Borodin: String Quartet No. 2, Cello Sonata, Piano Quintet - Pražák Quartet
Praga Digitals PRD/DSD 250 282
Stereo Hybrid
Classical - Chamber
Borodin: String Quartet No. 2 in D major, Sonata for cello and piano in B minor, Piano Quintet in C minor
Pražák Quartet
An amateur cellist, the composer of Prince Igor was the only one of the Group of Five to have written some ten chamber works for his personal pleasure in keeping with the laws of Germanic rhetoric - to Balakirev's great displeasure. One of them is a pure masterpiece: his Quartet in D, featuring an irresistible Nocturne, which has been played round the world in various arrangements.
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Review by Adrian Quanjer - April 30, 2011
I can be fairly brief. The music is wonderfully played as may be expected from these gifted musicians. It compares well to my cherished 1978 recording of the Borodin Quartet (Le Chant du Monde LDC 278.793); the 2nd string quartet offering those famous melodies in a most convincing way. Coupled with the lesser-known Cello Sonata in B minor (though recently released on BIS-SACD-1858 with Alexander Chaussian and Yevgeny Sudbin) and the Piano Quartet in C minor, this disc can be highly recommended if it were not for… the sound and the cheat. Here Praga Digitals plays a double trick on its customers. The original recordings date from 2000. The accompanying booklet says: ‘First PCM Edition 2000’. Sounds misty to me. The DSD mastering dates from 2011. But whatever the transfer technique used, it will not be better than the original. No high resolution. Studio quality at best. But that is not the worst part of it. The jewel box AND the disc inside are marked as being a DSD Multi-Channel Stereo recording. Which it is NOT. Trust our site SA-CD.net as it clearly states: content STEREO. But those of us, who are still able to buy in a real shop, will only notice after purchase and when playing at home (multi-channel listening in the shop is most of the time not possible). Praga Digitals should be ashamed of this (and Harmonia Mundi, their distributors, too). However, my bottom line: notwithstanding these comments, recommended for first-rate musicianship and generous compilation (be it for stereo listeners only).
Copyright © 2011 Adrian Quanjer and HRAudio.net
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