Tchaikovsky: String Quartets; Souvenir de Florence

Ying Quartet (Artist), Tchaikovsky (Composer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Composer: Tchaikovsky
• Audio CD (April 24, 2007)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Telarc
• ASIN: B000NOKBIO
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,935 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The fine 2-CD set features Tchaikovsky's three string quartets and his sextet for two violins, two violas, and two cellos, known as the "Souvenir de Florence." The First Quartet is filled with Russian flavor: the second movement’s lament-like first theme is based on a Russian folk song, and the Scherzo is a perky peasant dance; the Ying play the former with warmth and lyricism and the latter with great spirit. The Second Quartet is a more complicated work, more intense in general, and its finale features an imposing fugue, clearly articulated here. The Third Quartet is a dark work, played with great feeling. And the Sextet is a richly textured piece, with a heartfelt violin-cello duet in the second movement and another fine fugue in the finale that even Tchaikovsky boasted about. Throughout, the Ying play with lush tone and great accuracy. This makes a good addition to your chamber music collection. --Robert Levine

Product Description

Throughout his life, Tchaikovsky sought and received the musical favor of Europe, but forever remained deeply rooted in his native Russia. Despite this attachment to his homeland, the famous Mighty Five (Balakirev, Mussourgsky, Borodin, Cui, and Rimsky-Korskov) eschewed his academic associations as an insult to their interest in Russian folk traditions. In the West, however, he was viewed as one of the prominent "young Russians."

In his chamber music, Tchaikovsky was more German than Russian, at least in his indebtedness to Brahms. Yet at the same time, an identifiable Russian spirit persists in these three string quartets and his sextet, Souvenir de Florence. Like many other nationalistic composers, Tchaikovsky was very intimate and universal when he turned to chamber music. His D Major Quartet (String Quartet No. 1) came through an invitation from Nikolai Rubinstein of the Moscow Conservatory for a performance for the Assembly of Nobles. It is known as "Accordion" because the opening theme of the first movement is highlighted by rising and falling chords.

The second of the three string quartets came in 1874, in a debut performance held in the apartment of Nikolai Rubinstein. The event is considered the beginning of the end of the friendship between the famous composer and pianist Anton Rubinstein, who found the work confusing and "not at all in the chamber style." Tchaikovsky's Second Quartet did in fact push the envelope with chromaticism, irregular rhythms, and fugal writing. Fortunately, the other members of the audience enjoyed it immensely, and it has since become his most popular of the three quartets.

The third quartet was written in 1876 and was dedicated to Ferdinand Laub, who had been a champion of the composer and the first violinist in the Russian Music Society's quartet. Despite the triumphant reception for Quartet No. 3, Tchaikovsky was not completely satisfied, marking yet another step in the disillusionment that would haunt his life.

The Souvenir de Florence was inspired by Tchaikovsky's love of the Italian city where he had spent time working on his opera The Maid of Orleans. The Sextet opens boldly but is followed in the second movement Adagio by a moving duet for violin and cello. The third movement Allegretto is an elegy, but includes sharp dynamic contrasts. In the final movement, an energetic fugue, Tchaikovsky reflects a "Russianness" that is also associated with Borodin.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars can't go wrong, November 2, 2010

By 

david t - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Tchaikovsky: String Quartets; Souvenir de Florence (Audio CD)

I write as a professional cellist and quartet enthusiast, but not someone with a lot of experience with quartets of Tchaikovsky. Recently was listening to the radio in my car to an unknown chamber work with stylistic elements of Mendelssohn, Schubert, late Beethoven and Borodin, though clearly none of the above and still obviously the work of a top master composer. The music was passionate, inventive and gorgeous, the sound of the performing quartet virtuosic, flawlessly in tune and balanced. I arrived at my destination but could not turn it off until finding out who in the world was the composer, and who were the performers? It was Quartet 3 of Tchaikovsky played by the Ying Quartet. So I went to Amazon for reviews of various CD's. The Ying Quartet CD box was an incredible bargain, and on repeated listenings my admiration for these pieces and the prowess of this ensemble has only grown. I will probably want to get the Borodin Quartet recordings, but at least from a technical point of view it's hard to imagine anything better than these performances.

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ying Quartet has the Zing, July 1, 2009

By 

Mr. Fleetwood - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tchaikovsky: String Quartets; Souvenir de Florence (Audio CD)

Having just read the Tchaikovsky life story again I realized that I didnt have a recording of the String Quartets. The Ying Quartet certainly play Tchaikovsky with the required Russian heart felt zeal and zing and to have the Souvenir de Florence on the dics is an added bonus. This is a very enjoyable 2 CD set. Charles Fleetwood Dip Mus Brisbane Queensland Australia.