Enesco: Romanian Rhapsody No. 2 / Brahms: Hungarian Dances; Variations on a Theme of Haydn

This is the finest performance of the complete Hungarian Dances. Antal Dorati, a Hungarian himself and a specialist in dance music, handles each of these jewels with just the right combination of rhythmic control and schmaltz. Brahms orchestrated only a few of them; the remainder were done by friends (Dvorák included) or commissioned by various music publishers to fill out the complete set. In this respect, they are less substantial than Dvorák's two sets of Slavonic Dances, which they in turn inspired. If you know only No. 5, or perhaps No. 1, then you owe it to yourself to hear this delightful collection. --David Hurwitz