Published on Franz Liszt Group, on April 27, 2021. If you want to know how the Story Behind series started, I give details in “Story Behind” Series #1″.
Original post:
No quote, just the picture and the following mention:
Franz Liszt, Paris, 1866 (Pierre Petit)
Story behind:
For those who are interested, here is the story behind this picture. In March 1866, Liszt was in Paris. He allowed three photographers to take some pictures of him in their respective studios: Ferdinand Mulnier, Erwin Hanfstaengl (known as Erwin, brother of Franz Hanfstaengl and uncle of Edgar Hanfstaengl, who both also took pictures of Liszt) and Pierre Petit. I find the shots taken by Erwin and Pierre Petit quite similar, but Liszt looks very serious (as usual) in the shots taken by Erwin and a bit more relaxed in the ones taken by Pierre Petit. Both took series of pictures, and in the few that we know, Pierre Petit succeeded in taking this one that we see right now, in which he is looking at the camera. He is usually looking right or left but never in the photographer’s direction. As for the relaxed position, here is another photograph taken by Pierre Petit in the same 1866 series. That’s what I mean by “a little more relaxed” 🙂
