These two works are not paired on any currently available record of Dvorak's chamber music, and they go well together. There is also the bonus of the enchanting little Intermezzo, or Nocturne, for which he tried to find various homes in various works, eventually deciding that it had to stand by itself. His affection for it as a piece too good to lose is very understandable, as is the affection lavished on it by the players.
They give splendid performances of both the main works. Each has a long opening movement, in which the apparent spontaneity of form is of course the fruit of great craftsmanship; similar understanding is called for by the performers, and here the gracefulness and ease of phrasing rests on a very sharp understanding of the nature of the themes and how they are best deployed throughout cleverly constructed movements. The double-bass adds a splendid richness to the textures of the Quintet and Intermezzo, and in the Sextet the pairs of violins, violas and cellos generate their own richness, as well as, of course, thematic invention of a particular kind. Dvorak makes much of this in the concluding variations. The recording is very scrupulous in accommodating these textures.'