Elisen-polka, polka française op.151. Author: Johann Strauss II (1825-1899).
During the 1850s the ‘Polka française’, a graceful and specifically Viennese variant of the Bohemian polka, became popular in the ballrooms of Vienna. Johann Strauss wrote around fifty such dances, and chose an open-air concert on 7 May 1854 in the picturesque setting of the Volksgarten to introduce his Viennese public to the very first of these. Entitled the Elisen-Polka française, the piece was probably inspired by Elise, a lady of Viennese society who lived in the neighbourhood of the Strauss family and whom mother Anna Strauss, at least, once regarded as a possible wife for her eldest son. Whatever Johann himself thought at the time, by 1859 he had changed his mind.
Conductor: Oliver Dohnányi & CSSR State Philharmonic Orchestra.