Dvořák: String Quartet, Op. 105; String Quintet, Op. 97 "American" Takács Quartet

• Antonín Dvořák (1841 - 1904): String Quintet No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 97, B. 180:
• 1Dvořák: String Quintet No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 97, B. 180: I. Allegro non tanto09:09
• 2Dvořák: String Quintet No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 97, B. 180: II. Allegro vivo05:43
• 3Dvořák: String Quintet No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 97, B. 180: III. Larghetto09:41
• 4Dvořák: String Quintet No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 97, B. 180: IV. Finale. Allegro giusto08:23
• String Quartet No. 14 in A-Flat Major, Op. 105, B. 193:
• 5Dvořák: String Quartet No. 14 in A-Flat Major, Op. 105, B. 193: I. Adagio ma non troppo – Allegro appassionato07:37
• 6Dvořák: String Quartet No. 14 in A-Flat Major, Op. 105, B. 193: II. Molto vivace06:02
• 7Dvořák: String Quartet No. 14 in A-Flat Major, Op. 105, B. 193: III. Lento e molto cantabile08:12
• 8Dvořák: String Quartet No. 14 in A-Flat Major, Op. 105, B. 193: IV. Finale. Allegro non tanto10:10
• Total Runtime01:04:57

Info for Dvořák: String Quartet, Op. 105; String Quintet, Op. 97 "American"

A new release from the Takács Quartet is guaranteed to be a highlight of the musical year, and this one easily exceeds all expectations. The ‘American’ quintet dates from Dvořák’s sojourn in the New World, the quartet from his return to old-world Prague; both are marvellous works, sounding here every bit the masterpieces they undoubtedly are.

In the summer of 1891 Dvořák was invited to take up the position of Director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York. His arrival there, on 27 September of the following year, coincided with the climax of the 400th anniversary Columbus celebrations, and Dvořák could watch the parades passing by from the windows of the Conservatory. ‘The Columbus celebrations finished just yesterday’, he told his friend Karel Bastar a fortnight or so later, ‘and they were simply gigantic!’: We have never seen anything like this; and never has America had such an opportunity to show what it is capable of accomplishing. Imagine a continuous succession of grand parades—from the branches of industry, trades, gymnastics, the arts, and everything—which lasted three days, from the morning until two o’clock at night. There were thousands and thousands of people; and always many, many other images. And what about the various music bands! ...

"The pairing of the Takács Quartet and viola player Lawrence Power has already proved a winning one in Brahms and the results are no less seductive in Dvořák … an entrancing album" (Gramophone)

"Their attention to detail produces constantly arresting textures and the recorded balance allows the all-important viola lines full prominence" (BBC Music Magazine)

Takács Quartet

Takács Quartet
The world-renowned Takács Quartet is now entering its forty-ninth season. Edward Dusinberre, Harumi Rhodes (violins), Richard O’Neill (viola) and András Fejér (cello) are excited about the 2023-2024 season that features varied projects including a new work written for them. Nokuthula Ngwenyama composed ‘Flow,’ an exploration and celebration of the natural world. The work was commissioned by nine concert presenters throughout the USA. July sees the release of a new recording of works by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and Dvořák for Hyperion Records, while later in the season the quartet will release works by Schubert including his final quartet in G major. In the Spring of 2024 the ensemble will perform and record piano quintets by Price and Dvořák with long-time chamber music partner Marc-Andre Hamelin.

As Associate Artists at London’s Wigmore Hall the Takács will perform four concerts featuring works by Hough, Price, Janacek, Schubert and Beethoven. During the season the ensemble will play at other prestigious European venues including Berlin, Geneva, Linz, Innsbruck, Cambridge and St. Andrews. The Takács will appear at the Adams Chamber Music Festival in New Zealand. The group’s North American engagements include concerts in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington DC, Vancouver, Ann Arbor, Phoenix, Berkeley, Los Angeles, Portland, Cleveland, Santa Fe and Stanford. The ensemble will perform two Bartók cycles at San Jose State University and Middlebury College and appear for the first time at the Virginia Arts Festival with pianist Olga Kern.

The members of the Takács Quartet are Christoffersen Fellows and Artists in Residence at the University of Colorado, Boulder. For the 23-24 season the quartet enter into a partnership with El Sistema Colorado, working closely with its chamber music education program in Denver. During the summer months the Takács join the faculty at the Music Academy of the West, running an intensive quartet seminar.

In 2021 the Takács won a Presto Music Recording of the Year Award for their recordings of string quartets by Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn, and a Gramophone Award with pianist Garrick Ohlsson for piano quintets by Amy Beach and Elgar. Other releases for Hyperion feature works by Haydn, Schubert, Janáček, Smetana, Debussy and Britten, as well as piano quintets by César Franck and Shostakovich (with Marc-André Hamelin), and viola quintets by Brahms and Dvorák (with Lawrence Power). For their CDs on the Decca/London label, the Quartet has won three Gramophone Awards, a Grammy Award, three Japanese Record Academy Awards, Disc of the Year at the inaugural BBC Music Magazine Awards, and Ensemble Album of the Year at the Classical Brits. Full details of all recordings can be found in the Recordings section of the Quartet's website.

The Takács Quartet is known for its innovative programming. In 2021-22 the ensemble partnered with bandoneon virtuoso Julien Labro to premiere new works by Clarice Assad and Bryce Dessner, commissioned by Music Accord. In 2014 the Takács performed a program inspired by Philip Roth’s novel Everyman with Meryl Streep at Princeton, and again with her at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto in 2015. They first performed Everyman at Carnegie Hall in 2007 with Philip Seymour Hoffman. They have toured 14 cities with the poet Robert Pinsky, and played regularly with the Hungarian Folk group Muzsikas.

In 2014 the Takács became the first string quartet to be awarded the Wigmore Hall Medal. In 2012, Gramophone announced that the Takács was the first string quartet to be inducted into its Hall of Fame. The ensemble also won the 2011 Award for Chamber Music and Song presented by the Royal Philharmonic Society in London.

The Takács Quartet was formed in 1975 at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest by Gabor Takács-Nagy, Károly Schranz, Gabor Ormai and András Fejér, while all four were students. The group received international attention in 1977, winning First Prize and the Critics’ Prize at the International String Quartet Competition in Evian, France. The Quartet also won the Gold Medal at the 1978 Portsmouth and Bordeaux Competitions and First Prizes at the Budapest International String Quartet Competition in 1978 and the Bratislava Competition in 1981. The Quartet made its North American debut tour in 1982. Members of the Takács Quartet are the grateful beneficiaries of an instrument loan by the Drake Foundation.

Booklet for Dvořák: String Quartet, Op. 105; String Quintet, Op. 97 "American"