BaL 10.01.15 - Dvorak: String Quartet no. 12 "American"

[mikealdren]

I have the Gabreili LP (coupling is Borodin No.2), CfP IIRC. It was the first recording I owned.
Mike

[aeolium]

LMP, I think the E-flat quartet op 51 is well worth hearing. There's a recording by the Takacs quartet (coupled with the A major piano quintet with Andreas Haefliger) or an Eloquence disc with the same coupling and the Boskovsky Quartet in the quartet and the incomparable Clifford Curzon with the Vienna Philharmonic Quartet in the quintet.

Yes please to a Guarneri thread - I think they are often unjustifiably off the radar in reviews of string quartets (not today, thanks to RP). I love their disc of the Arriaga string quartets, youthful works but expressive of a talent that was cruelly cut short by his death at only 19.

[teamsaint]

I think the Wihans got a brief dismissal early on in the programme, before I'd realised this disc is on my shelves - probably a purchase from the artists after a concert. Can anyone recall why they went?

More generally, I don't have all the Dvorak 4tets and have wondered about the Prague DGG box or the cheapo (Brilliant?) box. Or completing my Naxos Vlach set. How do they compare?

FWIW my current run of these works is
#3 D maj B18 - Vlach Naxos - not sure I'll ever play it again: terrible work, about as bad as his 1st Symph.
#8 E maj B57 'Op80' - Vlach Naxos
#11 C maj B121 Op61 _ Wihan Nimbus, Vlach Naxos, Smetana
#12 F maj B179 Op96 - Wihan Nimbus, Vlach Naxos, Griller Dutton and Smetana (old Supraphon recording issued as HMV ASD LP c/w a superb IMHO pf 5tet with Stepan)
#13 Ab maj B192 op105 Gabrieli on LP plus a ? artists' own CD of the Herold
#14 G maj B193 Op106 Prague 4tet on DG LP

I suppose the first big Q is whether any of my missing ones is really worth the candle - after enduring #3 once I need reassurance about B-no's below 100 say!

Incidentally, and maybe a tad OT, I was pleased to hear the Guarneris getting a very favourable mention. I never got into them on LP except as very fine accompanists to Rubinstein, including the Dvorak pf 4tet, but lately have felt I really ought to explore tham more thoroughly after being hugely impressed by their late Schuberts reissued on Newton, to the extent of 'counterbalancing' the one review on Amazon which said they were rubbish.
Shall I start a Guarneri thread??

If you are a downloader, LMP, the Brilliant set of Martinu , Dvorak , Janacek and Smetana quartets can still be had for under £10, or around £30 on disc.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Czech-String-Quartets-Smetana-Janacek/dp/B00BX2JFTQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420892675&sr=8-1&keywords=czech+quartets+brilliant

plenty to enjoy, outside of the works you mention, Op 80 for example.

[Gordon]

I have the Gabreili LP (coupling is Borodin No.2), CfP IIRC. It was the first recording I owned.
Mike

Lovely piece and an excellent review. I once sat next to Robert Philip at a CHARM event. He wasn't there for himself but for his other half - Susan Tomes - who was on a panel!! He was most patient with my questions about his books on performance practices as revealed through recordings. Lovely man.

I'm somewhat surprised to find that I only have 2 versions: a Gabrieli but a Decca LP [SDD 565] with Op 61 from January 1980 and a live recording off air of the Janacek from Edinburgh in 2002. Perhaps a new modern one is called for!! Looks like the Keller.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

EA: one for Pedants' Paradise perhaps? I see your point, but also that arguably there is only one "much-loved String Quartet known as the American Quartet" that was written by Dvorak!

I just thought it gave the impression that this was the composer's one and only work for this genre.

[LeMartinPecheur]

If you are a downloader, LMP, the Brilliant set of Martinu , Dvorak , Janacek and Smetana quartets can still be had for under £10, or around £30 on disc.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Czech-String-Quartets-Smetana-Janacek/dp/B00BX2JFTQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420892675&sr=8-1&keywords=czech+quartets+brilliant

plenty to enjoy, outside of the works you mention, Op 80 for example.

ts: thanks for that but I'm not yet a downloader and in any case am fully supplied with the other three composers' quartets. For the Martinus it's these Stamitz recodings from a previous, smaller Brilliant box that also included the Janaceks and Smetanas. I quickly gave away the Janaceks and the same fate might befall the Smetanas as I prefer - though without detailed comparison - the Dante recording, perhaps because I attend their annual festival down here in the Tamar Valley and have heard them do both of them live. As is the case with the Janaceks, though for these I'm less keen on their CD. It's on Meridian not Hyperion, and I don't like the recording quality much. All their Hyperion discs are far better, truer to their sound live in the concert hall.

[visualnickmos]

The Prague (DG) set is one I listen to often. 'Seems like a nice set!'

The Vlach on Naxos is also very satisfying - even no. 3! which I happen to love - takes all sorts, I suppose... If you are a completist, it's worth getting the rest at the low Naxos prices.

[Jasmine Bassett]

Listening on Freeview it sounded to me as if all the extracts were played in Mono - except the introductory example.

Maybe the podcast will be in stereo, then again ...

[Don Petter]

Listening on Freeview it sounded to me as if all the extracts were played in Mono - except the introductory example.

Maybe the podcast will be in stereo, then again ...

Perhaps they reasoned that there was no stereo in 1893, so it wouldn't matter.

[LeMartinPecheur]

I checked out Amazon for the DG Prague box and noted two things. More seriously, in the reviews there are two separate reports of disc 6 being faulty in boxes from amazon.co.uk. One of the sufferers had multiple faulty replacements too. Has anyone here bought a box recently?

Less seriously, I noticed that while the Brilliant box is listed at a price only a wee bit lower than the Prague, it's easy to pick it up very cheap used. Whereas with the Prague it's not worth bothering with the multiple Marketplace listings since, new or used, you won't save much on Amazon UK's headline price. Does this suggest that the Prague box is somehow 'better' despite both scoring near-5* in Amazon's own reviews?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Keller Quartet

Nobody asked, but...

[Dave2002]

Although it is deleted I should also put in a good word for the marvellous recording by the Delmé Quartet in Pickwick .

I have that one too. I have wondered what happened to the Delmé quartet - which I heard several times in the 1980s-90s.

http://delmequartet.co.uk/

[Dave2002]

Perhaps they reasoned that there was no stereo in 1893, so it wouldn't matter.

There was no radio or TV either, so a HIPP approach would be to turn the programme off!

[Nick Armstrong]

Keller Quartet

Nobody asked, but...

Bbm must be away for the weekend...!

[Nick Armstrong]

I particularly like the Keller (with a very good version of the 2 viola quintet) which I bought after hearing it on CD review some years ago.

...the quintet is a very good work and the coupling on Warner Apex is a bargain.

Mike

Indeed - bullseye for Mr Aldren

Enjoyed this BAL a lot. A large number of attractive options... but yes, the Keller extracts justified their 'primus inter pares' accolade at the end (though I thought that he was going to plump for the Hagens). Agreed that a couple of the American recordings sounded too shrill... I enjoyed the Bolivar extract, though I'm probably biased having been thrilled again by their playing (along with 100 or so of their mates) in the Festival Hall on Friday evening.

One surprise, maybe, given its awards and reputation:

Paavel Haas Quartet on Supraphone for me. Lovely music making.

....this recording got somewhat short shrift on BAL. I'm not necessarily disagreeing either - I bought it when it won the Gramophone award, and took it back: for some reason it failed to engage my interest or affection.