Takács Quartet, Lawrence Power - Dvořák: String Quartet Op.105, String Quintet Op.97 (2017) CD-Rip

The Hungarian-British Takács Quartet is neither Czech nor American nor German, but it conveys the three national strands of these wonderful late Dvorák works as few others have ever done. Buyers interested in these pieces have a selection of top-notch recordings from which to choose, but they are urgently directed to this one. The String Quintet in E flat major, Op. 97, is one of the products of Dvorák's three-year sojourn in the U.S. and perhaps the best, with the pentatonic melodies he heard from African-Americans and Native Americans balanced against unusually dense Brahmsian counterpoint. The balance is perfect here; you could sample anywhere, but try the intense Czech warmth of the Larghetto; added violist Lawrence Power seems to become a longstanding member of the group. The String Quartet in A flat major, Op. 105, less often played than the earlier quartet designated "American," was begun in America and completed back in Prague; the balance shifts away from the American element, but it's still there. The Takács brings out the underlying seriousness of the work here. With superb acoustics captured by Hyperion at the Wyastone Estate, there is absolutely nothing to even cavil about here.