Shostakovich: String Quartets Nos. 5, 7 & 9

CDA67155

Recording details: December 2000
St Petersburg Recording Studio, Russia
Produced by Alexander Gerutsky
Engineered by Gerhard Tses
Release date: April 2001
Total duration: 72 minutes 35 seconds

Chamber Music America-WQXR Award for Best Chamber CD of 2001

'These are among the great interpretations that have been placed on disc … I do believe that this cycle could grow to some of the most impressive Shostakovich performances ever placed on disc' (Fanfare, USA)

'Playing of a technical command that invites comparison with the best available' (Gramophone)

'An emotional intensity which leaves little doubt that it meant a great deal to the composer – and to these prize-winning Russian players' (Liverpool Evening News)

‘An extremely well-balanced and -matched ensemble, giving highly energised and committed performances. This recording seems to have found the ideal balance between youthful vigour and adult refinement. The tone is warm and the recording sumptuous. The disc is very highly recommended’ (Music Teacher)

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)

String Quartets Nos. 5, 7 & 9

St Petersburg Quartet

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LISTEN TO ALL EXTRACTS

		String Quartet No 5 in B flat major Op 92
1		Movement 1: Allegro non troppo [11'55]
2		Movement 2: Andante [9'12]
3		Movement 3: Moderato – Allegretto [11'08]
		String Quartet No 7 in F sharp minor Op 108
4		Movement 1: Allegretto [3'18]
5		Movement 2: Lento [4'05]
6		Movement 3: Allegro [5'56]
		String Quartet No 9 in E flat major Op 117
7		Movement 1: Moderato con moto [4'27]
8		Movement 2: Adagio [4'22]
9		Movement 3: Allegretto [4'05]
10		Movement 4: Adagio [4'01]
11		Movement 5: Allegro [10'06]

Shostakovich's 15 string quartets represent one of the 20th century's most profound statements in chamber music. As he grew older, Shostakovich's focus shifted increasingly towards the chamber medium, and the Quartets contain some of his most personal and poignant musical utterances.

Here the St Petersburg String Quartet add to their highly successful series of quartets by Shostakovich with three more compelling recordings, this time Nos 5, 7 and 9.

Shostakovich wrote his Fifth Quartet in 1952 and is his greatest string quartet up to that time—a masterpiece which he never surpassed and rarely equalled for its consummate symphonic integration. It was the first quartet to have a direct connection with one of his symphonies, in this case the Tenth. The Seventh Quartet was completed in March 1960. It is the shortest of the series and explores aspects of quartet-writing not encountered in other of his works, at least up to that time. It is dedicated to the memory of his first wife, Nina, who had died in 1954. The work moves between passion and tension and draws largely on fugal writing to make the distinctions apparent. The Ninth Quartet is another personal work, dedicated to Irina Antonovna Shostakovich, his third wife whom he married in 1962.

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