenstein
Thuringian Philharmonic Orchestra Gotha-Eisenach
Entrance: 35 €
Tickets online available here, at Tourist Information Bad Liebenstein or at the box office in Wandelhalle Bad Liebenstein
The latest news from Thuringia as a travel destination.
From 4 to 9 June 2025, Thuringia will be celebrating its great European composer Franz Liszt under the motto ‘Landscapes of the Soul’. Since 2025, this festival of 19th century music has been taking place with the Franz Liszt Foundation at many Thuringian venues.
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