# Dvorak - the best string quartets and the best recordings of them



## FPwtc

I have been listening to a cd of Dvorak's String Quartet opus96 in F major by the Janacek String Quartet which I bought for a £1 on a whim. I love it and wanted to hear more! 

What do you guys think are his essential quartets and the corresponding essential recordings of them?

Thanks!


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## Art Rock

View attachment 90164


I'd recommend this box, a complete set in good performances, for an absolute bargain price (10 CDs for 13 euro). Then you can sample which you like best. Some will tell you not to bother with the early ones, but personally I like those as well.


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## Delicious Manager

Some of Dvořák's early quartets are very long (one clocks in at well over an hour) and can outlast their welcome. It is generally accepted that the 'best' ones are the later ones such as the ones in A flat, Op 105 and G major, Op 106. You should also listen to the two string quintets (G major, Op 77 and E flat, Op 97) and the String Sextet in A major, Op 48.


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## FPwtc

Thanks very much, this is a good start! I have one of the quintets on that CD as well actually and I like it.


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## sbmonty

I own the complete set by the Panocha Quartet. I enjoy it very much.


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## Quartetfore

The Emerson Quartet has recorded some of the works, and is a very good buy.
QF


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## majlis

I like very much op 34, op.51. op.96, 105 y 106. And by the Prague, the Bohemian and the Smetana.


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## PeterF

Dvorak wrote 12 String Quartets. The box set by the Prague Quartet does well with them all. However, the general view seems to be that Dvoraks best are string quartets No. 9 through 14. 
For quartets No. 9, 10, 11, 13, and 14 I recommend the recordings by the Zemlinsky Quartet as well as the Prague Quartet.
Quartet No.12 "American" tends to be the most popular and most often recorded. There are numerous recordings of that one.
Two that I especially like are by the Guarneri Quartet and the Smetana Quartet.


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## Pugg

​
Panocha Quartet
On another thread this was highly recommend, just arrived and so far no complaining.


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## Pugg

Pugg said:


> ​
> Panocha Quartet
> On another thread this was highly recommend, just arrived and so far no complaining.


A year and half gone, still no 1 for me. :angel:


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## mariabianca

I love Dvorak’s string quartets but I HIGHLY reccomend his Piano Quintet no.2 op.81.
I first heard it played by members of the CSO at the art institute of Chicago and it’s been a favorite of mine since (the second movement especially).


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## wkasimer

mariabianca said:


> I love Dvorak's string quartets but I HIGHLY reccomend his Piano Quintet no.2 op.81.
> I first heard it played by members of the CSO at the art institute of Chicago and it's been a favorite of mine since (the second movement especially).


I heard this a couple of weeks ago with the Emerson Quartet and Evgeny Kissin in Boston, a fantastic performance of one of my favorite chamber works. Check out the recording by the Pavel Haas Quartet on Supraphon:


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## Merl

Save up and buy this box. It's not cheap but it's one helluva set and, IMO, leaves all other complete sets in the shade. Stunning!


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## Quartetfore

There is a good set on Naxos at a budget price that is worth looking into--the Vlach Quartet of Prague. If you want to hear the very early works with out spending a lot money they are good way to go. A special recording of the Op.106 is the one on Virgin Classics by the Artemis Quartet. Less Czech sounding then others, but wonderful playing. On the disc is a great perfomance of the Janacek #2. the Pavel Haas Quartet recording of the Op. 106 and Op.96 has had great reviews, but I think that the dynamics are exaggerated. I do have the recording, but, but never play it.


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## Brahmsian Colors

The Stamitz Quartet and the Panocha Quartet---both very fine.


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## KenOC

A better buy for the Stamitz set is this download that has the complete Dvorak, Smetana, Martinu, and Janacek quartets. 15 hours in all. At Amazon, for nine bucks!


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## Quartetfore

KenOC said:


> A better buy for the Stamitz set is this download that has the complete Dvorak, Smetana, Martinu, and Janacek quartets. 15 hours in all. At Amazon, for nine bucks!


Very good buy.The works were recorded by Bayer around 1988 or so, but the sound has held up very well. For some reason, the quartet is also called the Stamic Quartet.


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## GrotesqueFugue

I've got various different recordings of a few of the quartets and the full Stamitz set. I was a bit underwhelmed by the selection that the Emerson have recorded - they're hands-down my favourites as complete sets for Beethoven and Mendelssohn, but for Dvorak I have yet to hear anything that surpasses the Prager Streichquartett. This must have been one of the first classical CDs sets I purchased, as I bought it on special order from a Virgin Records shop having borrowed it from the library and become rather smitten with it. I'm a little bit gutted to see that having paid nearly £90 for it circa 2000/2001, it's now on Amazon for less than £30 and an absolute bargain at that: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dvor%C3%A1k-String-Quartets-DG-Collectors/dp/B00002DEH4


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## classfolkphile

Merl said:


> Save up and buy this box. It's not cheap but it's one helluva set and, IMO, leaves all other complete sets in the shade. Stunning!
> 
> View attachment 103532


Seconded. The Stamitz, Vlach, and others are good but the Panocha are the most idiomatic and, to me, are on another level.

There is also a 3 CD Panocha set of the Dvorak "Essential String Quartets" (10-14, Cypresses) available at Presto for $20.


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## Merl

I had the Stamitz for years and whilst it is a really good set the Panocha just brings many of these quartets to life. I think I paid £30 for it 10 years ago. Wonderful VFM set.


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