Franz Liszt's piano

At the centre of the lunette is Franz Liszt’s piano. The Hungarian composer received this instrument as a gift from Steinway & Sons. In a letter he wrote to the
makers in 1883, he expressed his enthusiasm: “a glorious masterpiece in power, sonority, singing quality and perfect harmonic effects”. The piano was then
given to his granddaughter, Daniela von Bülow, who brought it to Villa Cargnacco on lake Garda. When the Italian state sequestered the villa and
presented it to Gabriele D’Annunzio with the new name of Vittoriale, the instrument went with it. Only after a long legal wrangle and the death of
D’Annunzio, did Daniela von Bülow regain possession of the piano. She presented it to the museum where it is still on display, looking splendid after its recent
painstaking restoration.