Lord knows, there have been plenty of eyerolling movies about classical musicians, especially classical music composers. How many times have I seen Liszt portrayed (by Dirk Bogarde, Henry Daniell, Julian Sands, Roger Daltrey, etc.)? Sometimes, these historical figures are played by actual musicians (Gustav Leonhardt as Bach, Gidon Kremer as Paganini; there was even talk at one point about Leonard Bernstein playing Tchaikovsky, with Greta Garbo as Nadezhda van Meck!), but can even the most skilled virtuoso, or maestro, as the case may be, ever live up to accrued legend?

I know I’ve posted a link to the Leonhardt Bach film here in the past (“The Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach,” 1968). Now, on the anniversary of the birth of Franz Liszt – the progenitor of the piano recital, the creator of the symphonic poem, and perhaps the greatest pianist in an era teeming with great pianists – is footage of one of his most renowned interpreters, Sviatoslav Richter, portraying Liszt in a Soviet film about Mikhail Glinka.

Can even Richter live up to the legend? See for yourself in this clip from “The Composer Glinka” (1952).

BONUS SECTION:

Henry Daniell, one of Hollywood’s most supercilious villains, as Liszt in “Song of Love” (1947)

Roger Daltrey as the Abbé Liszt, in cassock, having his blood sucked by vampire Wagner in Ken Russell’s “Lisztomania” (1975)

Corny Hungarian peasant sequence with Dirk Bogarde as Liszt in “Song without End” (1960)

Frustration of the day: only 60 seconds of Richter playing Liszt’s Piano Sonata in B minor

Richter talks about the Liszt sonata, with more footage from the same read-through

Richter playing the complete work in concert (audio only)

Figurative laurels for Franz Liszt (1811-1886) on his birthday!