It is fitting that the man commonly regarded as history’s greatest piano virtuoso lived through the period of greatest development in piano technology. When Liszt was born in 1811, the instrument was still that of the era of Mozart and Beethoven, with an all-wood frame, parallel strings and leather-covered hammers. By the time of his death in 1886, the piano had essentially reached its present form, with a cast-iron frame, overstringing1 and felt-covered hammers. This metamorphosis rendered the instrument suitable for playing before crowds of thousands rather than hundreds, while mass production brought the piano into millions rather than thousands of homes.