Brahms: 21 Hungarian Dances Woo 1 – Paolo Scafarella

Brahms’ Hungarian Dances are one of the most famous examples of the enthusiasm for Hungarian (or, rather, gipsy) music which took Europe by storm in the eighteenth and nineteenth century. Enthused by the tunes played by violinist Ede Reményi, of whom he was the accompanist for a while, Brahms realized splendid versions of existing and new tunes. His Hungarian Dances thus became his most successful and acclaimed pieces, earning him success and fame. Violinist Joseph Joachim (who had been a fellow student of Reményi under Joseph Böhm) and cellist Alfredo Piatti, the two most celebrated string players of Victorian London, realized transcriptions after Brahms’ Hungarian Dances for their instruments; Piatti’s cello version is a creative interpretation of Brahms’ original, realized with skill, intelligence and brilliancy.