The Vlach Quartet brings to Dvorák’s Quartet No. 13 a stern rigor that’s a touch out of step with the music’s sunny, outgoing nature. The Vlachs seem intent on proving Dvorák’s greatness by stressing the music’s Beethovenian underpinnings. To that end the ensemble plays handsomely, with rich tone and sharp rhythmic definition, factors that are most effective in the slow movement but that make the scherzo sound quite stiff, while the finale never really takes wing the way it does in rival versions.
The Vlach’s seriousness of purpose works better in Tchaikovsky’s melancholy String Quartet No. 3, where the group’s discipline acts as a counterweight to the music’s breast-beating emotionalism, especially in the somber Andante funebre. However, the first movement’s dramatic allegro lacks urgency under the ensemble’s slowish tempos and strict phrasing, certainly when compared to the Borodin Quartet or, more recently, the St. Lawrence Quartet’s deeply affecting performance on EMI. The early 1960s recordings sound clear and robust, with nicely controlled reverberation, though they suffer a bit from limited dynamics. So while this disc offers a fresh and unusual coupling, it’s not a first recommendation.
