Dohnányi & Dvořák: String Sextets

This album brings together two landmark string sextets of the late nineteenth century—Ernő Dohnányi’s Sextet in B-flat major, Wo80, and Antonín Dvořák’s Sextet in A major, Op. 48—performed by the Stradivari Sextet. Dohnányi’s youthful work, composed when he was just sixteen, reveals an astonishing command of form and texture, blending a personal harmonic language with clear echoes of Brahms and Schubert, and already displaying the composer’s deep affinity for chamber music. Dvořák’s sextet, written at a pivotal moment in his career, marks a decisive step toward a national musical voice, integrating Slavic folk elements within a refined classical framework, from the lyrical breadth of the opening movement to the dumka, furiant, and variations finale. Recorded in the resonant yet focused acoustic of an Italian-style theatre, the album highlights the warm, ambric sonority and spatial richness of the string sextet, offering a vivid dialogue between tradition, youthful invention, and mature folkloric expression.

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Stradivari Sextet
David Romano – violin
Ruggiero Sfregola – violino
Raffaele Mallozzi – viola
David Burksack – viola
Diego Romano – cello
Sara Gentile – cello