Schmaltz? Sure, but great schmaltz!

Apfelstrudel, Sachertorte, Waltz, Esterhazytorte — which is the odd one out? Why, Esterhazytorte of course! (They’re all sweet and delicious confections, but Esterhazytorte comes from Budapest.)

The Viennese waltz took the musical world by storm, and it wasn’t just the Strausses and the Lehárs who had a monopoly. Beethoven, Schubert, Weber, Berlioz, Liszt, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Mahler, Puccini, Gounod, Berg, Ravel… the list of composers who, at one time or another, have espoused the waltz is almost endless.

Here’s another (unrelated and non-Viennese) Strauss, intent on taking on the mantle of his distinguished namesakes (and not doing a bad job of it, either)…

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