It’s generally acknowledged that Dvorák’s piano works form perhaps the weakest segment of his output. How ironic, then, that one of his best known tunes comes from among these same pieces: Humoresque No. 5. You would think that the ubiquity of this charming little work would at least encourage enterprising pianists to take on the remaining seven Humoresques in the complete set, but Czech artists aside, no one seems to be interested. The situation is even more depressing with respect to the Poetic Moods, Op. 85 (sometimes also called “Poetic Tone-Pictures”). These thirteen character pieces are first-rate Dvorák, and had he taken the time to orchestrate them we would have had another series comparable to the “Legends,” or the delightful “Czech Suite.” Radoslav Kvapil’s sympathetic and idiomatic performances of this music, recorded in the late 60s, join the three volumes already issued by Supraphon to form both the finest and only complete survey of Dvorák’s piano works. There are some real gems awaiting rediscovery among these four CDs, and this volume in particular offers the best of the lot.
