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Shostakovich: The String Quartets
 
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Shostakovich: The String Quartets [Box set]

~ Dmitry Shostakovich (Composer), Fitzwilliam String Quartet (Ensemble)
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
Price: £32.98 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Product details

  • Composer: Dmitry Shostakovich
  • Audio CD (15 Jan 1998)
  • SPARS Code: ADD
  • Number of Discs: 6
  • Format: Box set
  • Label: Decca (UMO)
  • ASIN: B0000042HV
  • Other Editions: MP3 Download
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 51,249 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Listen to Samples and Buy MP3s

Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or view the MP3 Album.


Disc 1:

Samples
Song TitleArtist Time Price
Listen  1. String Quartet No.1 in C major, Op.49 - 1. ModeratoFitzwilliam Quartet 5:19£0.79
Listen  2. String Quartet No.1 in C major, Op.49 - 2. ModeratoFitzwilliam Quartet 4:46£0.79
Listen  3. String Quartet No.1 in C major, Op.49 - 3. Allegro moltoFitzwilliam Quartet 2:04£0.79
Listen  4. String Quartet No.1 in C major, Op.49 - 4. AllegroFitzwilliam Quartet 3:17£0.79
Listen  5. String Quartet No.2 in A major, Op.68 - 1. Overture (Moderato con moto)Fitzwilliam Quartet 8:35Album Only
Listen  6. String Quartet No.2 in A major, Op.68 - 2. Recitative & Romance (Adagio)Fitzwilliam Quartet11:08Album Only
Listen  7. String Quartet No.2 in A major, Op.68 - 3. Valse (Allegro)Fitzwilliam Quartet 5:44£0.79
Listen  8. String Quartet No.2 in A major, Op.68 - 4. Theme & VariationsFitzwilliam Quartet10:19Album Only


Disc 2:

Samples
Song TitleArtist Time Price
Listen  1. String Quartet No.3 in F major, Op.73 - 1. AllegrettoFitzwilliam Quartet 6:55£0.79
Listen  2. String Quartet No.3 in F major, Op.73 - 2. Moderato con motoFitzwilliam Quartet 5:20£0.79
Listen  3. String Quartet No.3 in F major, Op.73 - 3. Allegro non troppoFitzwilliam Quartet 4:16£0.79
Listen  4. String Quartet No.3 in F major, Op.73 - 4. AdagioFitzwilliam Quartet 5:18£0.79
Listen  5. String Quartet No.3 in F major, Op.73 - 5. ModeratoFitzwilliam Quartet 9:49Album Only
Listen  6. String Quartet No.4 in D major, Op.83 - 1. AllegrettoFitzwilliam Quartet 3:31£0.79
Listen  7. String Quartet No.4 in D major, Op.83 - 2. AndantinoFitzwilliam Quartet 6:43£0.79
Listen  8. String Quartet No.4 in D major, Op.83 - 3. AllegrettoFitzwilliam Quartet 4:47£0.79
Listen  9. String Quartet No.4 in D major, Op.83 - 4. AllegrettoFitzwilliam Quartet10:46Album Only


Disc 3:

Samples
Song TitleArtist Time Price
Listen  1. String Quartet No.5 in B flat major, Op.92 - 1. Allegro non troppoFitzwilliam Quartet10:52Album Only
Listen  2. String Quartet No.5 in B flat major, Op.92 - 2. AndanteFitzwilliam Quartet 9:26Album Only
Listen  3. String Quartet No.5 in B flat major, Op.92 - 3. ModeratoFitzwilliam Quartet10:36Album Only
Listen  4. String Quartet No.6 in G major, Op.101 - 1. AllegrettoFitzwilliam Quartet 7:10Album Only
Listen  5. String Quartet No.6 in G major, Op.101 - 2. Moderato con motoFitzwilliam Quartet 5:09£0.79
Listen  6. String Quartet No.6 in G major, Op.101 - 3. LentoFitzwilliam Quartet 6:43£0.79
Listen  7. String Quartet No.6 in G major, Op.101 - 4. AllegrettoFitzwilliam Quartet 7:40Album Only
Listen  8. String Quartet No.7 in F sharp minor, Op.108 - 1. AllegrettoFitzwilliam Quartet 3:17£0.79
Listen  9. String Quartet No.7 in F sharp minor, Op.108 - 2. LentoFitzwilliam Quartet 3:38£0.79
Listen10. String Quartet No.7 in F sharp minor, Op.108 - 3. AllegroFitzwilliam Quartet 5:51£0.79


