The dissemination and reception of Liszt's piano music in New York, 1835--1875

The piano music of Franz Liszt, introduced to American audiences by European virtuosos, was performed frequently in New York between 1835 and 1875. The appeal of the European-bred romantic artist led to performances in the United States by a swarm of piano virtuosos; Liszt himself never came to the United States, and yet Americans became fascinated with his piano music, persona, and performance style. American audiences soon became obsessed with virtuosity, and Liszt's early reputation in America was that of a performer and composer of virtuosic music.; Characteristics of America's cultural life influenced how Liszt's virtuosic piano music was disseminated and received, from the thriving economy that provided more concert venues and audience members to the expanding music journalism that allowed Americans to be aware of artistic activities in Europe. Liszt's music fit in with many of the facets of the New York musical scene: Italian opera, virtuosic repertoire, the piano, as well as curiosity about all things European, and a new fascination with celebrities.; New York's concert life was inundated with pianists who traveled from Europe to find success in a country in which virtuosity had not yet reached the saturation point that it had in their native land. Nearly every one of these pianists who included repertoire in addition to their own music on programs featured repertoire by Liszt, often selecting it for their American debut. Thus the appropriation of Liszt's music was a way for a virtuoso pianist to establish his or her reputation, and these virtuosos were important disseminators of Liszt's music.; Liszt, through the transmission of his music and through European criticism, became an exotic and even legendary figure to American audiences. Thus he was important to the nineteenth-century American musical milieu, influencing how the new "romantic" artist was perceived and contributing to the phenomenon of the piano virtuoso in America.