Buy new:
$108.95$108.95
FREE delivery:
April 11 - 12
Ships from: G&J_books Sold by: G&J_books
Save with Used - Very Good
$15.75$15.75
$4.50
delivery:
April 3 - 6
Ships from: book_cricket Sold by: book_cricket
Other Sellers on Amazon
& FREE Shipping
53% positive over last 12 months
Image Unavailable
Color:
-
-
-
- Sorry, this item is not available in
- Image not available
- To view this video download Flash Player
Shostakovich: Complete String Quartets
Box Set
| Listen Now with Amazon Music |
|
Shostakovich: The String Quartets
"Please retry" | Amazon Music Unlimited |
| Price | New from | Used from |
|
MP3 Music, May 9, 2006
"Please retry" | $28.49 | — |
|
Audio CD, Box set, May 16, 2006
"Please retry" | $47.99 | — |
Frequently bought together

- +
- +
Customers who viewed this item also viewed
Track Listings
Disc: 1
| 1 | Qt No.1 in C, Op.49: 1. Moderato |
| 2 | Qt No.1 in C, Op.49: 2. Moderato |
| 3 | Qt No.1 in C, Op.49: 3. Allegro Molto |
| 4 | Qt No.1 in C, Op.49: 4. Allegro |
| 5 | Qt No.2 in A, Op.68: 1. Ov: Moderato Con Moto |
| 6 | Qt No.2 in A, Op.68: 2. Recitative And Romance: Adagio |
| 7 | Qt No.2 in A, Op.68: 3. Waltz: Allegro |
| 8 | Qt No.2 in A, Op.68: 4. Theme W. Vars: Adagio - Moderato Con Moto - Allegretto - Piu Mosso... |
| 9 | Qt No.3 in F, Op.73: 1. Allegretto |
| 10 | Qt No.3 in F, Op.73: 2. Moderato Con Moto |
| 11 | Qt No.3 in F, Op.73: 3. Allegro Non Troppo |
| 12 | Qt No.3 in F, Op.73: 4. Adagio - Attacca: |
| 13 | Qt No.3 in F, Op.73: 5. Moderato - Adagio |
Disc: 2
| 1 | Qt No.4 in D, Op.83: 1. Allegretto |
| 2 | Qt No.4 in D, Op.83: 2. Andantino |
| 3 | Qt No.4 in D, Op.83: 3. Allegretto - Attacca: |
| 4 | Qt No.4 in D, Op.83: 4. Allegretto |
| 5 | Qt No.5 in B flat, Op.92: 1. Allegro Non Troppo - Attacca: |
| 6 | Qt No.5 in B flat, Op.92: 2. Andante - Andantino - Andante - Andantino - Attacca: |
| 7 | Qt No.5 in B flat, Op.92: 3. Moderato - Allegretto - Andante |
| 8 | Qt No.6 in G, Op.101: 1. Allegretto |
| 9 | Qt No.6 in G, Op.101: 2. Moderato Con Moto |
| 10 | Qt No.6 in G, Op.101: 3. Lento - Attacca: |
| 11 | Qt No.6 in G, Op.101: 4. Lento - Allegretto - Andante - Lento |
Disc: 3
| 1 | Qt No.7 in f#, Op.108: 1. Allegretto - Attacca: |
| 2 | Qt No.7 in f#, Op.108: 2. Lento - Attacca: |
| 3 | Qt No.7 in f#, Op.108: 3. Allegro - Allegretto - (Adagio) |
| 4 | Qt No.8 in c, Op.110: 1. Largo - Attacca: |
| 5 | Qt No.8 in c, Op.110: 2. Allegro Molto - Attacca: |
| 6 | Qt No.8 in c, Op.110: 3. Allegretto - Attacca: |
| 7 | Qt No.8 in c, Op.110: 4. Largo - Attacca: |
| 8 | Qt No.8 in c, Op.110: 5. Largo |
| 9 | Qt No.9 in E flat, Op.117: 1. Moderato Con Moto - Attacca: |
