Dvorák: Piano Quintets Op. 5 & Op. 81

Goldner String Quartet; Piers Lane (piano)

(Hyperion CDA67805)

These are excellent performances of Dvorak's piano quintets, both of them in A major.

It is good that the earlier one (1872) was not destroyed completely by the composer; a copy was saved, and it now seems well worth having been secured for future generations to study and enjoy.

By fifteen years later he was in complete command of his mature style. The two contrasting works go well together, and this disc from Australians should give a lot of pleasure. The recorded balance, always tricky with piano quintets, tends to favour the strings.

Peter Grahame Woolf

q.v. Another recent review of Op 81, with the Arcanto Quartet - "an elegant performance not lacking in rhythmic drive. Silke Arvenhause, with whom they have recently recorded the Brahms Piano Quintet, joined them on piano. Her poised playing complemented the quartet perfectly."