The first major French piano quintet, César Franck's Piano Quintet was completed in 1879 and premiered in January 1880. With an intensity and lyricism unheard of in the French chamber music repertoire at the time, it marked both the renewal of the latter, opening the way for Chausson, D'Indy and Fauré, and that of Franck's style. The Pražák Quartet and François Dumont come together to celebrate the composer's 200th birthday with this masterpiece.
The Pražák Quartet complete the programme with Dvorak's last string quartet, composed when he returned home after three years in America. In the thousand subtleties of expression and colour, we find the same lyrical breath that animates Franck's Quintet, both of which the Pražák Quartet and François Dumont renders with ardour, superbness and beauty of sound. © Praga Digitals