Like so much of Dvořák’s
output, this is all tunefully appealing music. More renowned
for the cello concerto than his violin concerto (and this is a pity
because the latter is an utterly charming composition) he also wrote
a handful of works for violin and piano, of which the Romantic pieces
for Violin and Piano Op.75 is a reworking of a Terzetto (1887) for two
violins and viola, the first violin part remaining in its original form
whilst the other two string parts were transformed into a piano part.
The Sonata (1880) is a classic three movement (quick-slow-quick)
work, rather intimate and lyrical as well as rising to passionate heights
in the slow movement, whilst the more popular and deceptively simple
Sonatina (a grander four-movement construction) covers a variety of
moods. Dvořák’s finales are always sparkling affairs with
catchy tunes and, if he is in his folksy mood, snappy rhythms. The Sonatina
was composed in New York in 1893 and its second movement appeared separately
in various guises and under such names as Indian Elegy or Indian Lullaby.
The two single movement works (Nocturne and Ballad) had complicated
histories with earlier existences, either as part of a slow movement
of a quartet or as the sketch for the slow movement of the 7th
Symphony respectively.
In the hands of the masterly playing of
Josef Suk, who is Dvořák’s great-grandson, the sheer warmth of
tone and energetically rhythmic vitality he brings to his playing, gives
the music its authentic style (the finest track being the second of
the Romantic Pieces). The sound is full-blooded and the partnership
with Hala electrifying (he was for years a member of the famed Suk Piano
Trio). This is a fine disc, beautifully recorded and an enduring record
of a generation which (both men being in their 70s now) will regrettably
soon disappear. They don’t make them like that any more.
Christopher Fifield
Josef Suk (violin)