Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 9 in E flat major, Op. 117

A judicious coupling of Shostakovich recordings by the Jerusalem Quartet who have won BBC Music Magazine Awards no less than three times.

This is the third instalment in the Pacifica Quartet’s highly anticipated, and already highly acclaimed four-volume CD survey of the complete Shostakovich string quartets: The Soviet Experience: String Quartets by Dmitri Shostakovich and his Contemporaries.

It 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.

The Pacifica’s previous instalment, The Soviet Experience Volume II, received an extraordinary reception from critics. “The playing is nothing short of phenomenal, bringing new dimensions of interpretative depth and a subtle fusion of intensity and clarity. . . . When the series is complete, it looks set to be the one to own” (The Telegraph).

The four musicians of the Byron Quartet met in Geneva thanks to the impetus of Gabor Takacs-Nagy. In 2009, the Byron Quartet won the Audience Prize of the Chamber Music Contest of the "Pour-cent culturel Migros", having thus the benefit of their support for two years. They have been engaged in important concert seasons and make regular broadcasts on French Radio 2 and Espace DRS2.

Their first recording is entirely devoted to Dmitri Shostakovich. The String Quartet No. 8, the most famous, is a quasi-autobiographical work that evokes the composer's struggle against the Soviet regime. The String Quartet No. 9 and the Two Pieces for String Quartet less known, are a characteristic combination of the pain and suffering mixed with sardonic humour associated with the composer.

There is no doubt that Ludwig van Beethoven’s legacy was fundamental in the creation of Dmitri Shostakovich’s String Quartets which are outstanding both in their craftsmanship and spirituality. They are also convincing in their palette of forms and expressions on a chamber music level, as well as their technical demands and cyclical links between movements. The confessional character of the works is determined by three secret acknowledgements: to his beloved pupil Galina Ustvolskaya, his late wife Nina and his third wife to whom Shostakovich dedicated his ninth string quartet. This is the third volume in the series by the Mandelring Quartet.