Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. (Available now to download.)
This is the first installment in the Pacifica Quartet’s highly anticipated, four-volume CD survey of the complete Shostakovich string quartets: The Soviet Experience: String Quartets by Dmitri Shostakovich and his Contemporaries.
The Soviet Experience is the first Shostakovich quartet cycle to include works by other important composers of the Soviet era, adding variety and perspective to the listening experience.
This superbly performed series of audiophile recordings, produced and engineered by multiple Grammy Award winner Judith Sherman, will appeal to everyone interested in great Russian music of the 20th century. It’s also a great value: each two-CD installment is priced as a single CD.
Dmitry Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 5 in B flat major, Op. 92
I. Allegretto non troppo
II. Andante
III. Moderato - Allegretto
Dmitry Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 6 in G major, Op. 101
I. Allegretto
II. Moderato con moto
III. Lento
IV. Lento - Allegretto - Andante
Dmitry Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 7 in F sharp minor, Op. 108
I. Allegretto
II. Lento
III. Allegro - Allegretto
Dmitry Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 8 in C minor, Op. 110
I. Largo
II. Allegro molto
III. Allegretto
IV. Largo
V. Largo
Nikolay Myaskovsky: String Quartet No. 13 in A minor, Op. 86
I. Moderato
II. Presto fantastico
III. Andante con moto e molto cantabile
IV. Molto vivo, energico
January 2012
*****
“their sense of the musical argument is always impressive, shining through their objective but never over-slick approach. The Pacifica Quartet only seem to draw breath, like Shostakovich, between movements. As a result, the continuous Fifth Quartet just keeps coming at you...The Sixth Quartet has never seemed more genuinely tender, and the aphorisms of the Seventh are full of determination...Lovely, cultured musicianship throughout.”
18th November 2011
****
“The Pacificas play them with clairvoyant unity of purpose, combining motivic lucidity and naturalness of expression in a way that gives these often difficult masterworks a compelling logic.”
16th October 2011
“Its release coincides with their electrifying performances at Wigmore Hall last week. Listen to these and you'll wish you had been there.”
Click on any of the works listed above for alternative recordings.
I. Allegretto non troppo
