Given their infrequent appearances on concert programmes, Dvorák’s string quartets have done rather well in the recorded catalogues. There are several recordings of the complete cycle of 16 works, which span the composer’s career. A couple have been made by native ensembles from the composer’s Czech homeland but also a couple more by central-European ensembles such as the Stamitz Quartet, who since their foundation in 1985 have been known as leading interpreters of Czech repertoire. The approach of the Stamitz Quartet is quite different from either the Panocha or Prague ensembles, noted David Hurwitz in Classics Today: ‘more relaxed, less rhythmically charged, and gracious in an old-world sort of way… The group also gives unusual stature to the somewhat formally scattered early works, particularly the monstrous Third Quartet, which at 72 minutes has to be just about the all-time longest string quartet that ostensibly observes the rules of classical form.’ Taken as a whole, the quartets chart the evolution of Dvorák’s style, from his interest in Wagnerian music in the years prior to 1870 – in the String Quartet in D major – to the folk-infused works of his later life, such as the String Quartet in G major Op.106, and show the influence of his time in the United States, with the String Quartet in F Op.96 'American'. If the only Dvorák quartet that you’re familiar with is the ‘American’, then this set will provide an embarkation point for what should prove an immensely fruitful musical journey.
