The Brodsky's latest traversal of the Shostakovich String Quartets.

I have never been very keen on their previous set with its hard driven wiry sound; too much emphasis on the anger and not enough on the pathos.

In need of a little treat, I downloaded the latest set from Qobuz, rather cheaper than buying the physical CDs but with no notes provided. They have certainly moved on and whilst still very much in tune with the violent side of these master-works they also bring out the dark side of Shostakovich, albeit in a rather mannered way in these live performances.

In the beautiful lento of number six the cellist sounds as if he is trudging through deep snow. Rather mannered as an interpretation but nonetheless valid and it is always interesting to hear these quartets from a different perspective. In the doom laden 15th their approach seems much better,taking us on a terrifying journey into the depths of the human condition, a place best avoided! In some ways, as a result of being live, the uniqueness of these performances quite suits the kaleidoscopic nature of the music.

They are certainly worth hearing and having as an additional set of these works, but they are no replacement for The Danel, St Petersburg, Borodin and Beethoven Quartets.

The sound is perfectly acceptable but tending to be a bit wiry in the more driven sections.

one of about 5000+ other records chris 
 

Bargain time at Amazon...



Used from £1.16 New £6.79



USED £1.63 New £2.96



Used £ 2.28 New £2.88

Just picked up a nice looking copy of the piano transcription of Pictures at an Exhibition played by the estimable Lazar Berman on DG... £1.50 from my favourite Manchester record shop.