Dvorak: The Essential String Quartets / Panocha Quartet
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Dvorak: The Essential String Quartets / Panocha Quartet

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Details

Composer
DVO?ÁK, ANTONIN
Artist
PANOCHA QUARTET
Format
CD
Discs
3
Label
Supraphon
Released
Mar 04, 2011
Catalog #
SU4048-2
UPC
099925404826

About



DVO?ÁK String Quartets Nos. 10-14. Cypresses • Panocha Qrt • SUPRAPHON SU4048-2 (3 CDs: 202:46)


Supraphon is finding new and exciting ways to encourage you to sample the Panocha’s much-admired 1983–95 recordings of Dvo?ák’s string quartets. Should you have collected some individual volumes and run out of steam, you now have the chance to acquire this slimline three-CD set containing the last five quartets, and Cypresses in the bargain. But if you bought the box set of all the quartets and have seldom played the early ones—I shouldn’t think it likely, but it is, I suppose, possible —then it’s also the case that you might cast a jaundiced eye over this selection of the best-known works and wonder why you didn’t hold out.


Whatever you may or may not have done, one can hardly argue with a label that seeks to maximize profits this way, or, to put it another way, to reinvestigate means by which to propagate its recorded legacy and that of its artists. The Panocha is a highly distinguished group, certainly, but it has its rivals, current and past. It also rivals itself, given that it’s made other recordings of this repertoire for other labels. For example, almost a decade after recording Nos. 10 and 14, it rerecorded them for Camerata (28093). The “new” Panocha proved here to be a touch fleeter than the old. James H. North certainly admired both accounts in Fanfare 32:1, as do I, though I like the Prague Quartet’s DG accounts equally, in their very different ways. There is more pathos in the Prague recordings, made between 1973 and 1977, but their heavier bowing and boomier acoustic accords them a somewhat inflated sound. This may or may not please, but it is certainly to be distinguished from the Panocha’s lighter collective qualities.


Another leading Czech group, the Stamitz, has also recorded the full set and most impressively. It’s now to be had complete on Brilliant 99949. They tend to relax just that bit more than their rivals, but evince a genuinely memorable approach. They are very convincing in the op. 106 quartet but in its rather cavernous, distant way, so too is the Prague. Many contemporary ensembles take this quartet in a quasi-symphonic way, piling it with almost neurotic intensity. Fortunately none of these three Czech groups do that. Indeed the Panocha plays with discretion and appropriate tonal weight, arguably a touch more vibrant than either the Stamitz or the Prague in the slow movement.


One can argue the swings and roundabouts of this all day. I find the Prague a touch more patrician in phrasing than either the Stamitz or Panocha, but oddly, rather more openly expressive in a number of the slow movements. Perhaps Cypresses offers a clue: The Panocha plays the fourth, a poco adagio , as a recollected-in-tranquility elegy. The Prague, meanwhile, prefers a more measured melancholy. The difference is between the heightened mobility of the Panocha and the stately reflection of the Prague, a pretty accurate reflection of the expressive differences generally. This also applies to the Panocha’s recent remake, again on Camerata (CMCD-28206), where it’s coupled with Quartet No. 13


Where does this leave us? This three-CD set offers the bulk of Dvo?ák’s greatest quartets, or “The Essential String Quartets” as the cover puts it, in idiomatic, beautifully nuanced readings. The complete set is on Supraphon 3815-2, but this selection of the last quartets contains recordings that are, even in a crowded field, among the best around.


