After a visit to Birmingham

After a visit to Birmingham, Bache moved to Rome in 1863 and lived there the next two years. While there he received private lessons from Liszt, one of the few pupils thus privileged; most of Liszt's students attended only his master classes. He also heard Liszt play his own music on many occasions in private homes, including a then-rare performance of the Piano Sonata in B minor. Liszt helped him prepare for several public concerts in Rome and encouraged him to learn some difficult pieces that Bache initially felt unable to play; these pieces included Liszt's transcriptions of Gounod's Faust Waltz and Meyerbeer's "Patineurs" Waltz from his opera Le prophète.[16] These lessons, the kindness that Liszt continually showed, and Bache's exposure to Liszt in general, became a life-defining experience.[17][18] Liszt expected him to work hard and Bache applied himself with a purpose to his keyboard studies.[13] The same "musician of high standing" that Constance quotes about Bache's years in Leipzig also states that "there can be no doubt that it was his friendship with Liszt that he owed that enthusiasm and power of sustained hard work which distinguished him during his career in London, and which was often the astonishment of those who had known him in earlier years."[8]web email extractor
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