Search - Dvorak, Maly, Maxian :: Dvorak: Piano Quintet in A No 2 Op 81 (Ondricek Quartet, Frantisek Maxian, piano); String Quintet in E-flat Major Op 97 (Suk Quartet, Lubomir Maly, viola)

The String Quintet, a live performance recorded in stereo in 1978, is a lovely version of a lovely piece. But the disc's major historical interest is in the Piano Quintet, recorded on 78s in 1947 and once issued on an early Mercury LP. Frantisek Maxian was a student of Vilem Kurz, for whom Dvo?ák wrote his Piano Concertos. The Ondricek Quartet was founded in 1921 and still had two of its original members in 1947. In other words, this richly inflected performance is steeped in tradition and gives us a taste of Dvo?ák's music as it might have been heard shortly after the composer's death. A real treasure. --Leslie Gerber