Shostakovich String Quartets

[Norfolk Born]

..and the Fitzwilliam from Amazon at £20.77 new (CD or download) and from £18.13 (used).

[EnemyoftheStoat]

Oh dear! What have you got against poor little members of the mustelidae like me! Enemyof theStoat indeed!

Absolutely nothing at all, 'tis merely a moniker. Fear not, furry friend!

[rodney_h_d]

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.

This question comes up regularly! As I've said before, I heard the Borodins with that 'original' line-up play a then complete cycle of Quartets 1-11 at the Goldsmiths' Hall in London on Monday, Wednesday and Friday 24th/28th June 1968 - one of my most memorable musical experiences. I still think they were at their absolute best with leader Dubinsky and Alexandrov on 2nd violin.
So, although I have some other recordings and heard the Borodins with the later personnel lead by Mikhail Kopelman after Dubinsky defected to the West and Alexandrov left the quartet, I would encourage people to hear that Chandos 4-disk set of 1-13. The sound is fine and it is available for less than £13. People used to complete the set with the recordings of 14 and 15 by the Beethoven Quartet on Melodiya although that seems to be hard to find at the moment.

[Ferretfancy]

EnemyoftheStoat

Phew! That's a relief!!

Ferret

[Bryn]

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.

I an patiently waiting for that box. I have the Rubio, Shostakovich, Fitzwilliams (my overall favourite), Borodins (Chandos, Melodiya, a live survey at the QEH on cassettes, plus some individual quartets recorded by the Borodins, then there's the Emersons, oh and the Brodskys (my least favourite). I have heard such good things about the Maderling survey that I am really looking forward to an eventual boxed set.

[EdgeleyRob]

Shostakovich String Quartets

I have been listening to a lot of lesser known Russian music lately,initially Symphonies (inspired by Suffolkcoastal's journey thread).
This has evolved into something of an obsession with string quartets and other chamber music by the likes of Myaskovsky and Weinberg.
Whilst searching the web I found a fascinating DSCH site which may be of interest to others members.

http://www.quartets.de/

[amateur51]

Initial reaction - wow! Just the thing for a wet summer ER

[Stanley Stewart]

I made my first acquaintance with a complete cycle of the DSCH String Quartets performed at the Wigmore Hall by the Fitzwilliam String Quartet, circa 1978, and this included pre-performance discussions. In due course, I added the set to my CD collection and it still stimulates vivid memories.

However, I recently acquired three separate volumes, each with two CDs per volume, by the Pacifica Quartet on the Cedille label. It also includes works by the composer's contemporaries, under the umbrella title of The Soviet Experience - and it still makes scary reading! However, the recordings have been made in vivid sound and I eagerly await the final instalment. Shopping around, I got the best deal on Europa Disc @ £12 95 per vol, post free for the 3 sets.

[Beef Oven!]

Shostakovich's 15 String Quartets

I'm putting music onto an SD card for my portable player to listen to on holiday in September/October.

One body of work that I want to spend some time with is DSCH's String Quartets, but all 15 would be too much (although I know one forum member will be in attendance at the Globe for the performance of them all ion one day!).

Any ideas of the best 5 or 6 to take on holiday?

I will be ripping them from one complete set, the Rubio Quartet on Brilliant classics.

[Hitch]

I'd take No.8, a "These You Have Loved" of Shostakovich's career.

[Beef Oven!]

I'd take No.8, a "These You Have Loved" of Shostakovich's career.

Yes, it would be unusual not to! But I do want 5 or 6.

[Hitch]

Yes, it would be unusual not to! But I do want 5 or 6.

You could always take both of them.

[Beef Oven!]

You could always take both of them.

Funny enough, I like 5 very much but I'd forgotten how six went so a couple of days ago I listened to it and fell in love!

[EdgeleyRob]

This may help you to decide Beefmeister

http://www.quartets.de/ (it's in our reference library)

My favourite is 7 (DSCH's own favourite too I believe)

Don't dare leave No 15 behind.

I suggest 3,7,8,13 and 15

[Tapiola]

A great resource, ER. If I was going on holiday I'd take: 6, 9, 10, 14 and 1 (sorry Rob, no 15) - funnily enough, all different to yours!