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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Bridge: Lutosławski Quartet
Lutoslawski Quartet was founded in 2007. It has appeared at many festivals. The quartet has given concerts with Bruno Canino, Paul Gulda, the Silesian Quartet, the Royal String Quartet, an English oboist Nicholas Daniel, the world-renowned pianist and Chopin Competition prize-winner – Eugen Indijc, an extraordinary clarinetist Michel Lethiec, as well as outstanding jazz players such as Kenny Wheeler, John Taylor and Uri Caine. The Lutosławski Quartet performs contemporary music as well as recently commissioned pieces, and focuses on popularizing Polish music, including works by Lutosławski, Bacewicz, Szymanowski, and also compositions by one of the group members – Marcin Markowicz. The quartet works as one of the resident ensembles at the National Forum of Music. | 
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| |  | The Soviet Experience Volume IIString 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. Volume 1 received universal praise on both sides of the Atlantic and was included on the best classical albums of 2011 lists of The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, The New Yorker, San Jose Mercury News, Newark Star-Ledger, and St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “The expected rhetoric and terror of Shostakovich's Soviet armour are here carefully measured with universal frameworks of great sonic beauty, whether fragile or strong: Beethoven, thank goodness, looms larger than Stalin...[in Prokofiev's String Quartet No. 2] the Pacifica Quartet's sophisticated teamwork is stretched to the limits, but it works beautifully.” BBC Music Magazine, August 2012 ***** “It adds up to another powerful listening experience.” Financial Times, 12th May 2012 **** “Their playing is always clean and well focused - tonally, technically and interpretatively. But it works best, I feel, when the musical character itself is clear-cut...if you are looking for excellent modern recording and clean playing, plus the bonus of extra revelant repertoire, or if you are allergic to overstatement in Shostakovich, then there is certainly much to enjoy...But if a distinctive interpretative angle is your priority, I would advise looking elsewhere” Gramophone Magazine, August 2012 “The playing is excellent throughout, with no sense of strain and perfect tuning between the various members of the quartet. They can well withstand the close balance of the recorded sound to which they are subjected...Certainly there is much to admire in these excellent, civilised and deeply considered performances.” MusicWeb International, August 2012 “These Shostakovich quartets present vast musical and psychological challenges...[the Prokofiev's] originality is telling: the sinewy, heterophonic workings of folk material in its second movement here sound like music from much later.” Sunday Times, 29th April 2012 “the maturity of an experienced composer is clear, his music dynamically and compellingly realised here.” The Independent on Sunday, 15th April 2012 ***** “exceptional both in the musicians’ maturity and breadth of expression and in the sheer humanity and emotional force of the playing...Everything about these performances points to an ensemble with an acute understanding of the music’s implications and with a capacity to communicate it freshly by means of a broad, astutely applied spectrum of timbre and a compelling blend of immediacy and intimacy.” The Telegraph, 10th May 2012 ***** | | | (also available to download from $21.00) | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Shostakovich: String Quartets
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| |  | Shostakovich & Beethoven: String Quartets
Valentin Berlinsky Quartet The Zurich-based Valentin Berlinsky Quartet, named in honour of the legendary founding cellist of the Borodin Quartet, continues its series on Avie pairing the works of Beethoven and Shostakovich. The Valentin Berlinsky Quartet made an auspicious recording debut last year with highly acclaimed readings of Shostakovich's String Quartets Nos. 7 and 8, and Beethoven's first Razumovsky. Augmenting an already impressive pedigree - Yo-Yo Ma praised their "pure music making," while David Zinman hailed "a quartet that has a bright future" - this Zurich-based foursome continues their series on Avie pairing the two composers. The Valentin Berlinsky Quartet chose its name to honour the legendary founding cellist of the Borodin Quartet, receiving the blessing for their attribution from the cellist's daughter, pianist Ludmila Berlinskaia with whom the Quartet frequently performs. Beethoven and