Antonín Dvořák - String Quartets Nos. 8 & 10 (Albion Quartet)

Information

Composer: Antonín Dvořák

• String Quartet No. 8 in E major, Op. 88
• String Quartet No. 10 in E flat major, Op. 51

Albion Quartet

    Tamsin Waley-Cohen, violin

    Emma Parker, violin

    Rosalind Ventris, viola

    Nathaniel Boyd, cello

Date: 2020

Label: Signum

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Review

What a gorgeous disc! True, it’d be a poor sort of string quartet who couldn’t make your heart melt with the opening phrases of Dvořák’s Op 51 String Quartet. But I’ve rarely felt such a glow of love from the less familiar E major Quartet, Op 80, the opening piece on this second disc in (let’s hope) a series devoted to Dvořák from this young British ensemble.

I’m not sure if there’s such a thing as a distinctively Czech style of quartet-playing (when I interviewed the Pavel Haas Quartet last year, they emphatically denied it – 11/19). But anyone who thinks that the new generation of super-quartets are merely about virtuoso brilliance should hear the myriad shades of russet and gold that the Albion Quartet find in these two enchanting works. This, surely, is how Dvořák’s chamber music is supposed to sound: luminous, playful (there’s a real kick to his dotted dance-rhythms), and simultaneously generous and touchingly intimate.

But the Albions engage head as well as heart, finding exactly the right scale for the climaxes in Op 80’s slow movement and moving brilliantly, buoyantly as one in the exuberant skočná that closes Op 51. Some tempos can feel a little breathless but the Albions’ obvious love for this music is never laboured: I liked the way leader Tamsin Waley-Cohen applies the lightest of portamentos to the third movement of Op 80 – nothing blatant, but enough to make the melody flow.

But in the big tuttis (such as in the fast sections of Op 51’s dumka second movement) there’s still a satisfying crunch of rosin on string, though it’s never hectoring or crude – just (like the whole disc) sweetly and unaffectedly musical. I know it’s early, but I can already see this being my pick of the year.

— Richard Bratby

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Antonín Dvořák (September 8, 1841 – May 1, 1904) was a Czech composer. He was the second Czech composer to achieve worldwide recognition, after Bedřich Smetana. Following Smetana's nationalist example, many of Dvořák's works show the influence of Czech folk music, such as his  two sets of Slavonic Dances, the Symphonic Variations, and the overwhelming majority of his songs. Dvořák wrote in a variety of forms: nine symphonies, ten operas, three concertos, several symphonic poems, serenades for string orchestra and wind ensemble, more than 40 works of chamber music, and piano music.

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Formed in 2016, the Albion Quartet is a leading UK-based string quartet known for its dynamic international presence and creative collaborations. They debuted at prestigious venues like the Concertgebouw and Wigmore Hall and have held residencies across Europe. The group collaborates with contemporary composers and renowned artists, premiering works by Kate Whitley and Freya Waley-Cohen. Passionate about education, they teach at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama and support music outreach in schools. Their recording projects include works by Dvořák, Walton, Britten and Blackford.

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