FANFARE: Jonathan Woolf

Tracklist 32 tracks

  1. Disc 1
  2. 1 I. Allegro ma non troppo 10:46
    Track
    1
    Title
    I. Allegro ma non troppo
    Duration
    10:46
    Composer
    Antonín Dvořák
    Ensemble
    Panocha Quartet
  3. 2 II. Dumka (Élégie): Andante con moto - Vivace 07:23
    Track
    2
    Title
    II. Dumka (Élégie): Andante con moto - Vivace
    Duration
    07:23
    Composer
    Antonín Dvořák
    Ensemble
    Panocha Quartet
  4. 3 III. Romanza: Andante con moto 06:14
    Track
    3
    Title
    III. Romanza: Andante con moto
    Duration
    06:14
    Composer
    Antonín Dvořák
    Ensemble
    Panocha Quartet
  5. 4 IV. Finale: Allegro assai 07:10
    Track
    4
    Title
    IV. Finale: Allegro assai
    Duration
    07:10
    Composer
    Antonín Dvořák
    Ensemble
    Panocha Quartet
  6. 5 I. Allegro 13:52
    Track
    5
    Title
    I. Allegro
    Duration
    13:52
    Composer
    Antonín Dvořák
    Ensemble
    Panocha Quartet
  7. 6 II. Poco adagio e molto cantabile 07:27
    Track
    6
    Title
    II. Poco adagio e molto cantabile
    Duration
    07:27
    Composer
    Antonín Dvořák
    Ensemble
    Panocha Quartet
  8. 7 III. Scherzo: Allegro vivo 08:28
    Track
    7
    Title
    III. Scherzo: Allegro vivo
    Duration
    08:28
    Composer
    Antonín Dvořák
    Ensemble
    Panocha Quartet
  9. 8 IV. Finale: Vivace 07:21
    Track
    8
    Title
    IV. Finale: Vivace
    Duration
    07:21
    Composer
    Antonín Dvořák
    Ensemble
    Panocha Quartet
  10. Disc 2
  11. 1 No. 1. I Know That on My Love 04:23
    Track
    1
    Title
    No. 1. I Know That on My Love
    Duration
    04:23
    Composer
    Antonín Dvořák
    Ensemble
    Panocha Quartet
  12. 2 No. 2. Death Reigns 02:25
    Track
    2
    Title
    No. 2. Death Reigns
    Duration
    02:25
    Composer
    Antonín Dvořák
    Ensemble
    Panocha Quartet
  13. 3 No. 3. When Thy Sweet Glances 02:45
    Track
    3
    Title
    No. 3. When Thy Sweet Glances
    Duration
    02:45
    Composer
    Antonín Dvořák
    Ensemble
    Panocha Quartet
  14. 4 No. 4. Never Will Love Lead Us 04:31
    Track
    4
    Title
    No. 4. Never Will Love Lead Us
    Duration
    04:31
    Composer
    Antonín Dvořák
    Ensemble
    Panocha Quartet
  15. 5 No. 5. Here Gaze I 03:12
    Track
    5
    Title
    No. 5. Here Gaze I
    Duration
    03:12
    Composer
    Antonín Dvořák
    Ensemble
    Panocha Quartet
  16. 6 No. 6. O Charming Golden Rose 02:36
    Track
    6
    Title
    No. 6. O Charming Golden Rose
    Duration
    02:36
    Composer
    Antonín Dvořák
    Ensemble
    Panocha Quartet
  17. 7 No. 7. I Wander Oft 02:25
    Track
    7
    Title
    No. 7. I Wander Oft
    Duration
    02:25
    Composer
    Antonín Dvořák
    Ensemble
    Panocha Quartet
  18. 8 No. 8. In Deepest Forest Glade 03:13
    Track
    8
    Title
    No. 8. In Deepest Forest Glade
    Duration
    03:13
    Composer
    Antonín Dvořák
    Ensemble
    Panocha Quartet
  19. 9 No. 9. Thou Only Dear One 02:50
    Track
    9
    Title
    No. 9. Thou Only Dear One
    Duration
    02:50
    Composer
    Antonín Dvořák
    Ensemble
    Panocha Quartet
  20. 10 No. 10. There Stands an Ancient Rock 02:24
    Track
    10
    Title
    No. 10. There Stands an Ancient Rock
    Duration
    02:24
    Composer
    Antonín Dvořák
    Ensemble
    Panocha Quartet
  21. 11 No. 11. Nature Lies Peaceful 02:35
    Track
    11
    Title
    No. 11. Nature Lies Peaceful
    Duration
    02:35
    Composer
    Antonín Dvořák
    Ensemble
    Panocha Quartet
  22. 12 No. 12. You are Asking Why 03:07
    Track
    12
    Title
    No. 12. You are Asking Why
    Duration
    03:07
    Composer
    Antonín Dvořák
    Ensemble
    Panocha Quartet
  23. 13 I. Allegro ma non troppo 09:01
    Track
    13
    Title
    I. Allegro ma non troppo
    Duration
    09:01
    Composer
    Antonín Dvořák
    Ensemble
    Panocha Quartet
  24. 14 II. Lento 08:21
    Track
    14
    Title
    II. Lento
    Duration
    08:21
    Composer
    Antonín Dvořák
    Ensemble
    Panocha Quartet
  25. 15 III. Molto vivace 03:54
    Track
    15
    Title
    III. Molto vivace
    Duration
    03:54
    Composer
    Antonín Dvořák
    Ensemble
    Panocha Quartet
  26. 16 IV. Finale: Vivace ma non troppo 05:07
    Track
    16
    Title
    IV. Finale: Vivace ma non troppo
    Duration
    05:07
    Composer
    Antonín Dvořák
    Ensemble
    Panocha Quartet
  27. Disc 3
  28. 1 I. Allegro moderato 09:20
    Track
    1
    Title
    I. Allegro moderato
    Duration
    09:20
    Composer
    Antonín Dvořák
    Ensemble
    Panocha Quartet
  29. 2 II. Adagio, ma non troppo 10:50
    Track
    2
    Title
    II. Adagio, ma non troppo
    Duration
    10:50
    Composer
    Antonín Dvořák
    Ensemble
    Panocha Quartet
  30. 3 III. Molto vivace 07:10
    Track
    3
    Title
    III. Molto vivace
    Duration
    07:10
    Composer
    Antonín Dvořák
    Ensemble
    Panocha Quartet
  31. 4 IV. Andante sostenuto - Allegro con fuoco 11:03
    Track
    4
    Title
    IV. Andante sostenuto - Allegro con fuoco
    Duration
    11:03
    Composer
    Antonín Dvořák
    Ensemble
    Panocha Quartet
  32. 5 I. Adagio ma non troppo - Allegro appassionato 08:01
    Track
    5
    Title
    I. Adagio ma non troppo - Allegro appassionato
    Duration
    08:01
    Composer
    Antonín Dvořák
    Ensemble
    Panocha Quartet
  33. 6 II. Molto vivace 06:32
    Track
    6
    Title
    II. Molto vivace
    Duration
    06:32
    Composer
    Antonín Dvořák
    Ensemble
    Panocha Quartet
  34. 7 III. Lento e molto cantabile 08:09
    Track
    7
    Title
    III. Lento e molto cantabile
    Duration
    08:09
    Composer
    Antonín Dvořák
    Ensemble
    Panocha Quartet
  35. 8 IV. Allegro non tanto 09:52
    Track
    8
    Title
    IV. Allegro non tanto
    Duration
    09:52
    Composer
    Antonín Dvořák
    Ensemble
    Panocha Quartet