Dvorak: Piano Quartets Nos 1 & 2

Listen on Presto Music. Free thirty day trial. Find out more.

These are charming renditions which slip easily from sunny folk-infused playfulness to wistful melancholy, and savour Dvořák’s endlessly imaginative chamber textures. The softer string playing... — BBC Music Magazine, February 2019, 4 out of 5 stars (Performance) / 3 out of 5 stars (Recording) More…

Release Date: 16th Nov 2018
Catalogue No: SU42572
Label: Supraphon
Length: 72 minutes

Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days

Dvořák: Piano Quartet No. 1 in D major, Op 23

Work length36:24

$3.15

$4.05

Dvořák Piano Quartet

No. 1, Allegro moderato

Track length15:15

$1.05

$1.35

No. 2, Andantino con variazioni

Track length12:53

$1.05

$1.35

No. 3, Finale. Allegretto scherzando

Track length8:16

$1.05

$1.35

Dvořák: Piano Quartet No. 2 in E flat, Op. 87

Work length36:22

$4.20

$5.40

Dvořák Piano Quartet

No. 1, Allegro con fuoco

Track length8:43

$1.05

$1.35

No. 2, Lento

Track length10:20

$1.05

$1.35

No. 3, Allegro moderato, grazioso

Track length7:52

$1.05

$1.35

No. 4, Finale. Allegro, ma non troppo

Track length9:27

$1.05

$1.35

About
Reviews
Explore

About

Recorded in Prague at the Martinů Hall, Academy of Performing Arts, 23 and 24 Mai, 2018 (Op. 87) and 29 and 30 June, 2018 (Op. 23)

Antonín Dvořák has a passion for chamber music; he liked playing it with friends, and perhaps soon came to realis how good a commercial commodity such pieces represented. He wrote the first of his two piano quartets, Op. 23, at the age of 34, by which time many a publisher was interested in his works. The period Czech media voiced their satisfaction that Dvořák had moved beyond foreign influence, with the Slavic spirit having prevailed in his music. Cases in point include his Moravian Duets, Op. 20, and Serenades, Op. 22, created at the same time. The publisher Fritz Simrock bitterly regretted having rejected the first quartet, persistently reminding the composer: “I would gladly take a piano quartet, preferably even two”.

When in the summer of 1889 Dvořák got down to writing his second quartet, he complained of having a “slow hand”, yet stressed that he had plenty of ideas: “My head is full of it ... I have finished three movements of a new quartet with piano, and the finale will be ready in a few days. It has gone smoothly beyond expectation, with the melodies rolling in to me.” The sheer beauty of the piece was cogently described by the prominent Vienna-based critic Eduard Hanslick: “The quartet requires that the listener be considerably attentive and well informed, which, however, really pays off.” The ensemble bearing the composer’s name have linked up to the feted tradition of their great teachers – Ivan Moravec, Josef Vlach and Milan Škampa. They present Dvořák at his finest, both conventional and sophisticated.

Reviews

February 2019

These are charming renditions which slip easily from sunny folk-infused playfulness to wistful melancholy, and savour Dvořák’s endlessly imaginative chamber textures. The softer string playing has a velvety gorgeousness which is balanced by some truly delightful, sparkling piano-playing…Despite the lovely sound, this is quite well-behaved, metronomically-strict playing, especially considering that these works need lots of flexibility.

March 2019

The Dvořák Quartet bring an endearing affability to the opening movement of the First Piano Quartet…They’re also fully alive to the musing quality of the theme on which the second-movement variations are built…The genial finale comes across well too…There are fine things in the Second Quartet, too, and the Dvořák Quartet offer the ideal combination of strength and rounded sonorities at the outset…Overall, then, a fine addition to the Dvořák discography.

13th January 2019

Dvořák’s piano quartets...are less frequently programmed than his piano trios or quintets, but deserve attention, especially in such winning, idiomatic performances as these...The later work is a neglected masterpiece, played here with native conviction.

Dvorak: Piano Quartets Nos 1 & 2

CD

Downloads

Contents

Download queue