Hungarian Rhapsodies virtuoso pianist as well as a composer). Liszt incorporated many themes he had heard in his native western Hungary and which he believed to be folk music, though many were in fact tunes written by members of the Hungarian upper middle class, or by composers such as József Kossovits, often played by Roma (Gypsy) bands. The large scale structure of each was influenced by the verbunkos, a Hungarian dance in several parts, each with a different tempo. Within this structure, Liszt preserved the two main structural elements of typical Gypsy improvisation—the "lassan" ("slow") and the "friska" ("fast"). At the same
Rhapsodies for Orchestra quirky rhythmic vitality. Van Zweden and the CSO brought the 10-minute piece to life most enjoyably." Katie Womack of the "Dallas Observer" similarly praised the piece at its Dallas premiere, commenting, "The dynamics of this piece range from intimate to bombastic and the juxtaposition of those extremes created some stunning sounds in the Meyerson. At only ten minutes, Stucky's "Rhapsodies" left me wanting more." Anthony Tommasini of "The New York Times" also lauded the work, remarking: Jeffrey Gantz of "The Boston Globe" was more critical, describing the piece as "a series of ecstatic outbursts in which one instrument essays an