Ernő Dohnányi; Zoltán Kodály - String Quartets (Guarneri Quartet)

Information

Composer: Ernő Dohnányi; Zoltán Kodály

• (01) Dohnányi - String Quartet No. 2 in D flat major, Op. 15
• (04) Kodály - String Quartet No. 2, Op. 10
• (07) Dohnányi - String Quartet No. 3 in A minor, Op. 33

Guarneri Quartet
Arnold Steinhardt, violin
John Dalley, violin
Michael Tree, viola
Peter Wiley, cello

Date: 2009
Label: RCA

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Review

The Guarneri Quartet, one of the longest-standing, most respected string quartets in modern times, released this 2009 album -- entitled The Hungarian Album -- in the same year as its departure from the world's stage. Apart from a long and storied history, and the musical luminaries with whom the group has collaborated, one of the most notable achievements of the Guarneri is membership retention, having switched out only one member (cellist David Soyer being replaced with Peter Wiley) since the group's founding in 1964. This type of long-standing collaboration results in a nearly universally reliable aspect of performance: unity of vision and seamless communication. This same level of personal connection is evident on the disc. The three quartets heard here were recorded several years prior to its release, but the effects of time on the ensemble's technical acumen are evident. While the deep musical introspection and profound interpretive abilities remain intact, intonation is often a struggle in these three challenging and rarely heard quartets of Ernö Dohnányi and Zoltán Kodály. Longtime fans of the quartet will certainly be able to overlook this deterioration in the Guarneri's abilities, but newcomers to the ensemble may find the frequent nebulousness of a pitch center rather off-putting. Apart from this, however, the Guarneri Quartet delivers a stunningly rich Hungarian sound, filled with intensity and relentlessness one moment only to be followed with eerie stillness and elegance the next. The Hungarian Album may not be the swan song disc the Guarneri was hoping for, but it still represents a valuable and worthwhile addition to the recorded legacy of this venerable chamber music ensemble.

-- Mike D. Brownell, AllMusic

More reviews:
https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/music/2009/03/24/the_guarneri_quartet_the_hungarian_album.html
https://www.audaud.com/guarneri-quartet-the-hungarian-album-dohnanyi-string-quartet-no-2-in-d-flat-major-op-15-string-quartet-no-3-in-a-minor-op-33-kodaly-string-quartet-no-2-op-10-guarneri-string-quartet/

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Ernő Dohnányi (July 27, 1877 – February 9, 1960) was a Hungarian conductor, composer and pianist. He was director of the Budapest Academy of Music from 1934 to 1943. Dohnányi's compositional style was personal, but very conservative; his music largely subscribes to the Neoromantic idiom. Although he used elements of Hungarian folk music, Dohnányi is not considered a nationalist composer. As a conductor, he was among the first to conduct Bartók's more accessible music and make it more popular. As a teacher, his pupils included Géza Anda, Annie Fischer, Georg Solti and Georges Cziffra.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ern%C5%91_Dohn%C3%A1nyi

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Zoltán Kodály (16 December 1882 in Kecskemét, Hungary – 6 March 1967 in Budapest) was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, pedagogue, linguist, and philosopher. He is best known internationally as the creator of the Kodály Method, which is widely taken up by pedagogues in Hungary and many other countries. His compositions blended Western-European style of music, including classical, late-romantic, impressionistic and modernist, with the knowledge and respect for the folk music of Hungary. Kodály and his compatriot Béla Bartók were lifelong friends, and champions of each other's music.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zolt%C3%A1n_Kod%C3%A1ly

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The Guarneri Quartet was an American string quartet founded in 1964 at the Marlboro Music School and Festival. It was admired for its rich, warm, complex tone and its bold, dramatic interpretations. The group’s extensive touring and recording activities, coupled with its outreach efforts to engage audiences, contributed to the rapid growth in the popularity of chamber music during the 1970s and 1980s. The quartet is notable for its longevity: the group performed for 45 years with only one personnel change, when cellist David Soyer retired in 2001 and was replaced by his student Peter Wiley. The Guarneri Quartet disbanded in 2009.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guarneri_Quartet

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