Shostakovich & Beethoven: String Quartets
Beethoven:
- String Quartet No. 7 in F major, Op. 59 No. 1 ‘Rasumovsky No. 1’
Shostakovich:
- String Quartet No. 7 in F sharp minor, Op. 108
- String Quartet No. 8 in C minor, Op. 110
Performed by the members of the Valentin Berlinsky Quartet, who are four of the finest musicians working in Switzerland today:
Bartek Niziol and Wang Xiaoming are concertmasters of the Zurich Opera Orchestra; violist David Greenlees and cellist Alexander Neustroev are principal players of the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra. As chamber musicians they have worked with such artists as Martha Argerich, Julia Fischer and Radu Lupu. They formed the Valentin Berlinsky Quartet in 2010, to explore the masterpieces of the string quartet repertoire.
The Valentin Berlinsky Quartet, named in honor of the legendary founding cellist of the Borodin Quartet, debuts with the first in a series of recordings pairing the works of Beethoven and Shostakovich.
The Quartet received the blessing for their attribution from the cellist’s daughter, pianist Ludmila Berlinskaia with whom the Quartet frequently performs. On their debut album The Valentin Berlinsky Quartet chose to perform the works of Beethoven and Shostakovich, composers who dominated the quartet literature during their respective eras and whose strong musical contrasts and rapidly changing mood swings complement each other well.
Here is the Valentin Berlinsky Quartet, performing the Shostakovich String Quartet number 8
And now, here is the Valentin Berlinsky Quartet, with Ludmila Berlinskaia, in the Shostakovich Piano Quintet
Tags: Valentin Berlinsky Quartet, Shostakovich, Beethoven, Rasumofsky