Chamber Works 2

This is the second of a two-volume set of all of Dvorák's chamber works. This volume contains seven CDs, most of them in excellent performances. And it contains works you are not likely to have heard before, e.g., arrangements of several Slavonic Dances for either violin and piano, or cello and piano. The musicians on both Volume I and II are all Czech, and that makes some difference, I think, in how the music is played. Having grown up in a Czech-speaking community in America where my first exposure to Bohemian music was with Czech-speaking musicians, I can confidently state that the musicians here 'speak the language', and I take issue with the review of Volume I that was given a one star rating. There are, however, some quibbles with the present box, largely in the first two CDs which contains all of Dvorák's piano trios (including the familiar 'Dumky' Trio); namely, there are some minor intonation problems, primarily with the violinist. But otherwise those trio performances are good and particularly good is the piano playing of Ivan Klánský, an underappreciated Czech pianist.When we get to the violin-and-piano works, we are in wonderful territory, and particularly so when the great Czech violinist Josef Suk (himself the grandson of composer Josef Suk who was Dvorák's pupil and son-in-law) plays in various of the pieces. These, along with some cello-and-piano works, take up CDs 3 & 4. Particularly delightful is Suk and Josef Hála's performance of the Mazurek in E Minor, Op. 49. We also hear Suk and Hála playing Dvorák's rarely-heard Violin Sonata and the late Sonatina for Violin and Piano, Op. 100. Also outstanding on CD 4 is 'Silent Woods' played by cellist Michal Kanka and pianist Jaromir Klepác; Silent Woods is usually heard in its original piano four-hand version (part of 'From the Bohemian Forest'); later, on CD 7 we hear the four-hand version. In truth, I think I prefer the cello-piano version.CD5 contains works for various combinations of instruments but alway including strings. I've always been charmed by the 'Bagatelles' for two violins, cello and (unusually) harmonium. They have such a homey feeling and yet are both melodic and stirring. The 'Terzetto' for two violins and viola gets played in recital occasionally and I remember a barn-burning performance by, I recall, Itzhak Perlman, Anne Akiko Meyer, violins, and Pinchas Zukerman, viola, I heard years ago at the Aspen Music Festival. I fell in love with it then and eventually bought a version with members of the now-disbanded Lindsay Quartet. The Terzetto's sibling, written only a year later in 1875, is the 'Miniatures' for two violins and viola, a suite of four romantic, melodic pieces. Suk is also heard in all the works mentioned so far on CD5. The CD is rounded out with smaller works including the Serenade that features flute, violin, viola and triangle (!).CDs 6 & 7 contain music for piano four-hands played by the redoubtable Czech duo, married couple Igor Ardasev and Renata Ardasevová. CD 6 contains both sets of Slavonic Dances. These are the works that are often compared to Brahms's Hungarian Dances, but they are completely Bohemian and brim with the dance rhythms and melodic contours of Bohemian folk music. (Some of the first music I ever played in public was a couple of these dances that I played (badly) with my teacher when I was perhaps nine years old.) CD 7 contains the previously mentioned 'From the Bohemian Forest' and it concludes with 'Legends'. These are pièces caractéristiques that are Bohemian to their core. I think these performances are the equal of the better known recordings by Silka-Thora Matthies and Christian Köhn  4 Hand Piano Music 1 .I would recommend this box-set to anyone who loves Dvorák and who wants to become familiar with more of his rarer pieces. I was particularly taken by the four-hand and the violin-piano performances, but all of the rest are worth consideration even for the occasional intonation problem on CD1 and, almost certainly only on my set, a slight tracking glitch on CD2.Scott Morrison

A+++

No me agradó la odiosa combinación de ‘tú’ y ‘ustedes’. Ese no es el lenguaje de Yahveh. Además, cómo así que el Faraón sueña con vacas ‘flacuchas’? Díganle al traductor que tome con urgencia clases de castellano.

Excellent.

Supraphon réédite avec bonheur une quasi intégrale de l'œuvre de Dvorak. Pour ce volume II de la musique de chambre, les Guarneri ont été préférés au Trio Suk (la référence !) dans les 4 trios et c'est une heureuse surprise: un parfait équilibre, une sonorité moelleuse, une expression maîtrisée, et c'est un coffret qui débute très bien. La suite comprend des pièces pour violon et piano que Josef Suk (arrière petit-fils du compositeur) nous livre avec ferveur, et quelques oeuvres pour violoncelle. Viennent ensuite de petites pièces, souvent écrites pour des amis, dont l'intérêt musical est variable, mais où Dvorak fait toujours preuve de sa fraîcheur et de son invention mélodique. Le volume V (Bagatelles, Miniatures, Terzetto, trois petits chefs d'œuvre méconnus) vaut vraiment le détour. Les 2 derniers disques, dédiés au piano à 4 mains, nous proposent la version originale des danses slaves ( nerveuses, bondissantes, bien loin de beaucoup de versions lourdingues pour orchestre) et 2 raretés ( Légendes et "de la forêt de Bohème") Vivifiant !

L'intérêt d'une somme , jouée par les héritiers du compositeur qui "chantent" dans leur arbre généalogique.À connaitre absolument.Bien amicalement.