Disc 4:

Samples
Song TitleArtist Time Price
Listen  1. String Quartet No.8 in C minor, Op.110 - 1. LargoFitzwilliam Quartet 4:59£0.79
Listen  2. String Quartet No.8 in C minor, Op.110 - 2. Allegro moltoFitzwilliam Quartet 2:34£0.79
Listen  3. String Quartet No.8 in C minor, Op.110 - 3. AllegrettoFitzwilliam Quartet 4:09£0.79
Listen  4. String Quartet No.8 in C minor, Op.110 - 4. LargoFitzwilliam Quartet 5:23£0.79
Listen  5. String Quartet No.8 in C minor, Op.110 - 5. LargoFitzwilliam Quartet 3:44£0.79
Listen  6. String Quartet No.9 in E flat major, Op.117 - 1. Moderato con motoFitzwilliam Quartet 4:22£0.79
Listen  7. String Quartet No.9 in E flat major, Op.117 - 2. AdagioFitzwilliam Quartet 4:37£0.79
Listen  8. String Quartet No.9 in E flat major, Op.117 - 3. AllegrettoFitzwilliam Quartet 4:00£0.79
Listen  9. String Quartet No.9 in E flat major, Op.117 - 4. AdagioFitzwilliam Quartet 3:35£0.79
Listen10. String Quartet No.9 in E flat major, Op.117 - 5. AllegroFitzwilliam Quartet10:55Album Only
Listen11. String Quartet No.10 in A flat major, Op.118 - 1. Andante con motoFitzwilliam Quartet 4:07£0.79
Listen12. String Quartet No.10 in A flat major, Op.118 - 2. Allegretto furiosoFitzwilliam Quartet 4:04£0.79
Listen13. String Quartet No.10 in A flat major, Op.118 - 3. AdagioFitzwilliam Quartet 5:17£0.79
Listen14. String Quartet No.10 in A flat major, Op.118 - 4. Allegretto - AndanteFitzwilliam Quartet 9:24Album Only


Disc 5:

Samples
Song TitleArtist Time Price
Listen  1. String Quartet No.11 in F minor, Op.122 - 1. Introduction: AndantinoFitzwilliam Quartet 2:01£0.79
Listen  2. String Quartet No.11 in F minor, Op.122 - 2. Scherzo: AllegrettoFitzwilliam Quartet 2:40£0.79
Listen  3. String Quartet No.11 in F minor, Op.122 - 3. Recitative: AdagioFitzwilliam Quartet 1:19£0.79
Listen  4. String Quartet No.11 in F minor, Op.122 - 4. Etude: AllegroFitzwilliam Quartet 1:16£0.79
Listen  5. String Quartet No.11 in F minor, Op.122 - 5. Humoresque: AllegroFitzwilliam Quartet0:58£0.29
Listen  6. String Quartet No.11 in F minor, Op.122 - 6. Elegy: AdagioFitzwilliam Quartet 4:01£0.79
Listen  7. String Quartet No.11 in F minor, Op.122 - 7. Finale: ModeratoFitzwilliam Quartet 3:53£0.79
Listen  8. String Quartet No.12 in D flat major, Op.133 - 1. Moderato - AllegrettoFitzwilliam Quartet 7:32Album Only
Listen  9. String Quartet No.12 in D flat major, Op.133 - 2. Allegretto - Adagio - Moderato - AllegrettoFitzwilliam Quartet20:13Album Only
Listen10. String Quartet No.13 in B flat minor, Op.138 - Adagio - Doppio movimento - Tempo primoFitzwilliam Quartet19:10Album Only


