Kalliwoda String Quartets

[Alan Howe]

....Op.44, 1-3 on the La Dolce Volta label:
http://www.mdt.co.uk/kalliwoda-string-quartets-1-3-op-talich-quartet-la-dolce-volta.html

[eschiss1]

Are we talking Johann Wenzel Kalliwoda or his son ? JW Kalliwoda's Op.44 is his Overture No.2 in F major for orchestra, so this is ver' odd news to me.

(If I had to make a guess, I think MDT got something wrong, and that it's a new- or reissued and unknown-to-me, archival, etc. etc.- recording of the 3 quartets Opp.61-62 and Op.90, which have been previously recorded though not at all often, maybe only once.)

[petershott@btinternet.com]

Yes, MDT have clearly "got something wrong" - but unintentionally so. The mistake is that of the record company, and MDT have perpetuated it.

The 3 St Qts here are:
No. 1 in E minor, Op. 61 (1835)
No. 2 in A major, Op. 62 (1835)
No. 3 in G major, Op. 90 (1838)

The Talich recording of them was originally on a Calliope disc (issued ca. 2005), and the label La Dolce Volta is one which reissues now unobtainable Calliope discs.

I can't guess where the record label's Op. 44 has come from - as Eric points out Op 44 is Kalliwoda's F major Overture.

The names are confusing. I hope I'm right in what I've always assumed - namely that Jan Krititl Vaclav Kalivoda is the Czech name of the present composer (born in Prague and 1801-1866), and that Johann Wenzel Kalliwoda is the Germanised version of the name. Yes?

The son is Wilhelm Kalliwoda (1827-1893), a far more minor composer (compared to his father's near 300 compositions) who also established a reputation as a conductor.

As for Pater, these quartets are pretty good (as are the Talich's performances of them - I have the original Calliope disc). Sadly they are the only st qts Kalliwoda composed (other than some later single movements scored for st qt). He never completed any further (whole) quartets, and I've always thought the quality of his works decreased as the quantity increased (but that's just my prejudice).

[Alan Howe]

Amazon.co.uk also perpetuate the Op.44 numbering.

[petershott@btinternet.com]

Ha, solved it! The same record company are also releasing the Talich Qt recording of the set of Mendelssohn's st qts Op. 44 nos 1-3.

Methinks someone has confused one disc with the other.

[Alan Howe]

Doh, that must be it. Kalliwoda and Mendelssohn - the names sound so similar, don't they? So easy to confuse them. If you're a marketing ignoramus, that is...

[eschiss1]

Ah, and here I could have hoped that the Talich had participated in a recording of Friedrich Kiel and Wilhelm Hill's Op.44 piano quartets (or maybe added Stanford's first quartet Op.44 on somewhere...)

[Alan Howe]

This is a terrific CD, by the way. Terrific music, that is, terrifically played.

[eschiss1]

Hoping to hear it- I knew of the recording in its earlier guise, and have at least seen the parts over at IMSLP but haven't yet (heard it) (I think!). Thank you.