The pairing of the String Quintet in G major, Op. 77, and the String Quartet in F major, Op. 96 ("American"), both major Dvorák chamber works, is a common one, but this one has several aspects setting it apart. Most distinctive is the sound from the German audiophile label MDG, working in an old abbey hall. The space is warm, clear, and perfectly sized for the music, in other words as close as you can get to actually having been there in the late 19th century when the music was first played. Moreover, the prolific Leipzig String Quartet, joined in Op. 77 by double bassist Alois Posch, delivers a superior performance of the "American" quintet that gets away from the overly consistent tone that mars so many Dvorák performances.
Three keyfigures from ECM’s contemporary music roster – Heinz Holliger, Thomas Zehetmair, and Thomas Demenga – team up for an exceptional recording of three works by German post-war composer Bernd Alois Zimmermann. Zimmermann, almost half a generation older than the serialists such as Boulez and Stockhausen, integrated state-of-the-art compositional methods in his writing while constantly following his own independent, highly expressive musical language.
The gentle melancholy of the "Trout" quintet is beautifully realized here by Andras Schiff and members of the Hagen Quartet. The final two movements almost seem to be one longer movement with a unity of expression between them that is most compelling, to the extent that the themes of the final movement have the feel of being further-flung variations of the "Trout" theme itself. The lower strings are particularly effective in these movements, and Schiff's lucid and un-plushy Bosendorfer sound is ideal. The earlier movements had the feel of a Dumka before Dvorak, with their alternation of more assertive and more quiet sections – but it's the melancholy character that wins out and gives this performance its particular force.