Smetana String Quartet no 1

[teamsaint]

I was going to say that this a favourite work of mine, but then I realised that

1.I don’t really know it that well and
2. I think I only have one recording, the one by the Gabrieli Quartet.

So time to put those things right, by way of expert forum knowledge, please.



(Actually,the Piano Trio might be a good candidate for discussion on another occasion...and I hope I have followed the right etiquette for posting a new thread !!)

[Pulcinella]

I shall very politely say that I can't help, having only the very same recording in my collection.

[richardfinegold]

Recordings by the Smetena Qt. and the Janacek Qt are usually prized for their "Czechness" but I've always preferred the Julliard...

[pastoralguy]

The Paavel Haas Quartet are outstanding in this work, imho. In fact, didn't they get a Gramophone Award for their disc!

[LMcD]

The Paavel Haas Quartet are outstanding in this work, imho. In fact, didn't they get a Gramophone Award for their disc!

They were to be heard playing it today in the Lunchtime Concert (a performance recorded in Czechoslovakia last year, I believe).

[Richard Tarleton]

Talich Quartet here (1991) - coupled with Janáček SQ1 and Suk Meditation on St Wenceslas - I think I picked it up in the bookshop in Southwold (so not expert at all but indisputably Czech). Love it.

[Pulcinella]

The Paavel Haas Quartet are outstanding in this work, imho. In fact, didn't they get a Gramophone Award for their disc!

Yes: here's the Presto listing.

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8056349--smetana-string-quartets-nos-1-2

[teamsaint]

Just finished listening to a stream ( on Apple Music)of the Quartetto Energie Nove recording released last year. As a review in the Strad says, they achieve a lovely mix of sounds, some firm edged, rather metallic sections, mixed with some wonderfully warm tones.
They seem to have the confidence to give the music plenty of room to breathe ( especially in the opening and closing movements) , but anyway, very well worth a listen.
( Minor CD production gripe, really could have done with more than a tiny gap before hurtling into the excerpt from The Bartered Bride that follows, it does neither any favours.)

Now giving the second quartet a spin, I don’t know it at all.

[mikealdren]

I love the piece too and have several recordings: Guarneri (1967 and 1986), Hollywood, Takacs, Endellion and the Smetana, the last being the first I bought on LP and still my favourite, the harmonic E of his tintinnabulation is really chilling.

I heard the Haas quartet play the 2nd quartet and Janacek quartets recently (Wigmore) and it was a spectacularly good concert, I'll be looking to buy some of their recordings soon although I think their Janacek recordings were made some time ago.

[pastoralguy]

I love the piece too and have several recordings: Guarneri (1967 and 1986), Hollywood, Takacs, Endellion and the Smetana, the last being the first I bought on LP and still my favourite, the harmonic E of his tintinnabulation is really chilling.

I heard the Haas quartet play the 2nd quartet and Janacek quartets recently (Wigmore) and it was a spectacularly good concert, I'll be looking to buy some of their recordings soon although I think their Janacek recordings were made some time ago.

We were lucky enough to hear and speak to them at last year's Edinburgh Festival and they told us they've embarked on a DSCH cycle so that's something to really look forward to. They were very impressed that Mrs. PG could speak to them in fluent Czech!

A superb ensemble, imho.

[LeMartinPecheur]

I've heard the Dante Quartet play it a few times and their Hyperion disc is good, c/w the 2nd and the Sibelius quartet Voces Intimae.

I sometimes wonder if the abrupt discontinuities in his 2nd quartet, probably symptoms of his mental degeneration due to syphilis, didn't give Janacek key stylistic ideas!