Shostakovitch Chamber Music

I'd be delighted

The Fitzwilliams on Decca and if you can get it, the Borodin Quartet on Chant du Monde, I think,

Sister xx

Dear Mike,

This is just beyond me! The Bartok Quartets are even further off the edge of my RADAR!

But I was advised and followed up on both Sister's recommendations. The Fitzwilliam recordings on Decca are much better recordings and are temendously passionate performances, whereas there was something very dark and Russian in the playing of the Borodin Quartet recordings even in dim LP transfers [on Melodya, I think in those days, but Chant du Monde CDs are really good] of twenty five or thirty years ago [I would bet that they would benefit from CD transfers more than many LPs of the time], which might suit you better. I gave these all away after a while, but don't be put off! You may well love them!!!

Both were top recommendations then, and I see no reason why that should have changed now.

ATB from George

The set by the Shostakovich Quartet was originally on Olympia, but reissued on Regis. A dark, brooding set that captures the music perfectly. A much lighter version of the third quartet is by the Jerusalem Quartet on EMI, coupled with Tchaikovsky. For the Piano Trios try the Vienna Trio on Nimbus, coupled with Schnittke. These are all much-played CDs in our house.

Emerson quartet, i like the symphonies, these are intimate and never publicly published till after Stalin. I can only listen to 2 at a time.

8 years ago at a small record shop I came across a big blue box of Takecs doing Bartok quartets. Now they really are strange. I've never heard all of them and owned them all this time.

The St Petersburg String Quartet are hard to beat