<<  -- 2 --  Basil Ramsey    CIRCUIT OF EXCELLENCE

The piano quintet in A opus 81 has always had my attention for sheer melodic beauty which unfolds and blossoms with extraordinary gracefulness, and with exquisite piano embellishment (succulent in the hands of Peter Frankl). It is movements such as here in the quintet that concentrates the mind on music itself, devoid of brief mental wanderings through unconnected matters [listen -- CD 2 track 14, 0:35-1:17].

Quartets 13 in G and 14 in A flat are coupled on the final disc. They encapsulate the strongest ideas and developments that Dvorák penned for string quartet. It is particularly here that the Lindsays provide performances matching the quality that strides through some of the best of Dvorák. It is such a combination of music and performance that entrances the listener and completes a circuit of excellence [listen -- CD 4 track 4, 9:31-10:28].

To listen to the aural illustrations in this review, you may need to download RealNetworks' realplayer 8.