Klaus Döring's Classical Music/Klaus Döring's Klassische Musik

by G eorg Predota Franz Liszt, 1858 Enjoying the shores of Lake Como with  Marie d’Agoult  in 1837, Franz Liszt (1811-1886) immersed himself in a close reading of Dante’s  Divine Comedy . The idea of composing a symphony to Dante’s Divine Comedy, one that would combine music, poetry and the visual arts, gradually took shape. Initially, Liszt suggested that the performance might be accompanied by the projection of lanternslides, showing scenes painted by Bonaventura Genelli. Apparently, he even considered “the use of an experimental wind machine at the end of the first movement to evoke the winds of Hell.” Dante and His Poem  by Domenico di Michelino In the event, in June 1855, Liszt wrote to his future son-in-law  Richard Wagner . “So you are reading Dante. He’s good company for you, and I for my part want to provide you with a kind of commentary on that reading. I have long been carrying a Dante Symphony around in my head – this year I intend to ...