Karel Kovařovic: String Quartet No.1, 2, 3

Karel Kovařovic (Prague, 9 December 1862  – Prague, 6 December 1920) was a Czech composer and conductor.

From 1873 to 1879 he studied clarinet, harp and piano at the Prague Conservatory.[1] He began his career as a harpist. In 1900 Kovařovic became the conductor of the national theatre in Prague, due mostly to the success of his opera The Dogheads, after the novel of the same name (about Jan Sladký Kozina) by Alois Jirásek. His engagement at the National Theatre lasted twenty years, until 1920.[1] He composed seven operas.

Kovařovic is most remembered today for the revisions he made to Leoš Janáček's Jenůfa for its premiere in Prague, and it was in his version that the opera was heard for many years.

A recording of The Dogheads, featuring Beno Blachut, exists.

 

String Quartet No.1 in D Major (1885)

Stamic Quartet

00:00 Allegro Moderato 08:12 Andante 14:13 Scherzo (Allegro - Trio) 17:05 Finale (Allegro Con Fuoco)

Cornelis Springer - A View of a Town along the Rhine (1841)

 

 

String Quartet No.2 in A Minor, Op.7 (1887)

Stamic Quartet 00:00 Allegro Moderato 09:45 Scherzo (Presto)

16:02 Andante Con Variazioni  24:50 Allegro Non Troppo   

Cornelis Springer - Street Scene with Figures (1871)

 

String Quartet No.3 in G Major "Unfinished" (1889)

Stamic Quartet 00:00 Allegro Moderato 10:52 Scherzo (Presto) 15:28 Adagio

Rudolf von Alt - Hoher Dachstein from Lower Gosau (1838)