Search - Prokofiev, Prazák Quartet :: String Quartet 2 / Ballade / Adagio / Cello Sonata

Purchase Prazak's Prokofiev Promptly

J. Lambie | LA, CA | 12/23/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"First a little information. (Amazon is downright enigmatic when it comes to the contents of this disc. For all you know, after the Quartet #2, the Prazaks could could be humming Peter and the Wolf and muttering the naration in Czech.) Along with the quartet, you get the Ballade in C min, Op 15; the Adagio from Cinderella, Op 97b, and the C maj Sonata, Op 119...all for cello and piano and all splendidly played but particularly the Sonata. What a gem this piece is. But the crown jewel of this recording is Prok's wonderful 2nd Quartet and the Prazaks superb rendition. I am, much to the dismay of my lady wife, enormously fond of Pokofiev's two quartets (and his piano sonatas). She dosen't mind that I also own the equally good versions by the Aurora Qt on Naxos, the Emersons on DG and the slightly somber interp by the St Petersburg Qt on Delos. It's the listening to them bothers her. But I digress. The only flaw in the Prazak disc is that it doesn't include the first Quartet. Oh well. Something to look forward to. Think about it. For music lovers, is this a miraculous time to be alive or what?"