José Vianna da Motta

Portuguese composer and pianist José Vianna da Motta was, along with Scotsman Frederic Lamond, the last student to enter Franz Liszt's piano master class in its final season of 1885-1886. His studies began at Lisbon Conservatory, but he transferred to Berlin and studied with Xaver and Philipp Scharwenka. After that came Vianna da Motta's course with Liszt, and when Liszt died during the Bayreuth Festival in the summer of 1886, Vianna da Motta studied one more year with Liszt's favorite pupil, Hans von Bülow. In 1887, Vianna da Motta embarked on an international touring schedul...