Search - Dmitry Shostakovich, Hagen Quartett :: Shostakovich: String Quartets 3, 7 & 8

Dmitry Shostakovich, Hagen Quartett
Shostakovich: String Quartets 3, 7 & 8
Genre: Classical

Track Listings (14) - Disc #1
1. 1. Allegretto
2. 2. Moderato Con Moto
3. 3. Allegro Non Troppo
4. 4. Adagio
5. 5. Moderato
6. 1. Allegretto
7. 2. Lento
8. 3. Allegro -
9. Allegretto
10. 1. Largo
11. 2. Allegro Molto
12. 3. Allegretto
13. 4. Largo
14. 5. Largo

CD Details

All Artists: Dmitry Shostakovich, Hagen Quartett
Title: Shostakovich: String Quartets 3, 7 & 8
Members Wishing: 1
Total Copies: 0
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Original Release Date: 1/1/2006
Re-Release Date: 7/4/2006
Genre: Classical
Styles: Chamber Music, Historical Periods, Classical (c.1770-1830)
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 028947761464

Synopsis

Amazon.com

Shostakovich's 15 string quartets include some of his most profound and personal works. The three here, issued as part of the Hagen Quartet's ongoing series of the full cycle, are among his best and include the popular Eighth. Shostakovich write a friend that the work was his own requiem, and its mix of brooding, mournful passages, vigorous folk-based melodies, and brutal interruptions in the form of slashing chords paint a musical portrait of the man and his times. The Seventh is a concise masterpiece, four movements played without a break. Dedicated to his late wife Nina, it's highlighted by an eerily ghostly Lento movement, and a furious Scherzo. The Third is a response to the ravages of World War II that runs the gamut from a relaxed opening looking back to better times before becoming suffused with tension, to a high-octane movement featuring warp-speed interplay among the instruments, a mournful Adagio and a last movement that closes with an exhausted, shadowy coda. The Hagen are excellent throughout, playing with tremendous energy and power, conveyed via lean timbres and flowing pacing. The net effect is to internationalize Shostakovich, making the music sound somewhat less "Russian" than Eastern European ensembles do but, at the same time, fixing his universal message in a contemporary context. --Dan Davis

CD Reviews

The Hagens slash and screech, bringing out Shostakovich's bl

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 07/04/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Before the Emerson Qt. brought out their acclaimed set of the complete Shostakovich quartets, this music belonged to Russian ensembles, whose style was generally lush and romantic. Without disregarding Shostakovich's bleak, spare idiom, they pulled him into the mainstream with Tchaikovsky and Borodin. Now the Hagen Qt. pulls him even further than the Emersons did in the opposite direction. These are clean, spare readings with modernist edges and angles.

You can hear how effective their approach is in the brief Qt. #7, which skitters and twitters like Webern. At times the string tone turns aggressively metallic, and the Hagens follow the Emersons in keeping the line very tense. However, they ease off considerably in the outer movements of Qt. #3, which is more genial and sweet-toned. I found their reading of the Third a little faceless--this CD doesn't take off until the last two items.

In Qt. #8, Shostakovich's most famous, the Hagens run into extensive competition. Groups like the Kronos Qt. who have recorded no other Shostakovich have recorded the Eighth. What sets the Hagens apart is that their reading is biting, often fast, and tension is screwed up to the point of hysteria. We get sound effects in the fourth movement, for example, that would suit a slasher movie. To amplify the eerie mood, DG has recorded the instruments up close--there's some reverberance to the acoustic but no breathing room.

In all, I would rate the Seventh and Eighth performances as a must-listen, but the Third falls below that level."