Prazak Quartet, Evgeni Koroliov - Dmitri Shostakovich: String Quartets Nos. 7 & 8 & Piano Quintet (2010) [Hi-Res]

Tracklist

01. String Quartet No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 110: I. Largo
02. String Quartet No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 110: II. Allegro molto - attaca
03. String Quartet No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 110: III. Allegretto - attaca
04. String Quartet No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 110: IV. Largo - attaca
05. String Quartet No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 110: V. Largo (attaca)
06. String Quartet No. 7 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 108: I. Allegretto - attaca
07. String Quartet No. 7 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 108: II. Lento - attaca
08. String Quartet No. 7 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 108: III. Allegro - attaca
09. String Quartet No. 7 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 108: IV. Allegretto
10. Piano Quintet in G Minor, Op. 57: I. Prelude. Lento
11. Piano Quintet in G Minor, Op. 57: II. Fugue. Adagio
12. Piano Quintet in G Minor, Op. 57: III. Scherzo. Allegretto
13. Piano Quintet in G Minor, Op. 57: IV. Intermezzo. Lento
14. Piano Quintet in G Minor, Op. 57: V. Finale. Allegretto

The back cover of this Czech release promises "certainly the most intense chamber programme that might be dedicated to the joint memory of Sviatoslav Richter and Dmitry Shostakovich," and the performances live up to the billing. The first half of the program is given over to a pair of string quartets from the year 1960, around the point where Shostakovich's inward turn following his denunciation by Soviet cultural commissars merged with his reflections on the violence of modern war to create a uniquely modern tragic dialogue. The String Quartet No. 8 in C minor, Op. 110, often heard in a string orchestra arrangement but more powerful in the original, was composed after Shostakovich visited Dresden and saw its total annihilation, little changed by that time (the rebuilding of the city did not begin until some years later). Whether the work was dedicated to the victims of fascism, as the composer said, or to those of the Soviet state, as has later been suggested, is in a sense irrelevant; the work develops Jewish melodies and the Dies irae into a fever pitch of despair unleavened by any hint of sentimentality. The shorter String Quartet No. 7 in F sharp minor, Op. 108, is made from the same material, somber but tense. The sizable Piano Quintet in G minor, Op. 57, that rounds out the program dates from before the war and takes another of Shostakovich's inspirations, the late chamber music of Beethoven, as its model. It ends a very dark program with gravity and calm. The Czech Prazák Quartet and Russian pianist Evgeni Koroliov never flag, either technically or emotionally, in a work of the most difficult tragic content, and together they deliver a first-rate recording of Shostakovich's chamber music. Excellent booklet notes are given in English, French, and German.

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