Talich

The Talich have set down the Quartets on three occasions: for Supraphon in 1990, and for Calliope in 1985 (with Kvapil's excellent account of Book I of On an Overgrown Path as coupling) and 2004 (with the Schulhoff). It is the latter which has been reissued here.

The Talich Quartet, complemented here by Jiri Najnar and Vaclav Bernasek, illuminate these chamber music gems in brilliant colors. The string sextet version of Schoenberg's Verkleñrte Nacht (Transfigured Night), which is still bound to the late Romanticism, is a true enrichment to the repertoire.

On one end of the continuum, there is Dvorák's Concerto in B minor for cello and orchestra, a composition that is among the composer's best known and has become a cornerstone of the instrument's repertoire. On the other end, the Piano Concerto in G minor, a work that had difficulty garnering acceptance even during the composer's lifetime and is still looked upon with less favor than other concertos written in the same period.

Compositeur et violoniste virtuose Tchèque, né en 1801 et mort en 1866, Johann Wenzel Kalliwoda joua dans l’orchestre de Ständetheater de Prague que dirigeait Carl Maria von Weber. C’est peu dire de ses compétences musicales… Il fut par la suite un chef d’orchestre recherché pour la rigueur et la musicalité de sa direction. Côté musique, il laisse une œuvre abondante dans tous les genres musicaux mais c’est surtout sa musique de chambre qui retient l’attention.

Fascinated by the folklore of his native Bohemia, and gifted with inexhaustible melodic inventiveness, Antonin Dvorak went through several creative periods as he gradually broke out of the Classical mold; the last of these was deeply influenced by the years he spent in the United States. His kindness and optimism set him apart from the other great Romantics, darker and more tormented in character, and contributed to the unique charm and accessible character of his music, which have earned him justified popularity.

These are two of the most contentious – and rarest - recordings made by the doyen of Czech conductors. Although I have heard rumours that the whole Czech Philharmonic decamped to Vienna to record there, they were apparently made in situ in the National Theatre in Prague in the days of the Nazi-Soviet pact. The Piano Concerto was recorded first and then a year later the Violin Concerto. It’s not hard to see what might have annoyed people.

Along with the increasing frequency that Josef Suk's Symphony in C minor, Op. 27, "Asrael," is performed and recorded, it's great to see it has finally been released as a hybrid SACD. Though the legendary 1952 recording by Vaclav Talich remains the ne plus ultra for devotees of this searing symphonic requiem, it was recorded in mono, and by virtue of its technology has become a historical document that will be sought out mostly by aficionados. Newcomers to Suk's towering work will be aided in appreciation by the fact that Ondine's DSD recording is as clear and deep as always, and none of the details of the elaborate score are lost.