Happily steeped in the Viennese tradition, František Krommer produced hundreds of chamber compositions like these quartets and partitas mostly for the benefit of amateurs and academics. They neither bore nor challenge, and listening naturally reveals some movements to be far more inspired than others. The lugubrious adagio of the first quartet in C major, for instance, sounds as if it must have been an insufferable experience for these excellent performers, particularly oboist Jiri Mihule, who’s often on the brink of losing what little musical line Krommer provides. The adagio of the second quartet (and to a lesser extent the adagio of the Partita “La Chasse”) fares somewhat better if only because it’s performed rather swiftly.
And it’s the quicker movements that generally come off best. The humorous rhythmic banter throughout the final rondo of the quartet in E-flat minor between bassoonist Jiri Seidl and the individual Suk string quartet members is great fun. Likewise the amiably insistent squawking of the Czech Philharmonic Wind Ensemble featured in the final allegro assai of the Partita in E-flat major joyously anticipates the comic march music Nino Rota would pen for Fellini. Though the recording dates vary between 1969 and 1989, Supraphon’s sound is consistently fine throughout. The notes are excellent (aside from the erroneous listing of the date of Krommer’s death as 1731 instead of 1831), and in all, despite the occasional dull bit, classical-era chamber music fans will find many pleasing minutes (more than two hours) of music on these generously filled CDs.
