December 6–13, 2001

cd reviews|classical

Dvorak, Melos Quartet

String Quartets op. 105, 106.

(Harmonia Mundi)

The chamber music of Brahms may be more popular, but in terms of concise structure, dramatic variety and simple beauty of melody, his work is strongly rivaled by that of his Czech contemporary and friend Dvorak. These are the last two string quartets of Dvorak, written after his sojourn in America, and they are rife with New World influences, notably in the folksy, songlike melodies. But as in so much of Dvorak, there is the even more powerful presence of the music of his homeland, especially in the lively, dancing scherzos of both quartets, with echoes of Dvorak’s Slavonic Dances. Above all, there is a warmth and honesty of this work, wedded to impeccable craft, that makes this music impossible to resist. The venerable Melos Quartet, of Stuttgart, Germany, plays this music in the soft-edged, deliberate manner typical of the Central European style, as opposed to the more etched and propulsive style that such American ensembles as the Guarneri Quartet bring to this repertoire.

—Peter Burwasser