Piano Quintet No. 2 in A major, Op. 81 (B. 155)

Allegro, ma non tanto


  • Recorded: 27th June 2017
  • Record Place: The Dvořák Hall of Rudolfinum, Prague
  • First Release: 2017
  • (P) 2017 SUPRAPHON a.s.
  • Genre: Chamber Music

Artists

  • music by: Antonín Dvořák
  • piano: Boris Giltburg
  • musical group: Pavel Haas Quartet

Album

Pavel Haas Quartet, Boris Giltburg, Pavel Nikl

Dvořák: Quintets Op. 81 & 97

Catalogue Number: SU 4195-2
Published: 20th October 2017
Genre: Chamber Music
Format: 1 CD
This album has received following awards:
  • Gramophone Editor´s Choice (2017)
  • Album of the Week, Sunday Times (2017)
  • Recording of the Month, BBC Music Magazine (2017)
  • Recording of the Week, Presto Classical (2017)
  • Discs of 2017, Presto Classical (2017)
  • Discs of the Year - Record Review, BBC Radio 3 (2018)
  • Recordings of the Year, MusicWeb International (2018)
  • CD of the Week, Musiq3 (2018)
  • Choc de Classica (2018)
  • Gramophone Chamber Award (2018)
  • Diapason d´Or, Diapason Magazine (2018)
Dvořák - Quintets opp 81 and 97 / Pavel Haas Quartet, B. Giltburg, P. Nikl

Antonín Dvořák - Piano Quintet No. 2 in A Major op. 81 (1887), String Quintet in E-Flat Major op. 97 (1893)

Pavel Haas Quartet (Veronika Jarůšková - 1st violin, Marek Zwiebel - 2nd violin, Radim Sedmidubský - viola, Peter Jarůšek - violoncello), Boris Giltburg - piano, Pavel Nikl - viola

Seven years after they triumphed with Dvořák's quartets (SU 4038-2, op. 96 "American" and op. 106 - Gramophone Award "Recording of the Year"), Pavel Haas Quartet are back to Dvořák. For the occasion of recording his quintets, they have invited two guests: the pianist Boris Giltburg (winner of 2013 Queen Elizabeth Competition), as well as one of the PHQ founding members, violist Pavel Nikl. Antonín Dvořák composed his Piano Quintet No. 2 while staying at his beloved summer house in Vysoká in the late summer of 1887. The renowned critic Eduard Hanslick responded to its performance in Vienna enthusiastically: "It is one of his most beautiful works. A genuine Dvořák." The String Quintet op. 97 , albeit only six years younger, presents a completely "different Dvořák". After the Symphony from the New World and the "American" quartet, the string quintet is the composer's third work written in America. Besides drawing inspiration from the music of the Native American tribe of the Iroquois which he heard in Spillville in the summer of 1893, he built the third movement around a theme that he had previously considered using in a proposal for a new American anthem. And Hanslick's testimonial? "This is probably the simplest, most natural and happiest music composed since Haydn's times. The ear enjoys it with an easy-going attitude and the spirit is not bored for a single moment." Pavel Haas Quartet is at home in Dvořák's music - to quote the Sunday Times, "In this repertoire, they are simply matchless today."

Pavel Haas Quartet: Reaching the heart of Dvořák

Reviews

“The Pavel Haas Quartet, joined by violist Pavel Nikl, certainly capture his reflective mood in the introduction to the first movement, but they also secure a sure-footed balance between tenderness and giddy celebration. Equally impressive is the scherzo in which the exuberant ‚hoedown‘ of the main section contrasts with a magically beautiful performance of the trio. Throughout the slow movement, the playing of the solo lines is captivating and the finale is both sophisticated in delivery while communicating irrepressible energy.”
BBC Music Magazine, November 2017

“The brilliant, technicolor recordings of the Pavel Haas Quartet have won it an impressive array of awards since its inception in 2002. More will surely follow for this latest excursion into the works of Dvořák. The playing is breathtakingly good, each performer maintaining their own personality and yet working together to conjure a special magic, whether in the sparkling “furiant” of the piano quintet No 2 in A major, Op 81 (with Boris Giltburg at his most mercurial), or the dreamy, song-like opening movement of the string quintet in E flat major, Op 97, redolent of the wide-open spaces of rural Iowa. Highly recommended.”
The Observer, October 2017

“Something that always takes my breath away with this quartet is the range and breadth of dynamics and tone colours that they produce, as well as the perfect blend of sound that they make whilst still allowing individual members’ contributions to come to the fore when required. The very opening of the piano quintet is a case in point: with its gentle cello melody supported solely by a rocking piano accompaniment it makes for a beautifully hushed opening, and as played here by cellist Peter Jarůšek it is simply sublime. Take also the first movement of the string quintet, where the players move from digging in with such force that it sounds like their strings are about to snap, to the most delicately tender chords.”
Presto Classical, October 2017

“Another Pavel Haas Quartet disc, another triumph. They seem always immersed in all they play, both in terms of their rapport but their instinctive understanding of the score too.”
Gramophone, November 2017

“Throughout the album with such inspiring musicianship PHQ successfully deal with the challenges of varying emotional depth and meter of the scores. (…) The Pavel Haas Quartet continues its tradition of adding excellently performed albums to its discography.”
MusicWeb International, November 2017

“The interpretations and recording of this cd are at a very high standard. Boris Giltburg’s colorful playing supports the brilliantly playing Pavel Haas Quartet”
De Standaard, December 2017

“The reactive tension on which this quartet's repu­tation for seductive performances lies can sometimes tire and grate, but here it delivers musical experiences nothing short of compelling… There is little sense of leaning back in dreamy repose here, even in the passages that might suggest that feeling… Nervous tension prevails, and in this instance, with involving sound, it enthrals.”
The Strad, January 2018

“The opening movement is so powerful that the ensuing Dumka sounds hushed by comparison, though the gradual build-up toward the final two movements is handled perfectly… When it comes to Dvorak’s String Quintet, however, I immediately knew that this was a special performance. Joined by violist Pavel Nikl, the Haas Quartet plays this with even more brio, but their vision of the piece prevents it from seeming raucous or out of control. Both the Allegro vivo and the Larghetto are proportionately measured, refined, even sweet in tone.”
American Record Guide, February 2018

“L´investissement et l´inspiration des interprètes ne failblissent pas une seconde: au milieu de prises de vues panoramiques, on leur retrouve des accents aussi radicalement fouettés que chez Smetana en 2015 (Cinq Diapason, cf. no. 639), un art du chant à tomber … et des couleurs à faire pâlir d´envie tous ceux qui y ont tenté leur chance depuis les Talich il y a quenze ans… Apothéose!”
Diapason, February 2018

“Au sein d’une discographie de haut vol, le Quatuor Pavel Haas se distingue par sa lecture sans concession, aux lignes clairement dessinées et au pouls palpitant. Tout entier au service de Dvořák, il émeut, surprend, bouscule, et tient l’auditeur en haleine. On n’en sort pas indemne.”
Classica, July 2018

Antonín Dvořák
Piano Quintet No. 2 in A major, Op. 81 (B. 155)
1. Allegro, ma non tanto 14:58
2. Dumka. Andante con moto 14:16
3. Scherzo - Furiant. Molto vivace 04:21
4. Finale. Allegro 08:29
Antonín Dvořák
String Quintet in E flat major, Op. 97 (B. 180)
5. Allegro non tanto 09:11
6. Allegro vivo 05:48
7. Larghetto 09:50
8. Finale. Allegro giusto 07:48

Linked video