The
Škampa Quartet is quite an ensemble. They are quite obviously
(and literally) at home in the music of Dvořák. This quartet
followed chronologically on from the Ninth Symphony, but the more
intimate sphere of chamber music led Dvořák to make a more
personal and less dramatic statement. The composer’s nostalgia
for his homeland must be heard within the context of the excitement
of enjoying his surroundings, something the Škampa Quartet realises
full well. The longing mood is presented without lingering indulgence.
The
first movement is smooth and confident (track 1), while the Lento
shows the quartet’s warm sound and their keen sense of balance
and close rapport. The recording helps, in that while it is full,
all the details come easily through, helping the music to move
inevitably onwards. The Molto vivace third movement’s opening
is delicately pointed, the Quartet’s highly developed sense of
rhythm a joy (track 3). This in fact prepares the ground for the
infectious finale, where a sense of fun in the dance rhythms prevails.
A superb performance.
The
Brahms makes for an ideal companion. The Škampa Quartet changes,
chameleon like, into a highly-tensile group for the energy-ridden
opening (Track 5): this concentration is to permeate the entire
movement. The Romanze second movement (Poco adagio) acts as the
perfect contrast (and the quartet plays with a true pianissimo).
This is an enormously rewarding performance which obviously stems
from prolonged study of the musical text.
Unhesitatingly
recommended.
Colin
Clarke
sample
and download tracks
Škampa String Quartet
(Pavel Fischer, Jana Lukášova, violins; Radim Sedmidunský,
viola; Jonáš Krejčí, cello)