| 10 | Qt No.9 in E flat, Op.117: 2. Adagio - Attacca: |
| 11 | Qt No.9 in E flat, Op.117: 3. Allegretto - Attacca: |
| 12 | Qt No.9 in E flat, Op.117: 4. Adagio - Attacca: |
| 13 | Qt No.9 in E flat, Op.117: 5. Allegro |
| 14 | Qt No.10 in A flat, Op.118: 1. Andante |
| 15 | Qt No.10 in A flat, Op.118: 2. Allegretto |
| 16 | Qt No.10 in A flat, Op.118: 3. Adagio - Attacca: |
| 17 | Qt No.10 in A flat, Op.118: 4. Allegretto - Andante |
Disc: 4
| 1 | 'Lady Macbeth Of The Mtsensk District', Op.29: Scene 3: Adagio (Elegy) |
| 2 | 'The Age Of Gold', Op.22: Allegretto (Polka) |
| 3 | Qt No.11 in f, Op.122: 1. Intro: Andantino - Attacca: |
| 4 | Qt No.11 in f, Op.122: 2. Scherzo: Allegretto - Attacca: |
| 5 | Qt No.11 in f, Op.122: 3. Recitative: Adagio - Attacca: |
| 6 | Qt No.11 in f, Op.122: 4. Etude: Allegro - Attacca: |
| 7 | Qt No.11 in f, Op.122: 5. Humoresque: Allegro - Attacca: |
| 8 | Qt No.11 in f, Op.122: 6. Elegy: Adagio - Attacca: |
| 9 | Qt No.11 in f, Op.122: 7. Finale: Moderato - Meno Mosso - Moderato |
| 10 | Qt No.12 in D flat, Op.133: 1. Moderato - Allegretto - Moderato - Allegretto - Moderato |
| 11 | Qt No.12 in D flat, Op.133: 2. Allegretto - Adagio - Moderato - Adagio - Moderato - Allegretto |
| 12 | Qt No.13 in b flat, Op.138: Adagio - Doppio Movimento - Tempo Primo |
Disc: 5
| 1 | Qt No.14 in F#, Op.142: 1. Allegretto - Meno Mosso - Allegretto - Meno Mosso - Allegretto |
| 2 | Qt No.14 in F#, Op.142: 2. Adagio - Attacca: |
| 3 | Qt No.14 in F#, Op.142: 3. Allegretto - Poco Meno Mosso - Adagio |
| 4 | Qt No.15 in e flat, Op.144: 1. Elegy: Adagio - Attacca: |
| 5 | Qt No.15 in e flat, Op.144: 2. Ser: Adagio - Attacca: |
| 6 | Qt No.15 in e flat, Op.144: 3. Intermezzo: Adagio - Attacca: |
| 7 | Qt No.15 in e flat, Op.144: 4. Nocturne: Adagio - Attacca: |
| 8 | Qt No.15 in e flat, Op.144: 5. Funeral March: Adagio Molto - Attacca: |
| 9 | Qt No.15 in e flat, Op.144: 6. Epilogue: Adagio - Adagio Molto |
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Composers have always reserved the expression of their deepest, most personal feelings for the string quartet; Beethoven comes to mind, and more recently Alban Berg, Janácek, and, of course, Shostakovich, whose 15 quartets are an opaque, frequently encoded, almost autobiographical outpouring of the public and private agony endured by the creative artist under totalitarianism. Indeed, for years the political controversy surrounding his person obscured his stature as a composer. However, his quartets, thanks to their accessible musical language and powerful emotional appeal, soon gained a wide audience and are now among the acknowledged masterpieces of 20th-century chamber music.
