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A cold winter's day in Sopron
Sopron (Hungary)
Mary's Column (Sopron, Hungary)
Sopron (Hungary)Sopron and Liszt Ferenc
Every town must have its connections with a famous son or daughter and in Sopron's case the chosen son is the composer and pianist Franz Liszt. There are references to him all over town particularly at the Liszt Ferenc Cultural and Conference Centre and at the Storno House on Fo ter. The cultural centre claims to stand where Liszt used to perform and I wonder if it was on this spot ( obviously in another building ) that he gave what was reputed to be his first concert in Sopron at the age of 9. The Storno House reminds us that Liszt played there twice in 1840 and 1881 but it would have to be said that an examination of Liszt's biography shows fairly tenuous connections with Sopron and Hungary in general. He was born in the then village of Doborjan, outside Sopron and now, Raiding in Austria. He moved to Paris with his parents at the age of 11 and while he always considered himself to be Hungarian, he admitted that he could only barely speak the language. Still he did compose all those Hungarian Rhapsodies and the people of Sopron are adamant that he's one of their own.
