Olga Kern and the Dalí Quartet’s Brahms & Shostakovich Piano Quintets recording gets a warm recommendation from MusicWeb International:
“Their performance of Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet opens with a deliberately paced, but never heavy “Prelude,” whose breadth is sustained by Kern’s noble tone and bronzen voicing, as well as the Dalís’ discreet, but effective swooping. Together they reach the closing cadence, rendering it not with the pounding force typically heard, but almost caressingly. The Dalís’ tone is dewy and tender at the opening of the “Fugue”; evoking for a moment the sonority of the old Beethoven Quartet, Shostakovich’s favorite, whose wiry intensity, too, had a touch of sweetness (rarely emulated since). The movement builds to a grand climax, perorated by Kern’s piano, which rings forth grandly rather than stentoriously. This is followed by a delightful romp through the “Scherzo”; a touch faster than usually heard (although not approaching the breakneck speed that the composer himself sets forth in his commercial recording with the Beethovens), its play of vernal light brocaded by Kern’s sparkling fingerwork. A flowing and richly phrased “Intermezzo” leads into the “Finale,” which moves along jauntily to its ironic close. … Kern and the Dalís’ willingness to balance this score’s expressive urgency with its ample natural charm is a welcome throwback to such Western pre-Shostakovich Wars recordings by Eunice Norton/Juilliard Quartet and Victor Aller/Hollywood Quartet, among others. I can think of no other recent performance of this magisterial score as genuinely enjoyable and sunny as this superb interpretation by Kern and the Dalís. … For listeners exhausted by the willfulness heard in modern performances of Shostakovich’s chamber music, this Delos disc is a refreshing alternative.”
—Néstor Castiglione, MusicWeb International
