Joseph Lanner: Viennese Dances (2016)

Before the entire Strauss clan, even slightly before Johann Strauss I, who was his chief rival, there was Joseph Lanner. His name is not much known today, but he, more than anyone else, was responsible for taking the waltz from a little-known folk dance into a primary medium of middle-class party interaction in the 19th century in Vienna and beyond. This well-chosen program makes a good place to start with his music. It includes the best-known Lanner number, Die Schönbrunner (track 10) as the finale, as well as the ... Read More

Before the entire Strauss clan, even slightly before Johann Strauss I, who was his chief rival, there was Joseph Lanner. His name is not much known today, but he, more than anyone else, was responsible for taking the waltz from a little-known folk dance into a primary medium of middle-class party interaction in the 19th century in Vienna and beyond. This well-chosen program makes a good place to start with his music. It includes the best-known Lanner number, Die Schönbrunner (track 10) as the finale, as well as the Steyrische Tänze sometimes played on the Vienna Philharmonic's New Year's concert. Prior to that, you get pieces that really show how Lanner remade the waltz and gave it the bit of kick on the second beat that made it so irresistible. Dörner's program also includes other dances of the day, such as the galopp and the then very young polka (the 1842 Hans-Jörgel Polka, track 8, was among the first hits of that still-vital genre). The sound is courtly rather than zippy, and if you favor the... Read Less