# Dvorak - String Quartet 9 op.34



## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

The 9th is a very fine quartet and tbh there's few bad recordings of it but some of the old boys rose to the very top this time.

Here's a slightly undernourished live account courtesy of the Zemlinsky Quartet






Recommended

Delme
Apollon
Chilingirian

*Highly desirable (all superb) 

Stamitz* - slightly more measured than the Panochas the Stamitz play the 2nd movement particularly well.
*Panocha* - a great all-rounder of a performance with perfect tone and sensible rhythms. A bit more bucolic charm and this would be rips for me.
*Vlach Prague (Naxos) * - although the broadest in this small bunch the Vlach's slower tempos work well when played so lovingly, especially in the adagio.
*Prague* - I like the peppy little old-world touches that the Prague bring to this performance.
*Kocian* - Kocian quartet recordings can be quite hit or miss in my experience but this one is a really good one, very Prazak-sounding (which is not surprising as it's from the same Praga part- cycle as their stablemates).
*American String Quartet* - a fine full-bodied recording reissued on Warner Apex. A late addition.

*Special

Janacek* - full of rustic Czechness, the standout movements are a magnificent 2 and 4 here and but for a slightly less convincing adagio this would be up with the Vlachs and Smetana.

*Wihan* - this characteristic but never overstated performance deserves your attention for its magnificent adagio alone. Elsewhere the Wihans are just as impressive. What a lovely account this is.

*Top picks

Vlach (1968)* - yep it's those pesky Vlachs again! This gutsy and great-sounding 1968 recording has a tone that I just adore. It's bold and brassy when required but gloriously elegiac in the adagio. Not a dull moment from start to finish. You need this.

*Smetana (1964) *- the recorded analogue sound may be a little bright and coarse but by god do the Smetanas put some umph into this performance. They really do live and breathe this quartet. The finale is just extraordinarily good.

*Vogler* - such a warm and loving account from the Voglers, whose tone is beguilingly beautiful at times. Aided by a recorded sound to die for this is probably the most impressive recording of any of the Vogler"s Dvorak I've heard up to now.


----------

