MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

REVIEW


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 

alternatively
CD: MDT AmazonUK AmazonUS
Sound Samples & Downloads

Antonín DVOŘÁK (1841-1904)
Six Cypresses from B152 [14:21]
String Quartet No.13 in G major, Op. 106, B192 [36:59]
Two Waltzes from Op 54, B105 [6:38]
Cecilia Quartet (Min-Jeong Koh, Sarah Nematallah (violins), Caitlin Boyle (viola), Rachel Desoer (cello)).
rec. 20-23 December 2011, Koerner Hall, Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto, Canada
ANALEKTA AN 2 9892  [57:58]

Experience Classicsonline


The young, rising Cecilia String Quartet deliver a knockout performance of Dvořák’s thirteenth string quartet. This is a reading of incredible individuality and it sounds like nobody else’s, which for such a popular and beloved piece is really saying something. These four women are unafraid to be bold, adventurous, different: the first movement has a symphonic sense of drama, the adagio’s many gear-shifts feel natural and are spurred on by truly impassioned playing. Throughout there are tiny touches - portamento here, the slightest pause to linger on a turn of phrase there - which set the Cecilia Quartet apart without ever making them sound perverse or wilful. The final coda is a case in point: you might raise an eyebrow at the massive hesitation with which it begins, but then the quartet chugs forward mightily to a mega-exciting finish. In other words, this is a reading in which the risk-taking is governed by good taste. It belongs with the best modern recordings, just shy of the Pavel Haas Quartet’s gold standard. The PHQ are also young and audacious, with only slightly more wow-factor.
 
The quartet is framed by shorter works: six of the Cypresses, B152, adaptations of songs which are here rendered in an appropriately lyrical, cantabile fashion, and two lovely waltzes, from Op 54, which serve as encores. The sound quality, big and in-your-face, suits the quartet’s personality and presents it in a thrilling close setting. The booklet unaccountably fails to give the names of the Cecilia Quartet’s members, so I have provided them in the heading; actually Nematallah is mentioned but misspelled. The booklet also fails to give track timings, so I’ve listed them below.
 
Given the rude treatment of these four incredible players, perhaps you should target this as an MP3 download via ClassicsOnline, Amazon, eMusic, or iTunes. It is certainly worthy of your attention for an invigorating hour of playing from a quartet that’s bold enough to sound like nobody else. The Cecilia String Quartet are, along with the Parker and Jasper Quartets, rising stars on the North American chamber music scene. Keep an eye on these young women.  

Brian Reinhart 

 
Track-listing 
from the Cypresses, B. 152 (1887)
2. Death reigns in many a human breast [2:12]
3. When Thy Sweet Glances On Me Fall [2:28]
7. I Wander Oft Past Yonder House [1:46]
9. Thou Only Dear One, But For Thee [2:52]
11. Nature Lies Peaceful In Slumber & Dreaming [2:27]
12. You Ask Why My Songs [2:38]
 
String Quartet No 13 in G, Op 106 (1895)
Allegro moderato [10:30]
Adagio ma non troppo [10:04]
Molto vivace [5:29]
Andante sostenuto - Allegro con fuoco [10:57]
 
from the Waltzes, B. 105 (1879-1880)
Waltz No 1 [3:35]
Waltz No 4 [3:03] 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Error processing SSI file



Error processing SSI file