Martinu: Piano Quartet No. 1; Dvorák: Piano Quartet No. 2, Op. 87

It's not that there are a lot of recordings of Bohuslav Martinu's magnificent Piano Quartet out there; it's that the few that are out there are all so amazingly fine. The 1989 Domus recording for Virgin is powerfully expressive. The 1994 Achi-Keulen-Moog-Cho recording for Naxos is strongly rhythmic. And this 1999 Artis Ensemble Stuttgart recording is not only expressive and rhythmic: it's also wonderfully lyrical and intensely dramatic. Written in 1942, the Piano Quartet comes from Martinu's American exile, the period that saw his style change from the brilliant ballets of the Thirties to the monumental symphonies of the Forties, and it has the same size, scale and depth in its three big movements as the best of the symphonies. In their performance, the Artis Ensemble understands Martinu's special qualities as a composer -- his long lyrical melodies and sculpted harmonies, his buoyant rhythms and driving rhythms, his light-filled textures and luminous colors -- and combines them their own innate sense of lyricism and drama, resulting in a performance as persuasive as the Domus or the Achi-Keulen-Moog-Cho's. However, while both those recordings couple the Piano Quartet with other works by Martinu, the Artis Ensemble couple Martinu's Piano Quartet with Dvorák's Piano Quartet Opus 87. Like their Martinu, their Dvorák balances the lyric and the dramatic, but they also attend Dvorák's special qualities as a composer -- his heart-felt melodies and warm-toned harmonies, his dancing rhythms and propulsive tempos, his rich textures and ruddy colors -- and once again the combination is completely convincing. In both performances, Hänssler's sound is close and lush if perhaps a bit too full in climaxes. ~ James Leonard, All Music Guide