I've decided I need to explore these. Which would you say are the best available versions?
-
-
I've always been very happy with the set by the Fitzwilliam Quartet. -
Hi, Mandryka. I used to have some bits of the Borodin Quartet's Shostakovich on LP and if I could afford every set I want would buy it on CD. I have settled on two sets: the Shostakovich Quartet of that ilk who are available on Regis, an absolute bargain with which you cannot go wrong. For incredible wit, sorrow and state of the art playing and recording there is the Danel Quartet on the Fuga Libera label (can be found around mid-price). They really plumb the depths but, being French, make me laugh out loud at the right moments. I tried a couple of discs by the Emersons which I borrowed from my local library but found them very hard driven and lacking soul with their relentless style.
bws
Chris.Comment
-
M1 Mandryka
I once had the Fitzwilliam set and thought it very good, but I dont seem to have it anymore. I've also got an LP set on HMV/Melodiya, by the Borodin Quartet. I'm very happy with it. Apparently they have recorded them more than once, this set was made between 1978 and 1983. As a bonus, you get a recording of a live performane of the piano quintet with Richter. According to the Penguin Guide, this is their second version and has been issued on CD by Melodiya: 100177 (6 CD set).Comment
-
I like the Emersons but I also have the Fitzwilliam which would be my recommendation.Originally posted by Chris Newman View PostDel boy: “Get in, get out, don’t look back. That’s my motto!”Comment
-
Another vote for the Fitzwilliam Quartet.
Comment
-
I have the Borodin (now on Melodya), the Fitzwilliam and the Danel and, whilst all 3 sets are excellent, if I only had to choose one it would be the Borodin. They seem to me to get to the heart of the music more than the others.Comment
-
A vote here for the Shostakovich Quartet cycle, which was available on an Olympia 5CD set (OCD 5009). Might still be found second-hand? Some (all?) were re-issued on Regis.Comment
-
My journey through the Shoster 4tets started with miscellaneous LPs, including the Fitzwilliam's 8 & 15 (essential as I heard them do 15 live and more or less hot off the press in 1975). My CD purchases have been the Naxos Eders (not negligible) and the Melodiya Borodins (pretty much to die for) plus the Virgin twofer of 2, 3 , 7 , 8 and 12 (a later - 1990 - incarnation of the Borodins than the Melodiya box).
I don't know enough to argue with those who pick the Fitzwilliams outright (I'd buy their set too if I had the dosh and the shelfroom!) but would suspect that the Borodins start just a teeny tad closer to S's Russian roots.I keep hitting the Escape key, but I'm still here!Comment
-
Thanks for the advice, friends. :) The burden of your song seems to be that the Fitzwilliam or the Borodin sets are the best ones to go for. The Emerson set is very cheap at the moment but, having listened to a bit of it on spotify, I'm inclined to agree with those who think these performances are too 'glossy', even though I'm not that familiar with the music - what I heard certainly didn't sound very idiomatic.
The Borodin set on Chandos is currently available at competitive prices, but it seems to be missing two of the quartets:
http://http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/...B4/mffindcd-21
Does anyone know if the 'missing ones' are available separately? I believe the reason they're missing from this set is because the Borodin personnel changed.Comment
-
Mandryka: that Chandos Borodin set set is incomplete because the 14th and 15th quartets were still to be written when it was recorded, and one of the quartet's members died soon after so there is no available exact 'add-on' to complete the set. The Melodiya box of all 15 is a later line-up recorded 1978-83.Originally posted by Mandryka View Post
Note that the Chandos set, though good, is mastered off LPs not the original Russian tapes. You could supplement it with the Eders' coupling of the last two quartets (8.550976), but the later Melodiya recording is a better package I think. A major bonus is the Piano Quintet with Richter, along with the 2 Pieces for String Octet. NB in this later set some of the recordings (the Quintet and the 6th and 9th quartets at least) are 'live' if you are likely to be bothered by such things.I keep hitting the Escape key, but I'm still here!Comment
-
Mandryka, the original Chandos recording of 1-13 was made by the original line-up of Dubinsky, Alexandrov, Shebalin and Berlinsky - they never played the last two which post-dated the departure of Dubinsky. Subsequent "Borodin quartet" recordings were made by the reformed group under Berlinsky. The torrid tale of the Borodins is told by Dubinsky in his book "Stormy Applause" which you can still track down on Amazon or Abe Books.Originally posted by Mandryka View PostComment
-
While not wanting to deflect from the excellent Borodins, I can confirm that the complete cycle by the Shostakovich Quartet is available on Regis (RRC5001) for about £20.Originally posted by Don Petter View PostComment
-
I have been collecting the Mandelring Quartett's cycle on Audite and am very happy with this; it has been well reviewed in various places too. I believe it might be appearing in a box sometime in the future.Comment
-
EnemyoftheStoat,
Oh dear! What have you got against poor little members of the mustelidae like me! Enemyof theStoat indeed!
Bws. ( in sorrow! )
Ferret
PS Everybody should have the Borodin Quartet's Decca version of No. 8, which should still be around on a well filled CD with Borodin No. 2 and the Gabrieli in Tchaikovsky No. 1Comment
Comment