US TARIFFS UPDATE | August 2025 | No impact expected on your Presto orders | Read full details
Smetana: String Quartets
Zemlinsky Quartet
These well-recorded performances communicate an authentic feeling for the emotional turmoil Smetana felt as he composed these uniquely disturbing works.
Smetana: String Quartets
Zemlinsky Quartet
Purchase product
These well-recorded performances communicate an authentic feeling for the emotional turmoil Smetana felt as he composed these uniquely disturbing works.
About
An homage to Czech music with Smetana'sString Quartets performed by theCzech Zemlinsky quartetincluding an arrangement for string quartet of "The Dance of Comedians" from the opera The Bartered Bride by Petr Holman.
Smetana's two string quartets could be said to be the first programmatic chamber music pieces ever written. The first quartet is a remarkable work with a very strong connection to Czech musicians. It belongs among the real treasures of Czech chamber music. The main characteristic of the second quartet is its intensity of musical ideas, as the composer was deaf and close to the end of his life. The Dance of Comedians illustrates the famous era of Smetana \u0301s being considered the Czech national composer.
Contents and tracklist
Awards and reviews
These well-recorded performances communicate an authentic feeling for the emotional turmoil Smetana felt as he composed these uniquely disturbing works.
May 2025
these readings are nothing if not vital, and there’s an undercurrent of intimacy that’s all the more poignant for being surrounded by such rough-cut honesty.
