Simply stunning performances by members of the Prazak and Kocian Quartets (and friends) should win many happy listeners for this witty and colorful music. If you ever thought that a Duo for Violin and Cello must be dull, then you have to hear Schulhoff's outrageously energetic and appealing contribution to the medium. All four of these works date from 1924-25, when the composer was working in the first flush of his artistic maturity, and the fun simply never stops. They explore common roots in folk music (Zingaresca in the Duo, Furiant in the Concertino, Alla Czecha in the Five Pieces, and Burlesca in the Sextet), they flirt with jazz, and dance and sing with complete insouciance.

The Five Pieces for String Quartet include a waltz, a tango, and a tarantella all packed into a scant 13 minutes. The Concertino for Flute (Piccolo), Viola, and Double Bass achieves a nearly endless variety of texture and sound combinations with unflagging humor. A bit more on the abrasive and serious side, the String Sextet closes with a pensive Molto adagio that strikes a deeper note than the other works here. It concludes the disc with a moody question mark, leaving us to ponder the composer's death in 1942 in a Nazi prison camp.

As noted above, the performances leave nothing to be desired: they have all the rhythmic verve and intensity the music demands, and also a wholly alluring beauty of timbre. Congratulations go especially to flutist Václav Kunt, whose tone (whether on flute or piccolo) retains its remarkable purity without ever turning breathy or shrill, even in the Concertino's most extreme passages. The sonics are perfect, whether in stereo or very discreet multichannel surround formats. This disc is a joy from first note to last. [10/1/2004]

--David Hurwitz