The Emerson Quartet, committed champion of contemporary music, has just released the Shostakovich quartets on a five-disc set; chronologically arranged, they reflect his growing personal and political travail. The comparative serenity of the early quartets, indicating how he might have composed free of external pressure, soon gives way to increasingly bleak despair, culminating in the shattering, devastating final ones. The players seem to have a special affinity for these works and fully communicate their overwhelming emotional impact without becoming excessive or sentimental. They give each quartet its own distinct character and bring out the set's wildly changing moods, from sardonic, often grotesque irony bordering on desperation to profound sorrow and mournful lamentation. Recorded live at the Aspen Music Festival, the playing is superb, combining the excitement and spontaneity of a performance with utmost control and perfection; the ensemble is seamless, the sound beautiful, but not lush, varied and expressive. --Edith Eisler
Product details
- Is Discontinued By Manufacturer : No
- Product Dimensions : 5.75 x 5 x 0.75 inches; 8.75 Ounces
- Manufacturer : Deutsche Grammophon
- Date First Available : December 8, 2006
- Label : Deutsche Grammophon
- ASIN : B00003XAGO
- Number of discs : 5
- Best Sellers Rank: #29,387 in CDs & Vinyl (See Top 100 in CDs & Vinyl)
- #563 in Chamber Music (CDs & Vinyl)
- #2,023 in R&B (CDs & Vinyl)
- Customer Reviews:
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on Amazon-
Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
Fitzwilliam: This set, made between 1975-77 in a church in Surrey, has the advantage of price. Although the 15 quartets are spread out over 6 CDs as compared to 5 for the Emersons, Decca offers this cycle at roughly half the cost of the DG cycle (it's even cheaper on the used market). The performances eschew Russian soul, grit, and emotional extremes such as one hears from the Borodin Quartet. The Fitzwilliam Quartet sounds soulful but stops short of impassioned. As much as it is possible, they make this music friendly and easy to listen to without sacrificing all of its bite and sarcasm. They are not a virtuoso group (English critics actually praise them for this lack, as if the Emersons' technical mastery was a sign of glibness), so individual solo lines, of which there are many in these quartets, sound medium well played, not dazzling. Decca's sound as transfered to CD can be a bit shrill and congested but is certainly good enough. One large missing ingredient is tonal variation--the Fitzwilliam doesn't search out the peculiar tonalities that are implied in Shostakovich's string writing, which can be eerie, ghostly, brutal, and caustic by turns.
Emerson: Recorded in Aspen at intervals between 1994 and 1999, these are live performances from the music festival and are thus not ideal sonically. What's sometimes lacking is solidity and warmth. Even so, the recorded sound is considerably more detailed than in the Fitzwilliam set, or any other of the four I listened to. When this cycle was first issued in 1999 it swept the field for good reason. The Emersons are head and shoulders above any other quartet for sheer virtuosity in this music. Not that virtuosity is required very often, but the many solo lines are rendered with exquisite technique, and the Emersons pay very close attention to changes in tonality. As a result, these performances are more varied and interesting to listen to than any competitor that I sampled (including the Fitzwilliam, Brodsky, Borodin, St. Petersburg, and Shostakovich quartets on various labels).
The drawbacks are price (it's hard to find even a used set for under $70) and the prevalent accusation, from some quarters, that the Emersons lack Russian soul--they are supposedly too cool, detached, and efficient. Yet this charge can be turned around to say that the Emersons make Shostakovich sound more modern by removing a layer of sentiment. It's really up to the listener to decide, yet I found that cool detachment is not prevalent here--not by any means--and the reviewer below who thinks that the tempos are uniformly too fast is not aware of the field; the Emersons are not extreme in their allegros, at least not very often, and when they paly a movement for virtuosic speed, it's almost alwaays to good effect.
I bbught this set because I heard the Emersons play Shostakovich in concert on two occasions, and I was deeply struck by how much better these quartets sound when they are given superlative musicianship. I am not one to believe that Shostakovich was a great master of quartet writing, not compared to Bartok, Schoenberg, and Janacek among moderns. But he found an idiom, often spare and therefore one-dimenisonal, that is easy to absorb. The Emersons go a step further and give that idiom all kinds of shading and colors that often make it sound better than it is.
