Shostakovich String Quartets

[Beef Oven!]

Yes, the Eder set is well thought of. It's just that 14 & 15 are often cited as excellent performances.

Speaking for myself, I've only got one complete set, the other three I've ordered are in the post. I'll need to pass on this one.

[Bella Kemp]

I would be tempted to take just no. 8 - which says it all - and read Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman.
But this might be all a little tough for a holiday so why not pack some Haydn piano sonatas and a P.G. Wodehouse to remind you that life can also give us much simple joy.

[BBMmk2]

I would be tempted to take just no. 8 - which says it all - and read Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman.
But this might be all a little tough for a holiday so why not pack some Haydn piano sonatas and a P.G. Wodehouse to remind you that life can also give us much simple joy.

No.8 is my favourite. How do the Fitzwilliam's cycle stand up these days?

[Bryn]

I would be tempted to take just no. 8 - which says it all . . .

I'd take any except No. 8. It's not that I don't hold it in high regard. It's that it is promoted so much more than any of the others that those wide-ranging works end up hidden by its shadow.

[richardfinegold]

I'd take any except No. 8. It's not that I don't hold it in high regard. It's that it is promoted so much more than any of the others that those wide-ranging works end up hidden by its shadow.

Well said. I love the 8th but currently listen most to 7,9, and 11. The 8th has hit WarHorse Status for me, so excessively familiar as to fail to register.

[Tevot]

Hello there,

I was pleased to see the Eder Quartet's Naxos recordings mentioned there - proof at least that one of my Naxos purchases is appreciated by others !

It has been a long time since I've listened to the DSCH quartets and I'll make an effort to listen to the early ones ( 1-7) which back in the day didn't perhaps make the impression they should have.

I'm inclined to agree with you RichardFG about the 8th and indeed I'd say the same about the 10th too.

Of the later quartets - the 11th, 12th and 14th stood out on first hearing. I remember reading a sleeve note (remember them !?) likening the closing passages of the 14th to Dvorak - bonkers perhaps but for me it rings true!

The 13th and 15th were for me more problematic. Hated the 13th initially but have grown to love it since. The 15th again took me time to "get" in its entirety - but I remember a dear friend of mine more used to pop and Sinatra of all people - who listening once to the first movement of the 15th turned to me and said "this is beautiful" This is going back 30 years.

Music is a funny old thing isn't it?

Best Wishes,

Tevot

[Beef Oven!]

I would be tempted to take just no. 8 - which says it all - and read Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman.
But this might be all a little tough for a holiday so why not pack some Haydn piano sonatas and a P.G. Wodehouse to remind you that life can also give us much simple joy.

A handful of PG Wodehouse and JWBL always accompany me on my holidays! As does The Diary Of A Nobody.

[Bella Kemp]

A handful of PG Wodehouse and JWBL always accompany me on my holidays! As does The Diary Of A Nobody.

Splendid! But baffled by JWBL I googled it. Do you always take the Japanese Women's Baseball League - or might I possibly be missing something?

[Beef Oven!]

Splendid! But baffled by JWBL I googled it. Do you always take the Japanese Women's Baseball League - or might I possibly be missing something?

[Bella Kemp]

[QUOTE=Beef Oven!;677675]

[

Cheers!

[Petrushka]

Shostakovich String Quartets

I can't find a thread on these but feel sure there must have been one at some time.

I've had the Chandos box of the original Borodin Quartet playing Quartets 1 - 13 for some time but have only recently got properly stuck into it. I very recently supplemented the set with the later Borodin readings on EMI of the missing final two quartets thus giving me the full set and am greatly enjoying listening by taking them in order. Currently at the 5th which is a bleak and unsettling work but one I found as impressive and moving as anything in the symphonies.

Others will know them better than I do and wonder how these recordings are rated? They sound pretty well definitive to me but interested to know if any others are preferred. What, for instance, is the Decca set of the Borodins?

[Pulcinella]

I have found a couple of previous threads that should be of interest.

PS: So did our friendly host, who has now merged them, making this post superfluous.

[Bryn]

I have possibly overdosed on these quartets, over the years. The Borodin Quartet's various recordings of them are, indeed, very fine. Other, more recent, recordings well worth consideration included those by the Pacifica Quartet. Of those more contemporary to the Borodins, I would strongly recommend the Fitzwilliams. I'm sure others will recommend alternatives. Bear in mind that some of these quartets were dedicated to the Beethoven Quartet, whose survey on DOREMI was awarded a Diapason d'or.

[LMcD]

I can't find a thread on these but feel sure there must have been one at some time.

I've had the Chandos box of the original Borodin Quartet playing Quartets 1 - 13 for some time but have only recently got properly stuck into it. I very recently supplemented the set with the later Borodin readings on EMI of the missing final two quartets thus giving me the full set and am greatly enjoying listening by taking them in order. Currently at the 5th which is a bleak and unsettling work but one I found as impressive and moving as anything in the symphonies.

Others will know them better than I do and wonder how these recordings are rated? They sound pretty well definitive to me but interested to know if any others are preferred. What, for instance, is the Decca set of the Borodins?

I often dip into my box set of the excellent Fitzwilliam Quartet's Shostakovich quartets.

[Nick Armstrong]

I can't find a thread on these but feel sure there must have been one at some time.

I found three previous threads, and have combined them all. I suggest a read from the top (January 2011!) for lots of interesting comments about the pieces and recordings (plus statutory tangents such as whisky etc )