Disc 6:

Samples
Song TitleArtist Time Price
Listen  1. String Quartet No.14 in F sharp major Op.142 - 1. AllegrettoFitzwilliam Quartet 9:07Album Only
Listen  2. String Quartet No.14 in F sharp major Op.142 - 2. AdagioFitzwilliam Quartet 9:12Album Only
Listen  3. String Quartet No.14 in F sharp major Op.142 - 3. AllegrettoFitzwilliam Quartet 8:10Album Only
Listen  4. String Quartet No.15 in E flat minor, Op.144 - 1. ElegyFitzwilliam Quartet11:45Album Only
Listen  5. String Quartet No.15 in E flat minor, Op.144 - 2. SerenadeFitzwilliam Quartet 5:25£0.79
Listen  6. String Quartet No.15 in E flat minor, Op.144 - 3. IntermezzoFitzwilliam Quartet 1:29£0.79
Listen  7. String Quartet No.15 in E flat minor, Op.144 - 4. NocturneFitzwilliam Quartet 4:39£0.79
Listen  8. String Quartet No.15 in E flat minor, Op.144 - 5. Funeral MarchFitzwilliam Quartet 4:44£0.79
Listen  9. String Quartet No.15 in E flat minor, Op.144 - 6. EpilogueFitzwilliam Quartet 6:40£0.79

On this CD:
  1. String Quartet No. 1 in C
    Composed by Dmitry Shostakovich

  2. String Quartet No. 2 in A
    Composed by Dmitry Shostakovich

  3. String Quartet No. 3 in F
    Composed by Dmitry Shostakovich

  4. String Quartet No. 4 in D
    Composed by Dmitry Shostakovich

  5. String Quartet No. 5 in B flat
    Composed by Dmitry Shostakovich

  6. String Quartet No. 6 in G
    Composed by Dmitry Shostakovich

  7. String Quartet No. 7 in F sharp minor
    Composed by Dmitry Shostakovich

  8. String Quartet No. 8 in C minor
    Composed by Dmitry Shostakovich

  9. String Quartet No. 9 in E flat
    Composed by Dmitry Shostakovich

  10. String Quartet No. 10 in A flat
    Composed by Dmitry Shostakovich

  11. String Quartet No. 11 in F minor
    Composed by Dmitry Shostakovich

  12. String Quartet No. 12 in D flat
    Composed by Dmitry Shostakovich

  13. String Quartet No. 13 in B flat minor
    Composed by Dmitry Shostakovich

  14. String Quartet No. 14 in F sharp
    Composed by Dmitry Shostakovich

  15. String Quartet No. 15 in E flat minor
    Composed by Dmitry Shostakovich

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

The Fitzwilliam Quartet is English by birth but shows a lot of Russian soul in these works, which were recorded in consultation with the composer. Their technique is flawless, their immersion in the music total, their interaction with one another and with the music spontaneous and intense. Priced competitively with the Borodin Quartet, they do not have any added attraction to match the Piano Quintet in that set, but this close-up stereo recording is significantly better. Highlights of the set include the relaxed, folk-flavoured No. 1; the tense, autobiographical No. 8, which recalls the terrors of World War II, quotes a lot of Shostakovich's earlier works, and mourns for the "victims of fascism and war"; the contrasts of quiet beauty and fierce intensity in No. 10; and the bold structure of No. 15, Shostakovich's last quartet, in which he looks at death, steadily and without blinking. --Joe McLellan

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Customer Reviews

3 Reviews
5 star:
 (2)
4 star:
 (1)
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Average Customer Review
4.7 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Exquisitely played - not for the morally indifferent, 30 May 2006
By John Ferngrove "Cirenor" (Hants UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
For those who have ears to hear, these pieces tell the tale of a man who had hope, dignity and the possibility of joy crushed out of him by the years of Stalin's terror, and then by the siege of Leningrad. While he was obliged to compromise some of his public large scale music in the name of socialist-realism, simply in order to survive as Stalin's pet composer, he managed somehow to preserve the highest degree of artistic integrity for his chamber music.

