In 1869 Johannes Brahms achieved great success with his two collections of Hungarian Dances for Piano Four Hands, which were published by the Hungarian publisher Simrock. However, this success also led to envy. For example, the Hungarian violinist Eduard Remény accused Brahms of plagiarism. What was going on? Brahm's career as a pianist had once begun rather insignificantly in the brothels of
… Hamburg. His concert tours with the aforementioned Eudard Remény were already a huge improvement in that regard. Remény, who had once fled to Hamburg because of the political troubles of 1848, used to improvise in Hungarian style during these concerts. When Brahms achieved so much success with his Hungarian Dances some 20 years later, Remény accused him of having Brahms stealing melodies from him. Remény was right too. On the other hand, however, Brahms had never claimed that his Hungarian Dances were original compositions. The manuscript therefore mentions 'gesetzt von Johannes Brahms' instead of 'Komponiert von Johannes Brahms'. The Belgian pianists Steven & Stijn Kolacny are very active in this infectious music. The two brothers previously received a Diapason d'or and a Listen 10 for their CD Antonin Dvorak: From the Bohemian Forest. (HJ) From the Bohemian Forest. (HJ) From the Bohemian Forest. (HJ)more