Absolutely yummy! Brahms orchestrated only a handful of his ever-popular Hungarian Dances. His friend Dvorák did a few more, and the rest exist in a variety of versions by a variety of arrangers. Conductor Iván Fischer has undertaken this job himself in several cases, with really impressive results. His solos and cadenzas for traditional instruments (Gypsy fiddle and cimbalom) sound perfectly idiomatic and tasteful, and his conducting manages to put some of the paprika back into the music without ever making it sound vulgar or mannered. For example, in the most popular dance of them all, No. 5, Fischer’s alternation of strings and winds gives the music the necessary freshness and bounce while allowing the conductor to take a slower tempo than most. The result is at once warmer and more exotic than usual, with less of those “oompah” rhythms that can make playing a large batch of these pieces so monotonous. There isn’t a dull moment anywhere here. The rich, well balanced sonics delight the ear as much as the music itself. There is no better version of these pieces currently available.
