Customer Reviews

Shostakovich: The 15 String Quartets

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I have long prized the Vanguard lps I bought around 1960, recordings of the first five Shostakovich String Quartets and the Piano Quintet. The Komitas Quartet was featured on the 1st Quartet, the Tchaikovsky Quartet on Nos. 3 and 4, and the Beethoven Quartet on Nos. 2 and 5 and the Quintet, with Shostakovich at the piano.

This set likely contains those early performances of Nos. 2 and 5; I have never heard another performance to equal them in a unique blend of brute force, abject tenderness, and a kind of fierce stoicism. This holds true for all the quartets heard here, and the depth of feeling coupled with exemplary technique (to my ears) surpasses even the Borodin Quartet's original recordings of Quartets 1 - 13, reissued on Chandos.

The Borodin set is blessed with better sound, but what I hear on these discs is far better than what was available on the Vanguard lps, which I still own. Only those who demand the latest, digital recordings should pass on this set. The Quintet is still available on a Vanguard CD, coupled with the 2nd Quartet. If you can't afford this set, at least get that. I recently copied my lp to CD; I treasure that Quintet recording.

The notes are mainly concerned with the Beethoven Quartet's relationship with the composer. I am certain that Quartets 2 through 5 are monophonic recordings (the notes say nothing about recording dates, but they likely correspond to the date of the premieres from about 1956 on) and I am fairly sure the recording of No. 15 is the same that appears on Praga Pr254043, coupled with No.14 performed by the Glinka Quartet. That is an excellent supplement to the Borodin set on Chandos, by the way.

I recommend this to all who care about this music, and the quartet that premiered it.

Look no further. Yes, the fidelity isn't as great as some others. But it's not bad. And it is wildly exciting. This is the music of this composer, realized more fully than any other recording I have heard. The Beethoven Quartet worked with the composer for many years; they understood Shostakovich's world and struggles as no other group possibly can. It's beyond brilliant. Get it.

In the first place, the playing and musicianship of the Beethoven Quartet is beautiful, intense, and deeply stirring. Second -- how can you do better than to listen to the performances of the players to whom the quartets were dedicated --- for whom,in some cases, they were written expressly for --- and who were rehearsed by the composer himself ?

There are examples of composers proving that they can't coach or conduct, and giving their best works to jerks to perform -- but this set of quartets is a dream come true.