Shostakovich were composers who dominated the quartet genre during their respective eras and whose strong musical contrasts and rapidly changing mood swings complement each other superbly. The award-winning members of the Valentin Berlinsky Quartet are four of the finest musicians working in Switzerland today, principal players in the Zurich Opera and Tonhalle Orchestras. As chamber musicians they have worked with such artists as Martha Argerich, Julia Fischer and Radu Lupu. In addition to performances throughout Europe and China, the Quartet has reached audiences further afield through their numerous YouTube videos, including their recording of Beethoven's Second Razumovsky Quartet. Critical acclaim for the Valentin Berlinsky Quartet's earlier Beethoven and Shostakovich album on Avie: "Warmth, blend and polish...Recommended." - Gramophone "Astonishing...playing that combines technical perfection with exceptional maturity and musical insight." - BBC Music Magazine "Probing, impassioned playing that leaves no emotional stone unturned, complemented by a lucidly natural recording." - The Strad |
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| |  | Shostakovich: String Quartets Nos. 3, 4 & 7
In recent years, the Finnish string quartet Meta4 has become one of the world’s top quartets. The ensemble won the Shostakovich Competition in Moscow in 2004, so are well qualified to record these works. Their first release of Haydn’s Op.55 quartets won an Echo Klassik Award. “Unlike most of their peers, Meta4 have found their way to the particular world of musicality that Shostakovich inhabits...Listen to the highly contrapuntal central section of the first movement of the Thrid Quartet and marvel at the range and precision of colour and articulation...I'm not sure I've ever heard the opening folk-like Allegretto of No. 4 more subtly explored” Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2012 | | | (also available to download from $10.50) | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. (Available now to download.) |
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| |  | Shostakovich: Streichquartette 3 & 5 - Polka
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| |  | Shostakovich: String Quartets Nos. 1, 3 & 8
The Ludwig Quartet was founded in 1985 and is one of the leading quartets of its generation. Numerous recordings of theirs have been awarded the Grand Prix du Disque. “…the four instrumentalists have a sweetness of tone which is all too rare today.” The Times | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | Tchaikovsky & Shostakovich - String QuartetsRecorded in 1987
This legendary quartet has been the authority on Russian string quartet repertoire for more than 60 years. Founded in 1945 and renamed in 1955 after Russian chamber music composer Alexander Borodin, the quartet was so sought after, that even in its early career, it played at Stalin's and Prokofiev's funerals on the same day in 1953! The quartet had a close working relationship with Dmitri Shostakovich, who personally consulted with them on each of his quartets. In this two-hour programme - recorded in 1987 - the quartet presents his string quartets Nos. 3 and 8, written in 1946 and 1960, respectively.These are juxtaposed by two of the three string quartets of Tchaikovsky, works that unjustifiably belong to the less frequently played part of the composer's oeuvre. As one of the longest lasting string quartets, the Borodin Quartet shine with clarity, unity and beauty of sound, whenever and wherever they perform.This DVD provides the opportunity for a close study of important chamber music by their most illustrious interpreters. “…these films of the Borodin Quartet in 1987 make the… valid point that maximum effect can be achieved with minimal physical effort. …it also captures one of the group's several golden ages, in this case with Mikhail Kopelman at the helm. Kopelman was a peerless first violinist: pure of intonation, deeply expressive without ever forcing the tone, tough but never abrasive...” BBC Music Magazine, July 2009 ***** | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | Shostakovich: Complete String Quartets Volume 2
“Outstanding Shostakovich from the Mandelring - In this second volume of Shostakovich's quartets, the Mandelring Quartet makes it abundantly clear that it is building one of the outstanding cycles in today's catalogue. The sound engineer's
exemplary internal balance earns the final accolade, and as an added bonus you can enjoy a short DVD showing the Mandelring players at work.” The Strad | | | Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days. |
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Gramophone Magazine
