{"id":43357,"date":"2017-03-03T07:45:28","date_gmt":"2017-03-03T12:45:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/?p=43357"},"modified":"2017-03-03T14:19:07","modified_gmt":"2017-03-03T19:19:07","slug":"scrutiny-czech-prazak-quartet-performs-rarely-heard-bruckner-work-at-jane-mallett-theatre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2017\/03\/03\/scrutiny-czech-prazak-quartet-performs-rarely-heard-bruckner-work-at-jane-mallett-theatre\/","title":{"rendered":"SCRUTINY | Czech Prazak Quartet Performs Rarely Heard Bruckner Work At Jane Mallett Theatre"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Prazak
Prazak Quartet<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Prazak Quartet at Jane Mallett Theatre. March 2.<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s always a treat to hear one of the world\u2019s respected veteran string quartets dig their bows into the meat of the classical repertoire. Thursday night\u2019s Music Toronto visit at the Jane Mallett Theatre by the Czech Prazak Quartet was no exception.<\/p>\n

Violinist Jana Vonaskova is a recent, 2015, addition to the group which still counts founding member violist Josef Kluson, from way back in 1972. Violinist Vlastimil Holek and cellist Michael Kanka have not been around that long, but precede Vonaskova by many years. This is a performing quartet that records prolifically. Their extensive repertoire \u2014 exhaustive in the case of central European composers \u2014 is in their blood and in their bones. But they can still surprise.<\/p>\n

Thursday\u2019s surprise was a C-minor string quartet written by Anton Bruckner in 1862. The devoutly Roman Catholic Bruckner is known for his choral works and for his sprawling symphonies. The tidy, 20-minute, four-movement quartet is a different sort of creature. It is usually no surprise when we get to hear neglected works to realize that they are ignored for a reason. Bruckner\u2019s quartet has a clearly delineated form, carefully woven themes, and suitably contrasting moods. The music is pretty, its architecture is neat, but, in the end, it comes across as a fine study in form more than an outpouring of great musical ideas.<\/p>\n

As such, the Bruckner quartet was a nice companion on the program with Joseph Haydn\u2019s Op. 71 No. 1 Quartet in B-flat Major, one of his great Salomon quartets premiered in London in 1794. The Prazak\u2019s delivered beautiful interpretations of both works: intensely musical, gorgeously shaped, largely soft-edged, and laced with an abundance of vibrato. Their playing was supremely elegant yet infused with a discreet musical drive. Even after so many years of doing this, the string players convinced us they can\u2019t imagine doing anything but treating their audiences to the best.<\/p>\n

I have to note that, despite these polished yet vibrant interpretations, Vonaskova had persistent moments of tenuous intonation \u2014 something that was most noticeable in the Haydn quartet, which makes its heavy demands of the first violin. Young quartets these days come on stage with perfect techniques, so it is surprising that Vonaskova was not having the best possible night.<\/p>\n

That said, perfect techniques do not guarantee riveting recitals. And the Prazaks were riveting in their program closer, the great F Major \u201cAmerican\u201d String Quartet No. 12 by Antonin\u00a0Dvo\u0159\u00e1k, premiered in Boston in 1894. This was chamber music at its most affecting. It also showcased this foursome\u2019s wonderful communication, and ability to colour the music with careful interventions from the middle lines of the score.<\/p>\n

It was impossible not to leave the hall without a big smile. This was the Prazaks\u2019 seventh recital for Music Toronto since 1993, and, hopefully, far from the last.<\/p>\n

For more REVIEWS, click HERE<\/u><\/a><\/span>.<\/h3>\n

#LUDWIGVAN<\/i><\/b><\/h3>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Prazak Quartet sharpens their bows with two gems by Bruckner and Dvorak, but intonation issues curb an otherwise riveting performance of Haydn’s Quartet in B-flat Major.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":43378,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6439,10,76,19,52,63],"tags":[2314,6344],"yst_prominent_words":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/03\/Prazak2_2015.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-bhj","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43357"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43357"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43357\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43379,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43357\/revisions\/43379"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43357"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=43357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}