Shostakovich - Complete String Quartets Vol.2: Nos. 6-12

£19.90

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Label: Harmonia Mundi

Cat No: HMM90273334

Format: CD

Number of Discs: 2

Genre: Chamber

Release Date: 11th July 2025

Works

Shostakovich, Dmitri

String Quartet no.6 in G major, op.101
String Quartet no.7 in F sharp minor, op.108
String Quartet no.8 in C minor, op.110
String Quartet no.9 in E flat major, op.117
String Quartet no.10 in A flat major, op.118
String Quartet no.11 in F minor, op.122
String Quartet no.12 in D flat major, op.133

Artists

Cuarteto Casals

Works

Shostakovich, Dmitri

Artists

Cuarteto Casals

About

Shostakovich’s String Quartets nos. 6 to 12, written between 1956 and 1968, are marked by the relative freedom regained after the death of Stalin.

In the second volume of its complete set, the Cuarteto Casals explores this period of a dozen years in which the composer never ceased to innovate, constantly handling new geometries and ideas in his structures.

A key moment in the history of the 20th-century quartet.

Sound/Video

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String Quartet No.6 in G major, op.101: 1. Allegretto
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String Quartet No.6 in G major, op.101: 2. Moderato con moto
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String Quartet No.6 in G major, op.101: 3. Lento
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String Quartet No.6 in G major, op.101: 4. Lento – Allegretto – Andante – Lento
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String Quartet No.7 in F sharp minor, op.108: 1. Allegretto
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String Quartet No.7 in F sharp minor, op.108: 2. Lento
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String Quartet No.7 in F sharp minor, op.108: 3. Allegro – Allegretto
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String Quartet No.8 in C minor, op.110: 1. Largo
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String Quartet No.8 in C minor, op.110: 2. Allegro molto
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String Quartet No.8 in C minor, op.110: 3. Allegretto
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String Quartet No.8 in C minor, op.110: 4. Largo
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String Quartet No.8 in C minor, op.110: 5. Largo
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String Quartet No.11 in F minor, op.122: 1. Introduction. Andantino
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String Quartet No.11 in F minor, op.122: 2. Scherzo. Allegretto
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String Quartet No.11 in F minor, op.122: 3. Recitative. Adagio
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String Quartet No.11 in F minor, op.122: 4. Etude. Allegro
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String Quartet No.11 in F minor, op.122: 5. Humoresque. Allegro
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String Quartet No.11 in F minor, op.122: 6. Elegy. Adagio
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String Quartet No.11 in F minor, op.122: 7. Finale. Moderato
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String Quartet No.9 in E flat major, op.117: 1. Moderato con moto
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String Quartet No.9 in E flat major, op.117: 2. Adagio
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String Quartet No.9 in E flat major, op.117: 3. Allegretto
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String Quartet No.9 in E flat major, op.117: 4. Adagio
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String Quartet No.9 in E flat major, op.117: 5. Allegro
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String Quartet No.10 in A flat major, op.118: 1. Andante
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String Quartet No.10 in A flat major, op.118: 2. Allegretto furioso
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String Quartet No.10 in A flat major, op.118: 3. Adagio
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String Quartet No.10 in A flat major, op.118: 4. Allegretto – Andante
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String Quartet No.12 in D flat major, op.133: 1. Moderato – Allegretto
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String Quartet No.12 in D flat major, op.133: 2. Allegretto – Adagio – Moderato – Allegretto

Europadisc Review

How important is an awareness of a composer’s biography to interpretation of his or her music? It’s a question that’s particularly pertinent to Shostakovich, the 50th anniversary of whose death falls on 9 August this year. Even without referring to the (still contentious) memoirs contained in Solomon Volkov’s 1979 publication Testimony, it’s barely possible to delve into the composer’s output without coming up against references to wartime horrors, Soviet (and particularly Stalinist) repression, and the tragedies of Shostakovich’s personal life. This is especially the case with the very personal medium of the string quartet, the genre into which – across fifteen works written between 1938 and 1974 – he poured some of his most bitingly intense music.

The increasing number of quartet groups to tackle this oeuvre have tended, to a greater or lesser extent, to follow the lead of the ensembles most closely identified with the composer, chief among them the Moscow-based Beethoven Quartet and the British Fitzwilliam Quartet. However, as more recently formed groups have turned their focus to Shostakovich, the range of approaches has widened. Which is where the Cuarteto Casals, formed in 1997 in Madrid, comes in. Best-known for its cultivated, period-sensitive performances of the Viennese classics (not least its marvellous Beethoven cycle, currently unavailable), this might seem an unlikely fit for Shostakovich, yet the first volume of the Casals cycle (Quartets nos. 1 to 5, released in November 2024) swept away not a few cobwebs, and was hailed for its transparent textures and focus on the music’s inner processes rather than prioritising the grit and weight of biographical association.

Now, with volume 2 devoted to the works of the post-Stalin ‘thaw’, they approach much more hotly contested terrain in Quartets nos. 6 to 12, yet they once again bring their trademark combination of crystalline clarity and acute musical observation. Those wedded to the weightiness of traditional performances might do a double-take on hearing these splendidly lean performances, yet the benefits of the Casals’ approach are abundantly evident in the Cinderella Sixth Quartet which opens the two-disc set. This is a fundamentally sunny work, and the way in which they carefully delineate the textures without undermining the overall momentum also clarifies some overlooked details, like the reference to the third movement Rondo-Burleske of Mahler’s Ninth Symphony in the middle of the opening Allegretto. The second movement Moderato con moto has a gently dancing lilt to it, while the Lento slow movement is introspective without sounding maudlin.

In the Seventh and Eighth Quartets we move to much weightier ground, yet the mercurial slipperiness of No.7’s first movement, with its ominous ‘knocking’ interjections, is spellbinding, as is the fragile central Lento. How you respond to the performance of the third movement with its angry outbursts will depend on how wedded you are to established practice in these works, yet the very different kind of ‘bite’ the Casals players bring to the strident dissonances brings to mind classical antecedents (particularly late Beethoven) which may well have pleased Shostakovich, acutely aware as he was of his place in tradition. Similarly, in the mighty Eighth Quartet the natural transparency of the playing, while lacking the usual grit, lends a sense of momentum that feels less forced than usual (although the Allegro molto second movement is as thrilling in speed as in dexterity), and illuminates countless passages in new ways. The halfway point in the Largo fourth movement in particular takes on a haunted, beatific quality that is deeply moving.

The seven-movement, suite-like Eleventh Quartet responds particularly well to the Casals style, the character of each of its movements clearly drawn. The scurrying of the fourth movement Etude – at first filigree-light, then more frenetically obsessive – is played with astonishing nimbleness, while the various textural strands of the Finale emerge against a background pulse of clockwork steadiness. The Ninth and Twelfth Quartets, with their references to the music and techniques of the Second Viennese School, are given performances of real commitment as well as great care over detail, while the striking contrasts and motoric textures that characterise the Tenth Quartet are strikingly conveyed.

Reviewing volume 1 of the Casals’ cycle in The Strad, Peter Quantrill suggested that this ‘could become the Shostakovich cycle of our time’. Listening to this second instalment, with its ideally focused recording and supported by fine booklet notes from Elizabeth Wilson (author of Shostakovich: A Life Remembered), we are very much inclined to agree. Do try it!

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Shostakovich - Complete String Quartets Vol.2: Nos. 6-12

In stock - available for despatch within 1 working day

Despatch Information

Contents

Works

Artists

Works

Artists

About

Sound/Video

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Europadisc Review