Emmerich Kálmán (1882-1953) abandoned his ambition to become a concert pianist to compose highly successful operettas. Born in Hungary, he emigrated to America. A contemporary of Bartók and Kodály in Budapest, he was taken up by Richard Tauber, whose recording of
Was weiss ein nie geküsster Rosenmund, with its daringly extreme rubato was the inspiration for this transcription. Here Hough makes one sound melt – rather than merely join or elide – with another, a transcending quality that too often divides both singers and string players from pianists.
from notes by Bryce Morrison © 1999