For me, the special quality of the Fitzwilliam's performance is that they are transparent with regard to the composer's original intentions. The beautiful parts are played beautifully, the furious parts furiously, but all the parts are bought into an integrated whole that you can't help but feel would have satisfied the old man tremendously. I have heard various other performers attempt these works, with more or less success, but it seems that they always come with baggage and an agenda to press. The Borodins play-up the Russianism, the Kronos overdo the modernism, etc.

As for the quartets themselves none of them are minor in their scope or ambition. They all have something quite specific to say about the nature of human existence and folly, as masses and as individuals. There are brief moments, more perhaps towards the later quartets, where bitterness and dark intimations of mortality give way to a peaceful acceptance, but always briefly and provisionally. There are no happy endings, only surrender to the inevitable, alone in the knowledge of the truth of what we are and what we have been.

I could perhaps talk about the quartets one by one, but all are deep and wide enough that one's comprehension of each must grow indefinitely with repeated listening. Left alone with these disks on a desert island a true music lover would never be bored, but they might need to dash their own brains out with a coconut for light relief.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Certainly the best set around - essential for Shostakovichians, 22 Sep 2008
By Mr. A. Allison (Sheffield, England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This is certainly the best set of the quartets around, but should really only be bought by those who NEED the best set. Those who just need the quartets introduced to them but are wary of price might try the Shostakovich quartet on Regis instead (who do a particularly sterling version of the 9th, incidentally).

The Fitzwilliams are generally extremely good, and not afraid to bring a savage, cutting quality to their playing (e.g. 11th quartet, third movement; central section of the 13th), which most quartet's seem to pass over as too intense for the listener's good (few quartet's carry off the 13th's ending particularly well).

Particular highlights here include the 5th throughout; the 6th - they manage to make just the first repeated note sound HURT, a quality that I've never heard in this piece before; the 11th - the scherzo is played with particular relish; and the 14th throughout, which is normally performed as world-weary and wise, but here sounds harried and nervous - I found it painful to listen to.

However, there are here and there some dubious passages. Later passages of the 8th are not perfect (and might even be called sloppy), they seem to lose themselves somewhat in the 9th (although the finale is very good), I found the whole of the second movement of the 12th disappointing (giving a thick timbre to every note is not necessarily the key), and the 15th seems to lack a generall sense of passion and direction - there is even a mistake in the cello line in the second movement (how they permitted it to stay in the recording is beyond me).

But for those who are particularly drawn to the quartets (as I am), this set is essential.

Following is a list of performances of individual quartets that are also advisable.

7th and 8th - Brodsky Quartet on Apex
9th - Shostakovich Quartet on Regis
12th - Borodin Quartet on Virgin Classics
13th - Emerson Quartet on Deutsche Grammaphon (although this is only available in their boxset, which is generally poor)
15th - Eder Quartet on Naxos
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the great recordings, 1 May 2008
By D. E. Potts - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This the best recording of the greatest string quartets since Beethoven and is also one of my favorate CD's (right up there with karajans 1962 Beethoven cycle, Uchida's Mozart sonatas, Schiff's Goldberg variations). Absolutely flawless- both performance and recording. even if you already own any of the other sets I would recommend you check these out. As said above, they were recorded with the great man's supervision so you get as true an account available, but not only this, the sound quality is better than most modern recordings, close, dynamic, warm, not only can you hear the timber but you can almost taste it too! I'm going to stop now before I go off on one.. marvelous.
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