Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904)
String Quartets Volume 5
String Quartet No. 7 in A minor, Op. 16 (1874)
String Quartet No. 1 in A, Op. 2 (1862)
String Quartet No. 11 in C, Op. 61 (1881)
Two Waltzes, Op. 54 (1881)
Vogler Quartet
Frithjof-Martin Grabner (double bass)
rec. 2021-23, Studio Börne, Berlin
cpo 555 672-2 [2 CDs: 126]
Here and elsewhere, I’ve gone on at some length about how the Czechs get their native music “just right.” The accents, the phrasings, the expression – they simply bring it the right “accent,” with a style unmatched elsewhere.
The Vogler Quartet is certainly not Czech – in fact, founded in 1985, its “bio” calls it an “East German” ensemble – but, initially, they’re well on the way to duplicating the natives’ unique style. The very first chord of the A minor Quartet settles in with an easy, warm unanimity – that’s true, in fact, in all three quartets – and an idiomatic melancholy. The second, lyrical group has a strong chordal underpinning; agitated pulsing propels the development. The long-breathed Andante, too, has a nicely settled start – but it’s not quite right: the tempo, easy and flowing, isn’t authentically spacious. A bit of confused scansion launches the scherzo; the finale recaptures the Bohemian folk flavour, though the unresolved major sevenths in the home stretch are a harmonic surprise.
The players are far more successful, oddly, in the other two, longer quartets, each of which runs just over forty minute. The A major is especially impressive, as so much of Dvořák’s early writing could be prolix and discursive. (I’m not sure any quartet can really bring coherence to Quartet 3.) But, from the gently pulsing, fervently lyrical first movement, the Voglers have it all worked out. The slow (well, Andante) introduction’s diatonic progressions are a surprise; the Allegro has a nice buoyancy, with crisp yet cushioned punctuating accents. The coda threatens to wander, but the propulsion holds it together. The Adagio, after an intense start, takes in big but still lyrical gestures, with rhythmically marked accompaniments. In the comparatively brief, Mendelssohnian scherzo, leisurely and sweet, the important counterthemes are clear. The duple-metre finale should be square, but the theme’s syncopations help keep it airborne.
Dramatic musical gestures dominate the C Major’s first movement, though, in the second group, the harmonies turn slithery and unstable. The Poco adagio begins in gentle Bohemian nostalgia, veering into adventurous harmonies and spare textures, finally opening into rich, drenched tone. The Scherzo, this one officially labeled as such, is measured yet grounded, eliding into the sunny major at the Trio. The Finale‘s rhythms are both pointed and lilting; like the first movement, it generates a nearly symphonic vigor and drama.
Bassist Frithjof-Martin Grabner joins the quartet for two waltzes, from the Opus 54 set for solo piano, giving the sonority a still deeper foundation. The gently nostalgic Moderato doesn’t amount to much, but the violin gives its companion a quasi-improvisatory start, and it has a stronger, more emphatic dance feel.
In many ways, this is a very fine set, close enough to capturing the echt-Bohemian style that I’m irritated it didn’t get all the way there. But that is a compliment. Besides, it’s nice to have a clutch of Dvořák quartets that doesn’t include the American, for once, lovely as it is.
Stephen Francis Vasta
stevedisque.wordpress.com/blog
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