Imre Széchényi (1825-98) was a Hungarian diplomat and composer noted for his dance music–you know, sort of like Johann Strauss, Jr and that crowd. The music on this disc consists of polkas and mazurkas (and sometimes both combined), arranged in miniature suites of three movements each. The final dance in each set is the longest: indeed those in the Seventh and Eighth Suites run to eight and seven minutes respectively, and the care with which each suite was assembled says something about the high level of craftsmanship we can expect.
Not that the music is all that serious. Some of the titles are humorous: Polka prétentieuse and Neige (Snow)-Polka, for example, and of course there’s a Polka hongroise. The tunes are charming, often a touch exotic, and the scoring bright and perky. The performances under conductor Valéria Csányi have plenty of verve–not that the music poses any particular interpretive challenges. But give Csányi credit for keeping rhythms sharp, and tempos flowing naturally. The engineering could be a bit brighter on top, but otherwise serves the music with warmth and clarity. A nice little discovery, this.
