Dvorak: String Quintet No. 3 & String Sextet The Raphael Ensemble Dohnányi (Complete Piano Music Vol 2) Four Pieces, Op. 2
Variations and Fugue for Piano solo, Op. 4
5 Humoresken Op. 17
Valses nobles
after Schubert Hyperion: CDA67932 Two Cds of Czech music to review - an easy choice ! Hyperion's Helios re-releases are usually good bets, and this one is a delight. Dvorak's Op 97 Quintet, with possible Americal Indian influences on the melodies, is as happy a strings chamber music work as you'll ever hear. It remains fresh and should figure in any collection and is ideally coupled with the sextet. Dohnanyi was heavily influenced by Brahms and his music is of variable quality; making an example of Hyperion's unwise decision to sponsor an intégrale of the piano music. I find most of these earlyish pieces relatively dull and derivative, nor does Roscoe's piano playing sparkle. And it's full price... Peter Grahame Woolf
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