Dvorak: String Quartets Nos. 12 & 13

Pavel Haas Quartet

SU 4038-2

I’m satisfied. It went quickly... Antonín Dvořák jotted down at the end of the sketch for his String Quartet Op. 96. The work, one of the most beautiful quartet pieces in the history of music, originated in America hard on the heels of the “New World” Symphony. I wanted to write for once something very melodious and simple, and I always kept Papa Haydn before my eyes. The American critics lavished it with praise: “Why didn’t Dvořák come here earlier, since he can write such great music in America.” The “American” quartet, and, perhaps to an even greater extent, the subsequent quartet, Op. 106, the first composition Dvořák created after his return from America, are a heartfelt matter for the youthful Pavel Haas Quartet.

In the wake of the previous, highly acclaimed recordings of the complete quartet works of Janáček, Haas and Prokofiev (Classic FM Gramophone Award, BBC Music Magazine Award, MIDEM Cannes Classical Award, etc.), the ensemble displays its outstanding qualities performing the paramount Dvořák pieces too: equilibrium between precision and spontaneity, remarkable interplay and the “solo” potential of all the musicians.

The most popular Dvořák’s chamber repertoire performed by one of the world’s most exciting string quartets.

CD

Supraphon

11.10.2010

099925403829

BBC Music Magazine: 'Recording of the Month' (2010)