Eduard Poldini
Eduard Poldini was born in Budapest, Hungary, on June 13, 1869. His music study took place at the Vienna Conservatory. Poldini subsequently established his home in Vevey, Switzerland, where he devoted himself to composition. His most significant works are for the stage—both comic and serious operas that include The Vagabond and the Princess (1903) and The Carnival Marriage (1924). He was also a prolific composer of salon pieces for the piano, familiar to piano studies throughout the world. In 1935 Poldini received the Order of the Hungarian Cross and in 1948 the Hungarian Pro Arte Prize. He died in Vevey, Switzerland on June 29, 1957.
Poupée valsante (Dancing Doll) is Poldini’s best known composition, a fleet, graceful melody contrasted by a sentimental counter-subject. The composer wrote it for solo piano. Fritz Kreisler adapted it for violin and piano, and Frank La Forge for voice and orchestra. It has also often been transcribed for orchestra.