Donald Satz <[log in to unmask]> wrote concerning Dvorak's quartet Op. 106:

>I much prefer the Prague Quartet than either the Prazak or Pacifica; the
>last two groups are too well-groomed for my tastes in this music.

Switching gears a little, do you have any comment on Toscanini's NBC
recording of Dvorak's 9th symphony, specifically the 2nd movement? I'm
really referring to the beautiful solo which starts about one minute
into this movement.  I don't know what instrument it is (I have a dismal
knowledge of wind instruments-- perhaps English horn?), but in this
recording it sounds like a harmonica.  Is this my imagination? I swear I
can hear a fast warble/vibrato, the kind that cupped hands would make on a
harmonica, and even the phrasing and the way the sound is drawn out reminds
me of a harmonica.  Anyway, Don has been lamenting the general tendency
toward a one-sided emphasis on sonic sheen that has left many performances
sounding similar, and wanting in individuality and personality,and I was
wondering if this particular interpretation was a good example of what
he thinks is often missing.  Speaking for myself, it was a revelation.
Associating this sound with the folksy harmonica, suddenly the term "from
the New World" takes on a new meaning for me, at least where this movement
is concerned.  When I hear this (and I just heard this performance
yesterday for the first time) I hear a simplicity and earthiness that gives
the movement a new dimension of earnestness and sincerity that I didn't
know existed.

hector aguilar