How did a village boy become the Franz Liszt? The childhood of Franz Liszt in Austria’s Burgenland region is the focal point of this episode of “Stories from Austria”. The film examines the key locations of his childhood as they are now and discovers an amazing continuity of artisanry, agriculture and music. This makes it easy to obtain a sense through the fi lm of an attitude to life that cannot be so very far away from the impressions formed by the young Franz Liszt. It offers a glimpse of the beauties of his small world through a child’s eyes: the land is vast, the castle is home to a prince, the music is played by gypsies and their wives foretell the future. Every brushmaker is a wizard, every animal a friend, every sound an enticement. But above all this is a musical fi lm. At the heart of it is the eleven-year-old prodigy, Oskar Weihs. Among other things, he plays excerpts from the piano works of Ferdinand Ries, Joseph Haydn, Johann Sebastian Bach and in a very special setting, Franz Liszt‘s fi rst composition. Added to this are gypsy music by Janoska and Ciganski Diabli and from Mosa Sisic, excerpts from Haydn’s ‘Stabat Mater’, performed in Esterhazy Palace, and time and again, Franz Liszt. A film to listen to, watch and marvel at – HOW FRANZ BECAME LISZT!