Talich Quartet, Filip Herák: Gypsy Melodies

The Strad Issue: January 2026

Description: This folk-inspired collection offers a veritable box of delights

Musicians: Talich Quartet, Filip Herák (double bass) L’ubomír Gašpar (cimbalom, kaval)

Works: Bartók: Romanian Dances. Dvořák: Gypsy Songs; Moravian Duets. Janáćek: Moravian Folk Poetry in Songs; works by Boulanger, Dinicu and Vasiliev

Catalogue number: LA DOLCE VOLTA LDV129

Here is a delightful treat: a collection of 25 short Gypsy songs and dances, some traditional, some composed, all in colourful, attractive arrangements, all played with impeccable and irresistible style. There are old friends here – Dvořák’s Gypsy Songs and Bartók’s Romanian Dances – along with a selection from Janáček’s collection of Moravian folk songs.

The Talich opens with Dvořák’s ‘My song of love’, very apt for what follows. Later, ‘Silent Woods’ appears as a subtle, richly layered miniature, while ‘Songs my mother taught me’ is warm and rich. These are full of charm, agile and glistening. There is up-tempo, infectious glee in the Janáček, as well as yearning expression, understated tragedy and menace, suitable for the fourth number in the set, ‘Belgrade – Lover killer – Burial’. Well, you can’t be jolly all the time, and it does relax into rustic vivacity.

From Bartók’s dances onwards, the Talich Quartet is joined by double bass, cimbalom and kaval, the plaintive eastern-European folk flute. Both instruments get their moments in the sun, with the kaval fluttering and restless in ‘In one spot’.

The leader Jan Talich is gloriously pure-toned throughout. There is clean, busy fiddling in Georges Boulanger’s Serenade Tzigane and Dinicu’s Hora, and some virtuoso pizzicato to finish in Vasiliev’s Deux guitares. The recording is warm and well balanced.

TIM HOMFRAY