# Dvorak - Cypresses (SQ review)



## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Dvorak's 1887 Cypresses, the collection of string quartet miniatures that often fill out discs of the composer's better-known chamber works, had their origins as an early song-cycle written in 1865 when the 24-year-old composer was still finding his style. The cycle's dedicatee criticised the word-settings; the composer later agreed and 'banked' the 18 songs (to use a musical theatre term), reusing any number of them over the years in operas and, most significantly, in the 12 string quartet pieces that constitute Cypresses. The string quartet versions don't really feel like songs at all but neither do they feel like quartets due to their lower use of conversational passages.

Though lightweight and occasionally a bit soppy most agree that this cycle is well worth hearing. Emotionally, the quartets are safe vignettes ranging from the playful to the slightly tortured but they aren't formulaic pieces. The best of them, IMO, are #2 and #13 as they remind me a little of a diluted Janacek.

Whittington chamber music fest 2019






Quite a few recordings of these (and some part sets I'll deal with too) and none I wouldn't recommend, tbh. Unfortunately I'm yet to hear the Prazaks or the Zemlinskys. Here's my thoughts...

Part sets 

Australian- lovely, spritely performances
New Helsinki - fine accounts coupled with an equally fine pair of Janacek quartets.
Hagen - very Panocha-like performances and shame there's not a full set.
Cecilia - strong, robust and quite in your face but boy do the Cecilias rock! Great part set paired with a recommended 13th quartet.

Just Recommended

Vlach Prague
Audobon
Cleveland
Delos

*Better

Cypress* - forceful, great sound, nuanced
*English* - very warm and loving
*Chilingirian* - technically very impressive
*Stamitz* - played from the heart
*Emerson* - assured and lithe,
*Prague* - quirky, resonant and lots of vibrato
*Lindsays* - surprisingly more relaxed and lyrical

*Highly recommended

Delme* - warm, radiant and incredibly beautiful playing. There's a cosiness about the Delme's sound that's like a huge warm comfort blanket. This was a real creeper and the full song cycle is also on the same disc for those that like to listen to the warbly stuff.
*Vogler* - more robust performances and similar in style to the Cypress set but the Voglers are less nuanced, more rustic and nowhere near as closely recorded so the quartet can breathe, here.
*Leipziger* - if you want a broader, cooler and a little darker reading than the two below then this will do the trick. The engineering from MDG is wonderful and whilst they aren't as idiomatically Czech as others their lyrical, singing accounts are simply gorgeous.

*Top picks*

*Bennewitz* - what a gloriously played and loving recording. Performances are full of that characteristic Czech 'bounce'.

*Panocha* - if you know their other Dvorak recordings you know what to expect. Beautiful playing of great clarity.


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