Who could have dreamed record collectors one day would be spoiled for choice of Tchaikovsky string quartets? This is especially so in the First (with its popular Andante Cantabile), which here receives a loving rendition by the Prague String Quartet. The ensemble plays with a keen rhythmic and melodic sensitivity that, while not displacing the virtuosity of the Borodin Quartet or the passionate warmth of the St. Lawrence, nonetheless makes for a pleasing and memorable experience.

The Prague is just as adept in presenting the manifold beauties of Borodin's String Quartet No. 2 which, when juxtaposed with the Tchaikovsky, emerges as a work of superior melodic inventiveness. The Prague players' heartfelt lyricism is certainly welcome in this irresistibly emotive music (their Notturno is delightful), even if they must again yield to the Borodin Quartet's cultivated sensuality. The 1968 Tchaikovsky recording presents a more spacious acoustic than the 1981 Borodin, which suffers from somewhat boxy sound.

--Victor Carr Jr