In sum, I did what many collectors befoe me have done. I gave away the Fitzwilliam set, which was a good stop gap for many years, and relish the Emerson set as a great achievement, especially for a non-Russian ensemble.
A good introduction to these quartets is probably the Borodin set on Virgin, which covers quartets no. 2, 3, 7, 8, and 12. It is two discs for the price of one and it might be a good item to check out.
As to the music itself, the cycle is about 95 percent outstanding. Shostakovich adapted modern elements to his personal style, a style emotionally connected to the plight of the Russian and Jewish people under Soviet tyranny. It was also a style that earned him scorn quite a bit of scorn from the Soviet authorities. Shostakovich's music draws from modern elements, but his music is considerably more tonal and melodic than many other twentieth-century quartets, although no.12 is particularly dissonant and atonal. It took awhile for Shostakovich to write his first string quartet -- the first was written after he had already tackled five symphonies. This quartet and the next few are relatively bright, occasionally trimmed with irony or sadness or danger. But as tragedy piled up in Shostakovich's life, his music began to reflect deep melancholy and despair. It amounts to some of the saddest, darkest music ever. Later still (starting at about no.11), the quartets become even more depressing, abstract works progressively away from conventions as Shostakovich's health deteriorated. These are more dissonant and unsettling on the whole, with use of serial tones rows. There're a couple of parts that I find kind of tedious, but I'm obsessive about strange things, and for all I know that might be a performance issue rather than a compositional one.
I can't talk about the music in-depth. That would take hours and you would be better served learning about these compositions from experts. i will conclude merely by saying that Shostakovich's quartets are some of the best music i have heard, with numerous amazing subtleties that continue to reveal themselves. I am very pleased with this set.
And I like this music too! Only 5 of the 15 are in the minor. The music might not be as dark as I contemplated, but it can be strong and hard. Shostakovich had a gift of melody that many of his contemporaries lacked. But, make no mistake, there's plenty of darkness. There's plenty of great music here, though not all of it is great quartet music. As an example: the last quartet no. 15 in E flat minor consists of 5 adagio's. Nothing else. Is it even a quartet? I do like no. 15 though and yes, that's a dark one.
As far as these performances go, I like what I hear, but have little to compare them to.
Some of the quartets include audience applause at conclusion. Yes, I get that Emerson is playing this difficult music live. Gratefully, applause isn't included after every quartet. Each CD is wrapped in a sealed envelope. I've never seen this before. It doesn't do anything for me, and I don't understand if it does anything for the manufacturer.
But, these are quibbles. I'm definitely glad I made this purchase!
Top reviews from other countries
But Amazon do it again. They promise an "AutoRip" purchase which is not available (yes, I've tried several computers, PCs and a Mac, with no luck). There is no forum to complain about this, there is no way to report this on Amazon to specifically tell them the problem. Surely this is a CMA issue, in terms of not accurately describing the product? An awful standard of service from Amazon but a wonderful collection. Just buy it from someone else.
Los quince cuartetos de cuerda de Shostakovich, junto con los seis de Bartok, son los más grandes del siglo XX. Los de Shostakovich son melódicos, líricos y, a menudo, directos (y quizás más íntimos, sobre todo en los tres últimos).
El año 1960 vio dos cuartetos: el corto Séptimo y el magnífico Octavo. La Séptima, por corta que sea, tiene todas las razones para ser la obra más personal de Shostakovich.
El octavo es probablemente el cuarteto de cuerda más grabado de Shostakovich. Es una de las obras más desoladoras que jamás haya escrito, una obra en la que aparece una reflexión honesta de que no hay esperanza, solo desesperación y no reconciliación.
El Decimoquinto es simplemente el trabajo más deprimente que puedas escuchar. La apertura es esquelética con notas aisladas en una oscuridad fantasmal.
En términos de técnica, estas son las interpretaciones mejor ejecutadas que han aparecido hasta ahora.
Paul H.
Open Web Player







