Janacek and Smetana:
String Quartets.
We get to enjoy the following selections on this CD:
Janacek:
- String Quartet No. 1 ‘The Kreutzer Sonata’
- String Quartet No. 2 ‘Intimate Letters’
Smetana:
- String Quartet No. 1 in E minor ‘From My Life’
Performed by the Takács Quartet.
This is a second new album this year from the Takács Quartet presents three popular string quartets from Czechoslovakia.
BBC Music Magazine wrote the following:
“For a moment or two in the Smetana one might think that the Takács Quartet’s almost Olympian objectivity wouldn’t suit music that often seems to well up so directly from the heart. In fact it’s a vindication of Smetana as a large-scale dramatic architect. And that ‘objectivity’ doesn’t prevent ‘From my life’ becoming surprisingly moving at times…the same is true of the Janáček. The music touches, stirs, excites, but at the same time you’re aware of how strongly each quartet is shaped as a whole.”
Here is a brief trailer for this CD:
