Dvorak: String Quartet No. 10 in E flat major, Op. 51 (B92)

Eloquences exhumes a rare – and the only recording – by the Boskovsky Quartet, that of Dvorák’s String Quartet, Op. 51. Both performances on this disc are led by the Vienna Philharmonic concertmaster Willi Boskovsky. The Op. 51 is one of Dvorak’s most masterly essays in the quartet genre while the Op. 81 Quintet (in a classic recording with pianist Sir Clifford Curzon)brims over with melodic inspiration. This is the first release on CD of the Op. 51 Quartet. The extensive documentation by Tully Potter outlines not only the history of the music but also the evolution of the Boskovksy and Vienna Philharmonic Quartets.

This is the first in a series of Dvořák’s String Quartets performed by the sensational Vogler Quartet. Dvořák’s String Quartets number among the best in their genre and cpo is delighted to have the Vogler Quartet on board to record such a gigantic task.

The Vogler Quartet is a phenomenon. Its membership has remained unchanged since 1985 and over the years they have become one of the world’s top chamber ensembles.

Every work of art is exposed to the inexorable test of time. In the case of the majority of composers, precious few works enjoy enduring popularity. Yet in this respect Dvořák is one of the glorious exceptions. When it comes to his 15 string quartets alone, more than one third of them are still an integral part of the repertoire of numerous contemporary ensembles. All the mature opuses – starting with the “Slavonic” Quartet in E flat major (written for the famous Florentine Quartet) through the most celebrated, the “American”, to the final opuses 106 and 105, whose musical language reflects the composer’s return home from overseas – have been repeatedly explored and performed.

The Panocha Quartet, whose exceptional qualities have for over four decades been acclaimed by audiences in four continents, have devoted to Czech quartet creation and Dvořák in particular with great care. This selection from the complete Dvořák works features the most beautiful quartet opuses and is a must-have for all fans of this genre. The “American” quartet and other Dvořák gems – beautiful and seminal.

The Emerson String Quartet’s long cherished dream to record their favourite Dvorák string quartets is realized with their tender-hearted and infatuated readings of the Czech genius’s middle and late quartets.

A bonanza of romantic melody, not a note on this 3-CD release has ever before been recorded by the Emersons.

Dvorák’s youthful and infrequently performed song cycle on the subject of love, Cypresses, provides a compelling thematic trove for several of these enamouring quartets.

Dvorák’s quintet reveals most of all the heart of Dvorák’s musical nature, both its Bohemian roots and the bracingly fresh air of his Iowa summer experience. He later explained, “I should never have written . . . ‘just so’ if I hadn’t seen America.”

The string quartet is a genre that was neglected by few great composers of the Romantic era, and the Czech masters contributed a number of significant works to its international repertoire.

Smetana’s quartet “From My Life,” Dvorák’s “American” quartet and Janácek’s “Intimate Letters” rank among the mature works of their composers and have become essential repertoire for quartets throughout the world.

Furthermore, Dvorák and Suk founded an uninterrupted interpretational tradition which gave rise to a number of world-famous Czech ensembles.

A direct line of descent can be traced from the Smetana Quartet, which has performed Smetana’s music on hundreds of concert stages, to the Panocha Quartet, which has recorded a highly esteemed recording of the complete Dvorák quartets, and also to the Škampa Quartet, whose Janácek seethes with inimitable raw energy.

This compilation offers the best known works of the Czech quartet repertoire performed by the greatest masters of the art.