Brahms had long been immersed in the folk traditions and spirit of Hungary’s musical repertoire, not least through the famous violinist Ede Reményi, for whom he played as piano accompanist. Brahms employed melodies that he had heard, as well as those based on sheet music, and in this album his Hungarian Dances are presented alongside their source material and variants, as well as some elements that Brahms omitted from his settings. Contextualised in this way, the heroic strength and dynamism, as well as the melancholy of the Dances can be heard as never before.

Soprano Adrienn Miksch has won many prestigious singing competitions, as well as The Wilde Award for Best Performer of the Year, two Artisjus awards, and the Mihály Székely Plaque of the Hungarian State Opera. She has performed internationally in venues such as Carnegie Hall and Festival Hall, Osaka, and opera houses around the world. Miksch has given the premieres of works by numerous contemporary composers, and appeared on various recordings including Dohnányi: A Tenor, Dohnányi: Tante Simona and Erkel: György Dózsa.