So it was not surprising that he gave me valuable and greatly needed suggestions in regard to style and the piano itself, for his friendship with Liszt had given him a thorough understanding of the instrument.
I first saw and heard Liszt at Seghers's house.

He had reappeared in Paris after long years of absence, and by that time he had begun to seem almost legendary.

The story went that since he had become chapel-master at Weimar he was devoting himself to grand compositions, and, what appeared unbelievable, "piano music." People who ought to have known that Mozart was the greatest pianist of his time shrugged their shoulders at this.

As a climax it was insinuated that Liszt was setting systems of philosophy to music.
I studied Liszt's works with all the enthusiasm of my eighteen years for I already regarded him as a genius and attributed to him even before I saw him almost superhuman powers as a pianist.

Remarkable to relate he surpassed the conception I had formed.