He was taken to Liszt in 1876, as a boy of fourteen, and he remained at the centre of
Liszt’s circle until Liszt’s death. Rosenthal enjoyed special privileges as a Liszt pupil
and Liszt often gave him private lessons at the Villa d’Este in Tivoli, near Rome, when
Liszt stayed there. As Liszt’s pupil Rosenthal made appearances in St Petersburg and
Paris.
In 1880 Rosenthal qualified to take the course in philosophy at the University of Vienna
and on completion, six years later, he resumed his piano career, achieving success in
Leipzig, England and the United States. In collaboration with Ludvig Schytte he
published a ‘School of Advanced Piano Playing’ in Berlin in 1892. He performed Liszt’s
Sonata in the early years of the twentieth century. He was appointed Kammervirtuose to
the Emperor of Austria in 1912 and was guest professor at the Curtis Institute in 1928.
He played a golden jubilee recital in New York in 1938 and settled there until his death.
From 1939 he taught in his own piano school in New York, assisted by his wife, the
concert pianist Hedwig Kanner-Rosenthal. By that time he had given about 4,000
concerts including many hundreds of works. He wrote virtuoso transcriptions for his own
use. Most critics wrote of his perfect execution and style, and throughout his career he
was respected and admired for his general culture and wit as well as for his piano playing.
The noted pianist and musicologist Charles Rosen was one of his pupils and he relates
several anecdotes about Rosenthal in his book ‘Piano Notes: The World of the Pianist’.
Rosenthal issued an edition of the Liszt Sonata and made Liszt discs but did not make
any Liszt rolls. He never recorded the Sonata.
Rosenthal wrote: ‘How did Liszt play? Like no one before him, and probably like no
one after him. When I was still a boy and went to see him in Rome for the first time, he
used to play for me in the evening for hours on end – nocturnes by Chopin, his own
études – everything he played had a gentle dreamlike quality, and I was astonished at the
fabulous delicacy and perfection of his touch. The ornaments were as delicate as a
spider’s web or the veins in precious lace. After what I heard in Vienna I thought no
fingerwork could surprise me any longer, since I had, after all, studied with Joseffy, the
greatest master of this art. But Liszt was more marvellous than anyone else I have heard,
and there were other surprises too which he had up his sleeve.
I spent ten years with him and flatter myself that I really got to know him. I may say that
I have never met so noble and kind-hearted a man. The whole world knows of his
willingness to help struggling and aspiring artists, and of his inclination to work for
charitable ends. And when has there ever been a friend like him? For Liszt the
composer my love is just as great. Even in his less significant works the stamp of genius
is evident.’
Anton Rubinstein was the first pianist I heard in public recital who used the pedal
correctly. He originated the “syncopated pedal”. Every amateur knows today that the
keys and pedal are not to be struck simultaneously. The tone is kept flowing by applying