Escher String Quartet - Anton�n Dvo?�k: 'American' Quartet, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Quartet No. 1, Alexander Borodin: Quartet No. 2

Full-blooded quartet playing in the grand, classic manner: extrovert and eloquent� is how the performances of the Escher String Quartet were described in a review of their recording of Mendelssohn�s first and fourth quartets in BBC Music Magazine. After completing the three-disc cycle of Mendelssohn quartets � and earning further accolades, including a nomination to the 2017 BBC Music Magazine Awards � the quartet now returns with a programme which leaves plenty of opportunity for their special brand of playing. Composed between 1873 (Tchaikovsky) and 1893 (Dvo?�k), the three quartets gathered on this disc form a catalogue of unforgettable tunes and of emotions ranging from nostalgia to the most infectious joy. Each of the three composers wrote more than one quartet � Dvo?�k�s list of works includes as many 14! � but the ones recorded here are by far their best-loved. A contributing fact is surely that they all three include slow movements that tug at every listener�s heartstrings. Especially Tchaikovsky�s Andante cantabile and Borodin�s Notturno have become favourites in their own right, and exist in arrangements for every possible combination of instruments. But there is more to these works than the slow movements: throughout each quartet there is a wealth of melodic invention, rhythmic vitality and lyric fleetness which the Escher�s know how to exploit to the full.