Shostakovich: Complete String Quartets, Vol 1 — Cuarteto Casals delivers pace, attack and emotion

The ensemble launches its recordings of all 15 of the composer’s string quartets with his first five pieces.

Dmitri Shostakovich in 1965 © Getty Images

When a major musical anniversary is looming, it is a good idea to get in early. Next year marks the 50th anniversary of Shostakovich’s death and the ensemble Cuarteto Casals is launching a complete cycle of recordings of the composer’s string quartets before any possible rival. This initial two-disc set includes the first five quartets. The remainder will follow in two further sets in 2025 and 2026. Shostakovich had already shown his mastery of the symphony and ballet before he wrote his first string quartet in 1938, so there are no early quartets as such. Each of these five is a mature, fully absorbing work. In their ambition and scale Shostakovich’s 15 string quartets rival his 15 symphonies. Of the five included here, the Third in F Major, with its five-movement structure, looks ahead to the Symphony No 8 and the Fifth in B Flat Major sounds like a dry run for the Symphony No 10.

The Cuarteto Casals’s performances are at the gentler end of the spectrum. They focus on a cultured sound, fine balance and a warmer emotional environment than most other groups find in this music. There is pace and attack, but not at the same gritty level we are used to. A key moment is the long first violin solo that soars over the Second Quartet’s slow movement. Most players find a stress and tension in it — the work was composed during the second world war — but here the solo is very beautiful, subtle, a heart-rending lonely voice. If these performances appeal, the Cuarteto Casals’s playing is always first-rate.

★★★★☆ ‘Shostakovich: Complete String Quartets, Vol 1’ is released by Harmonia Mundi

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