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Count Imre Széchényi of Sárvár-Felsővidék moved in the highest echelons of the Austrian diplomatic service, in a career that ran parallel with his musical activities. Széchényi’s dances, all but three of which were composed in St Petersburg, were popular in his day, and of a quality that saw them placed in concert programmes by his friend Johann Strauss II. Appearing here in their première recordings, they reveal a brilliant collection of mazurkas and polkas with a keen sense of humour and deep feeling in their arching musical brush strokes and romantic melodies. |
