Liszt, Wagner and the Princess

Originally published in 1927, this illuminating study concerns three people, about two of whom much has already been written. The third, Princess Carolyne Sayn-Wittgenstein, has attracted less attention, in spite of her having occupied the greater part of Liszt’s inner life. The Princess in the large sense was an unmusical woman. It is a question whether her influence over Liszt was of a beneficient nature. She interested herself in Berlioz only for the purpose of checkmating Wagner, whom she hated, and thus set Liszt against Wagner whenever possible. The complex relationships of this inscrutable and not altogether scrupulous trio are here considered for the first time in a way which adds much of value to our estimate of the characters of Wagner and Liszt.