One of my favorite chamber music recordings is Dorian’s 1989 recording of the two Dvorak Piano Quartets (DOR90125) with the Ames Piano Quartet. Not only was the performance beautiful but the recording was made in the acoustically perfect Troy Savings Bank Hall in Troy, New York. I’ve heard a concert there, and, save for Disney Hall in Los Angeles, it is an incredible venue for live music. The recording made there has a luscious ambience and clarity that reflects the music’s lyrical ease.
This 2002 recording of the Czech Piano Quartets, made on the campus of Iowa State University in Ames, (where the musicians are in residence), is closer, with less ambience around the instruments. Both Suk and Novak studied with Dvorak and both of these works retain a late romantic musical language of their teacher. The Suk is a student work ripe with melodic invention, but it lacks the vivacious energy that was so distinctly a part of Dvorak’s oeuvre. The adagio second movement is the most memorable. The Novak is more austere, with the Dies Irae theme used in the first and last movement.
The Martinu Piano Quartet is cut from a much different cloth. The composer moved from Prague to Paris in 1923 where Debussy, Stravinsky and others influenced his compositions. He escaped Europe in 1941, came to America, and in 1942 was commissioned by the American League of Composers to write the Piano Quartet. Its jagged rhythms and energetic first movement reflects these modern musical influences – especially Stravinsky. A profoundly lyrical adagio is the emotional center of this work. Perhaps the optimistic and spirited final movement represents Martinu’s attitude toward his new home in America. This is a work worth hearing more than once. The Ames Piano Quartet performs these three piano quartets admirably.
— Robert Moon
