Leo Strauss

The Lehar hits are a predictable overture/waltz selection, but the performances by Janos Sandor and the Budapest Philharmonic are ideal, ablaze with color and striking rhythmic elasticity (the Budapest rubato is more daring than the Viennese). Sandor programs the standalone concert-waltz masterpiece GOLD UND SILBER as well as rarer selections from FRASQUITA and EVA, and in the PAGANINI extract there's a stellar violin solo played by Istvan Tamas. These performances are so wholly within the authentic Lehar idiom that I rank them alongside the reference standards conducted by Paulik, Boskovsky and Lehar himself. Sandor (1933-2010), it turns out, was born to do this.