Patrik Proško

The anamorphic portrait of Hungarian composer and piano virtuoso Ferenc Liszt (1811–1886) is conceived as an image of the entire process through which music comes into being. The starting point is not only the composer himself, but the journey from the initial idea through musical notation and the making of instruments to the performance of the finished work before an audience. The installation therefore creates the setting of a concert stage with a black velvet curtain decorated with the historical coats of arms of Budapest. Inside Liszt’s head is a piano more than a century old, representing the composer’s mind. Around it appear musical scores, instruments in various stages of construction, their individual components, and finally the orchestra ready to bring the music to life. Almost exclusively historical musical instruments and objects corresponding to Liszt’s era are used. Their material, patina and craftsmanship create a visually unified world while also evoking the many individual professions and processes without which a musical work cannot come into being. The resulting portrait therefore does not depict a single moment, but spatially connects several stages of the creative process — the idea, notation, instrument, performer and resulting musical experience.