Founded in 1999 the
Psophos Quartet (Psophos meaning ‘sonic
event’) and Dana Ciocarlie are pictured
on the front of the CD booklet. They
are an all-female group based mainly
in France. Whilst listening to this
CD my wife looked at the booklet and
said "You won’t be making any feminist
comments will you about how gracefully
they play or how delicate their performances
are". "Of course not, my dear."
I nervously responded. However I have
to say that they do play gracefully,
and passionately and delicately and
forcefully. Indeed they play the music,
the notes on the page, whatever is required
and for me, at least, that is a very
strong starting point.
Although
begun in New York, Dvořák’s last
quartet, a serene valedictory work,
should be seen also as a farewell to
his American experience, where he had
lived from 1891 to 1895. As Nicholas
Southon’s booklet notes remind us, Dvořák’s
sojourn in America, although musically
immensely beneficial, was not an especially
happy experience for him
and his wife. This quartet however seems
to be delighting in the air of Bohemia
once again and that is where he completed
the work. Delight is tempered by the
voice of experience and there is little
of the naivety which is sometimes a
criticism of Dvořák’s
middle period. I realize that naivety
may be a little controversial however.
Chamber
music plays a huge part in Dvořák’s
output. This quartet is in the usual
four movements with a light furiant
with its little shifts of rhythmic
accents as its second
one. The finale is the longest - an
Allegro with a somewhat indecisive formal
layout. The end is luminous and joyous
and brings Dvořák’s chamber music
career to a happy conclusion.
The A major Piano Quintet
dates from 1887, a happy period for
the composer just before writing the
beautiful and typically Czech Eighth
Symphony. This work has many attractive
melodies and characteristic features,
such as the wonderful tune of the slow
movement. This he perhaps over-eggs
a little before embarking on a livelier
middle section. There is also the Scherzo
third movement: another furiant.
It is long work at almost forty-two
minutes and the first movement weighs
in at fifteen minutes. Large sonata-form
structure is adopted with an especially
complex development section.
I should at this point
mention in a little more detail the
booklet notes. If you take or have seen
BBC Music Magazine you will know that
the accompanying CD often comes with
quite detailed analysis and timing indication
points. Unusually so does this CD except
even more so than the magazine. I found
that I was hooked on the analysis which
is helpful and revealing. Each movement
is analyzed. The opening essay on Dvorak’s
later career although interesting, I
find annoying in that it has been written
in, or possibly just translated into,
the present tense.
It’s possible, because
the disc is easily obtainable and cheap
that you, like me, may well have the
A flat Quartet coupled with the ‘American’
on Naxos 8.550251. It is a fine performance
by the Moyzes Quartet - who of course
come from Eastern Europe anyway. They
take a more lyrical and slightly broader
view of the work. The Psophos do not
excel them interpretatively but the
recording is beautifully mellow and
nicely balanced. When it comes to the
Piano Quintet I have for some time been
drawn to a version by the Melos Quartet
with pianist Karl Engel in a double
album from Harmonia Mundi (HMX 2901509.10).
Compared with the disc under review
they are rhythmically more incisive
and determined especially in the outer
movements. In fact there are times when
I wish they would relax and smile a
little more. The slow movement is a
little quicker and they have a great
sense of the overall symphonic architecture
of the work. The Psophos take, on this
occasion, a more lyrical and gentle
approach with less panache. They make
each movement an end in itself. The
second movement is very sensitively
handled especially by pianist Ciocarlie.
The tempo is however dangerously slow
and after about four minutes it seems
to drag. The finale I am sure should
be a polka. The Melos have a greater
sense of the dance in their version.
In addition the Psophos are not served
by such a good recording for this Quintet,
the piano seeming somewhat distant and
disengaged from the strings. Nevertheless
I have enjoyed their easy-going and
serene general approach.
As is usually the case
there are good and not so good things
about this new recording. Personally
I shall keep this disc because despite
some reservations, there is much to
enjoy. Anyway, with great music it’s
always good to have various opposing
interpretations to hand.
Gary Higginson
Psophos Quartet 
