š Free Worldwide Shipping on All Orders!Shop Now
Dvorak: The Essential String Quartets / Panocha Quartet
DVO?ĆK String Quartets Nos. 10-14. Cypresses ā¢ Panocha Qrt ā¢ SUPRAPHON SU4048-2 (3 CDs: 202:46)
Supraphon is finding new and exciting ways to encourage you to sample the Panochaās much-admired 1983ā95 recordings of Dvo?Ć”kās 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 onesāI shouldnāt think it likely, but it is, I suppose, possible āthen itās also the case that you might cast a jaundiced eye over this selection of the best-known works and wonder why you didnāt 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 itās 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 ānewā 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 Quartetās 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 Panochaās lighter collective qualities.
Another leading Czech group, the Stamitz, has also recorded the full set and most impressively. Itās 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 Panochaās recent remake, again on Camerata (CMCD-28206), where itās coupled with Quartet No. 13
Where does this leave us? This three-CD set offers the bulk of Dvo?Ć”kās greatest quartets, or āThe Essential String Quartetsā 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
Product Information
Product Information
Shipping & Returns
Shipping & Returns
Dvorak: The Essential String Quartets / Panocha Quartet
Dvorak: The Essential String Quartets / Panocha Quartet
DVO?ĆK String Quartets Nos. 10-14. Cypresses ā¢ Panocha Qrt ā¢ SUPRAPHON SU4048-2 (3 CDs: 202:46)
Supraphon is finding new and exciting ways to encourage you to sample the Panochaās much-admired 1983ā95 recordings of Dvo?Ć”kās 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 onesāI shouldnāt think it likely, but it is, I suppose, possible āthen itās also the case that you might cast a jaundiced eye over this selection of the best-known works and wonder why you didnāt 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 itās 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 ānewā 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 Quartetās 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 Panochaās lighter collective qualities.
Another leading Czech group, the Stamitz, has also recorded the full set and most impressively. Itās 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 Panochaās recent remake, again on Camerata (CMCD-28206), where itās coupled with Quartet No. 13
Where does this leave us? This three-CD set offers the bulk of Dvo?Ć”kās greatest quartets, or āThe Essential String Quartetsā 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
$13.30
Original: $37.99
-65%Dvorak: The Essential String Quartets / Panocha Quartetā
$37.99
$13.30Product Information
Product Information
Shipping & Returns
Shipping & Returns
Description
DVO?ĆK String Quartets Nos. 10-14. Cypresses ā¢ Panocha Qrt ā¢ SUPRAPHON SU4048-2 (3 CDs: 202:46)
Supraphon is finding new and exciting ways to encourage you to sample the Panochaās much-admired 1983ā95 recordings of Dvo?Ć”kās 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 onesāI shouldnāt think it likely, but it is, I suppose, possible āthen itās also the case that you might cast a jaundiced eye over this selection of the best-known works and wonder why you didnāt 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 itās 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 ānewā 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 Quartetās 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 Panochaās lighter collective qualities.
Another leading Czech group, the Stamitz, has also recorded the full set and most impressively. Itās 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 Panochaās recent remake, again on Camerata (CMCD-28206), where itās coupled with Quartet No. 13
Where does this leave us? This three-CD set offers the bulk of Dvo?Ć”kās greatest quartets, or āThe Essential String Quartetsā 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
