This double album comprises all Brahm’s quartets and quintets as performed by the Budapest quartet. They succeeded in imposing chamber music by the composer of Ein deutsches Requiem on a musical world which only had ears for Beethoven. It served as a model for a whole generation of musicians such as Berg, Pražák and Belcea, who in turn followed on from the likes of Julliard and Vegh. This is a tribute toWalter Trampler (1915-97), the great American violist, native of Berlin.

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PRD 250 348

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On the occasion of its 30th anniversary, Praga Digitals presents a box-set of 30 key discs that retrace the history of the label. These include rereleases of some of the house’s great names, such as the Pražák, the Kocian, the Zemlinsky and the Párkányí, but also the magnificent restorations of the historic recordings of Mravinsky, Furtwängler, Oistrakh and Richter.
The selection draws from the label’s preferred repertory, from Czech music to the Second Viennese School, via Brahms, Schubert, Janáček, but also Debussy, Ravel, Mahler, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Stravinsky, without forgetting the composer who was perhaps most championed by the catalogue, Bartók. This box-set is thus an opportunity to reinstate some of the finest discs in the catalogue, from among those that contributed to making Praga Digitals one of the greatest catalogues of chamber music and one of the references as regards aural beauty, in a limited and remastered edition

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PRD 250 421

==> CLICK HERE TO ORDER THIS BOXSET ON THE PRAGA DIGITALS ONLINE STORE

The PRAŽÁK Quartet, one of the most eminent modern quartets and a major heir to the Czech tradition, is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2022! 
On this occasion, Praga Digitals is presenting a limited edition anniversary box set of 50 CDs featuring all the recordings made between 1992 and 2018 under the guidance of the late Pierre Émile Barbier, founder of the label. 
This exceptional box set traces the ensemble's journey in its "historic" formation, comprising Václav Remeš (followed by Pavel Hůla from 2010 onwards) on first violin, Vlastimil Holek on second, Josef Klusoň on viola, and Michal Kaňka on 'cello - prior to its near-complete re-configuration in 2020. 
At the heart of the programme are the complete quartets of Beethoven and the very first complete recording of the works of the Second Viennese School (Schoenberg, Berg, Webern), Czech repertoire (Dvořák, Smetana, Janáček, Martinů) and Viennese Classicism (Haydn, Mozart), as well as German Romanticism (Schubert, Brahms, Schumann, Mendelssohn), the Russians (Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Shostakovich), but also Strauss, Mahler, Zemlinsky, Schulhoff...  
Their partners include Vanda Tabery and Christine Whittlesey (soprano), Pascal Moraguès (clarinet), Jan Talich and Hatto Beyerle (viola), Jaroslav Tůma (harmonium), Ivan Klánský & Evgeni Koroliov (piano)...
The collaboration between the Pražák Quartet and Praga Digitals marks one of the most important epic ventures of modern recording, reminiscent of the golden age of the Amadeus, Juilliard or Alban Berg Quartets - a priceless legacy as much in terms of its scope as its artistry and sound quality, as well as its multiple awards: Diapason d'or, "Choc" (Classica), "10" (Répertoire), the Grand Prix of the Académie Charles Cros, Gramophone, The Strad... 
50 CDs for 50 years : Happy birthday and long live the PRAŽÁKS!

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PRD 250 425

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“Blithe ignorance of the future cataclysm” is the subtitle originally chosen by Shostakovich for the first movement of his “war quartet”, String Quartet no. 3 (1946), which he considered one of his finest works. The subtitle sets the tone for a composition that, nourished by popular folklore, appears to stage the inexorable confrontation of opposing forces. The same tension, the same razor’s-edge atmosphere is to be found in Beethoven’s Quartet op. 18, no. 4, and in Schubert’s unfinished Quartet, no. 12, generally known as the Quartettsatz.

The musicians of the David Oistrakh Quartet embrace the latent fury of these three works, without giving in to the maelstrom: the precision of their playing feeds a raw, electric expressiveness, magnified by an exceptional ensemble sound, taking the emotional power of this programme to great heights.

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PRD250426