Imre Széchényi (1825-1898) composed throughout his life – even though he really and truly had many other things to do. After diplomatic missions to Rome, Stockholm, Brussels, Paris, and St Petersburg he represented the interests of the Habsburg monarchy as the Austro-Hungarian ambassador in imperial Berlin.

Bismarck’s famous and notorious Alliance of the Three Emperors bears Széchényi’s signature, and he played a significant role at the Berlin Conference on the Congo. His international experience is also reflected in his songs, which on this rewarding new release are now certainly being heard for the first time in very many years.

Accompanied by Helmut Deutsch on the venerable “Manfred Bürki” Steinway D, Katharina Ruckgaber and Jochen Kupfer once again bring these wonderful songs to life. Whether alone or in a duet, the manifold influences in Széchényi’s musical language distinguished by internationalism invite us to discover familiar things in surprising things.