Jerry Dubins of Fanfare Magazine not only has our new Dvořák : Locale recording in the “Not To Be Missed” section, he’s also entering it in Fanfare‘s Classical Hall of Fame!
“The Alexander String Quartet, joined by Joyce Yang in Dvořák’s Piano Quintet, has done it again. Hard on the heels of the ASQ’s recent release of Mozart’s last three string quartets, and the ensemble’s only slightly less recent release of Mozart’s two piano quartets with Joyce Yang, this exceptionally well-attuned group of players brings us two of Dvořák’s happiest, most inspired chamber works in what are quite possibly the happiest, most inspired performances of them I’ve ever heard. … overflowing with warmth, joyfulness, non-stop Czech-inflected melodies and rhythms, and their composer’s sense of delight in his own gifts for harmony and invention.
The opening of the Piano Quintet, for example, is near the top of my Top-10 list of the most memorable and gloriously beautiful beginnings of a work ever written, and the playing of it, first by the ensemble’s cellist, Sandy Wilson, and then taken up in bar 61 by violinist Zakarias Grafilo, is of such nuanced phrasing, modulated dynamics, and emotional expressiveness that it will take your breath away. And Joyce Yang’s easeful triplets are the downy pillow on which the melody lays its head. …I find it so special that in the not too distant future, I hope to enter it in Fanfare’s Classical Hall of Fame.”
—Jerry Dubins, Fanfare Magazine
See the full review at FanfareArchive.com