Antonin Dvorák’s Piano Quartet No. 2 is one of the greatest chamber works of the 19th century (as are many of Dvorák’s chamber compositions). Written in 1889 at the request of his publisher Simrock, it is a big, bold work filled with the Czech master’s trademark melodic fecundity, harmonic richness, and rhythmic vitality. The first movement is a soaring, outdoor allegro with an assertively optimistic main theme accented by Czech contours and Dvorák’s love of mixing major and minor modes. The Lento movement’s wistful main theme is played with a perfect mixture of passion and poise by cellist Yo-Yo Ma. The music alternates between passages of drama and delicacy in this, one of Dvorák’s finest slow movements in any medium. The Scherzo’s stately waltz is contrasted by a lively, up-tempo Czech country dance. The finale is a high-stepping, high-spirited allegro with a strong rhythmic pulse that relaxes for the beautifully lyrical second subject. The development is a satisfying combination of motivic variety and strict structural logic. Dvorák packs a lot of music into this movement that lasts less than seven minutes. Ma and colleagues Isaac Stern, Jaime Laredo, and Emanuel Ax bring the same excitement, virtuosity, and cohesiveness to this work as they did in their recordings of the Brahms piano quartets.
Dvorák’s Romantic Pieces for Violin and Piano were originally composed as a trio and later rearranged by the composer. The pieces live up to their name with their contrasting doleful, serene, and angry moods. The Sonatina in G for Violin and Piano was composed for Dvorák’s teenaged son and daughter, who gave the premiere. There is nothing amateurish about this music whose second movement was inspired by Dvorák’s visit to Minnesota’s Minehaha falls while reflecting on Longfellow’s Song of Hiawatha. Stern, who is handsomely accompanied by pianist Robert McDonald, plays with much more security of tone and intonation than on his recording of Brahms’ Violin Sonatas a few years back, reclaiming his stature among the violin’s elder statesmen. The recording is warmly reverberant for the violin and piano works, but the quartet recording has the strings sounding up-close and dry. [6/17/2000]
