Dvorák’s First Quartet, though later revised by the composer, is something of a marvel–a beautiful, rather Schumannesque piece full of good tunes. And contrary to the standard line, it’s very effectively structured (that part isn’t Schumannesque–I’m thinking of the themes of the opening movement). Like all of his string music, it’s also quite colorfully arranged for the ensemble, and its slow movement is heady stuff, expressively speaking. The Sixth, on the other hand, was originally written in a single movement, and Dvorák planned to break it up into four independent movements. He never finished the job, and making it performable involves a bit of restoration work; but again, it’s full of good music, and (oddly enough) is also very well proportioned.
The Vlach Quartet Prague’s ongoing series has been generally good. They aren’t players on the level of, say, the Panocha or Prazák quartets, but heaven knows they understand the idiom, and aside from some minor unsteadiness here and there from first violin Jana Vlachová, they turn in very respectable performances. There are a few occasions in the slow movements of both works where I would have liked a bit more dynamic sensitivity in quiet passages, but they dig into the allegros with passion and keep the music moving purposefully forward. If you want to sample Dvorák’s early quartets and don’t want to buy a big box or pay full price, this single disc will serve your purpose quite nicely, particularly as the sonics are quite good too.
