Borodin Quartet: 60th Anniversary

"One of the finest string quartet discs I have heard for some time with all the music played con amore."
(MusicWeb Jan 2007)

This CD is released as the official 60th anniversary celebration for the world's oldest surviving string quartet, founded in Moscow in 1945. It also marks the 80th birthday of the legendary original cellist Valentin Berlinksy.

Undoubtedly one of the world's great ensembles, the Borodin Quartet has a particular affinity with Russian repertoire and Shostakovich personally supervised their study of each of his quartets.

This newly recorded CD contains the Borodin's signature work (Borodin's Quartet No 2) plus smaller works for quartet both well-known and rare.

"The Borodin Quartet's performances command attention in their quiet intensity. The obsessive rhythmic patterns became like the knocking of death at the door - Shostakovich lived in constant fear of the knock by Stalin's police that would send him to his doom - and the cries and groans that concluded No 12 were etched in grief... it's always strange to see an audience burst into instantaneous whoops and applause for a Shostakovich quartet, as Thursday's audience did."
Berkshire Eagle, August 6, 2003