The Takács Quartet takes a journey home to its native Czech music.

The playing in Smetana’s String Quartet No 1, 'From my life', is eagerly expressive, albeit not so drenched in late-romantic longing as the recent recording by the rival Pavel Haas Quartet.

The two Janáček quartets are out of the top drawer—intense, tender, highly strung.

It can be difficult to find space to let this music speak when Janáček’s mind is darting so restlessly from thought to thought, but the Takács players know its every twist and turn, and the result is like being caught in an irresistible eddy of emotions.