Carl Filtsch was an Austrian pianist and composer, born on May 28, 1830, in Sebeș near Sibiu. From the age of three, he studied piano with his father, a Lutheran pastor. In 1837, he was sent to Vienna to study music with Friedrich Wieck.
Filtsch gave his first concert in 1841 at the Vienna Music Society, then toured Hungary and Transylvania. In December 1842, he moved to Paris, where he became Frédéric Chopin’s favorite and most accomplished student. Franz Liszt also spoke enthusiastically of him. In 1843, Filtsch performed in Paris, London, Brussels, Germany, and Austria.
Tuberculosis interrupted his touring. In early 1844, doctors sent him to Venice for treatment with sea bathing. That summer he gave his final concerts in Vienna and Transylvania, then returned to Venice, where he died on May 11, 1845, aged 14. He was buried on the island cemetery of San Michele.
Filtsch began composing, in part through his tendency to improvise in concerts, but wrote relatively little and some of his music was lost. Nine works survive, including “Farewell from Venice,” written in Venice. Pianist Leonhard Westermayr recorded Filtsch’s music. Since 1995, an annual competition for young pianists named after Filtsch has been held in his birthplace, Sibiu; its required program includes his works.