Shostakovich Quartet 15

[Mandryka]

I don't remember No 15 being among my favorites

One of the reasons I focussed a thread on 15 is that it is quite challenging. Nobody likes it except me. 

[Spotted Horses]

One of the reasons I focussed a thread on 15 is that it is quite challenging. Nobody likes it except me.

That sounds like a challenge!

[Mandryka]

That sounds like a challenge!

Well look, any piece of music where the composer himself says ""Play the first movement so that flies drop dead in mid-air and the audience leaves the hall out of sheer boredom" is only going to appeal to special people.

[Spotted Horses]

Well look, any piece of music where the composer himself says ""Play the first movement so that flies drop dead in mid-air and the audience leaves the hall out of sheer boredom" is only going to appeal to special people.

Was Shostakovich a fan of Nathanial Hawthorne? There is a story, Rappaccini's Daughter, in which Rappaccini raises his daughter on poison, so that she is immune to it, but her body itself is poisonous. A potential suitor notices something amiss when he notices that flies die when she breaths on them.

[Karl Henning]

There's a Conan Doyle story where Sherlock experiments to see whether he can make a sound on his fiddle which repels flies.

That makes an appearance in [I forget which] movie I watched not long ago.

[DavidW]

One of the reasons I focussed a thread on 15 is that it is quite challenging. Nobody likes it except me. 

What?  I like the 15th!  I always have, I don't know why it is supposed to be hard.  I've certainly heard more challenging string quartets.

[Todd]

What?  I like the 15th!  I always have, I don't know why it is supposed to be hard.  I've certainly heard more challenging string quartets.

It's one of DSCH's best quartets.  And it's not even his most challenging quartet.  That's probably the 13th. 

[Spotted Horses]

One of the reasons I focussed a thread on 15 is that it is quite challenging. Nobody likes it except me. 

I wouldn't say it's my favorite but I wouldn't say I don't like it. It takes som concentration and the right frame of mind to appreciate the persistent grim mood. It's a bit like the viola sonata.

[Spotted Horses]

I listened to the first movement, in the Sorrel recording. I was very much attracted to it. Then I read a review that said it is disappointing. Out of curiosity I listened to the Fitzwilliam (apparently a later recording, not the Decca cycle) and the St Petersburg on Hyperion. The Sorrel was my clear favorite. Why did I get rid of it? Can I be content to stream it?

The movement is fugal movement based on a very simple theme, which Shostakovich manages to make the subject of some grinding dissonance at times.

[Karl Henning]

I wouldn't say it's my favorite but I wouldn't say I don't like it. It takes som concentration and the right frame of mind to appreciate the persistent grim mood. It's a bit like the viola sonata.

That's fair. Both works I admire quite intensely.

[Mandryka]

I wouldn't say it's my favorite but I wouldn't say I don't like it. It takes som concentration and the right frame of mind to appreciate the persistent grim mood. It's a bit like the viola sonata.

I'm listening now to the new Danel recording. What strikes me most is the extraordinary colourful and diaphanous sound, which gives the music a delicate and radiant quality -- so that in their hands at least "grim" is not quite the word.
 
(They should play Fauré)

[foxandpeng]

I'm in. Will spend some time with this, as it has been a couple of years since I last played it. The DSCH quartets all have their own special place after my extended traversal the other year.

[Mandryka]

I'm listening now to the new Danel recording. What strikes me most is the extraordinary colourful and diaphanous sound, which gives the music a delicate and radiant quality -- so that in their hands at least "grim" is not quite the word.
 
(They should play Fauré)

I listened to the Schoenberg Quartet play it this afternoon. That reinforced my belief that Danel II bring a special sound world.

[Spotted Horses]

I'm glad Mandryka mentioned this quartet, it makes a nice interlude in my listening to the Faure Nocturnes.

I listened to the Sorrel Quartet recording in its entirety this morning (previously only the first movement). I enjoyed it very much. There statement that it is six movements of Adagio is factually true but misleading. There is a lot of contrast and there are movement that I would never have guess were marked Adagio if I hadn't read the program notes. This intermezzo features a series of fast Toccata-like passages for solo instruments. Other movements don't seem too "adagio." I don't hear a contrasting 'joyful' section, just more or less vigorous expressions of distress. Overall the music seems to be characterized by isolated melodic lines that lead suddenly to rich harmonic statements.

I'm listening now to the new Danel recording. What strikes me most is the extraordinary colourful and diaphanous sound, which gives the music a delicate and radiant quality -- so that in their hands at least "grim" is not quite the word.
 
(They should play Fauré)

I want to listen to this, but I didn't ready your post carefully and didn't realize at first that there are two recordings (and three releases, Accent, Fuga Libra and Alpha). I didn't find the most recent one on Apple Music, but it is pretty reasonable as a Qobuz purchase.

[Mandryka]

This is the one I listened to



https://open.spotify.com/album/1w05hdSZefrAEwNOOEslQM

[Spotted Horses]

This is the one I listened to



https://open.spotify.com/album/1w05hdSZefrAEwNOOEslQM

Yes, that's the one I found of Qobuz. I streamed a bit of the old cycle before I noticed that you were talking about a newer one, and found the audio on the old one a bit strident.

I'm also interested in going back to the Fizwilliam, but oddly the classic cycle is out of print and I only found a recent recording of some of the later quartets. I have the CD set and will have find the FLAC files on my hard disk.

The Sorrel I will just stream, since it's readily available. I have so many Shostakovich string quartet cycles which I don't have time to explore anyway (The old Borodin, the Mandalay, the Brodsky, the Rubio, the Pacifica, the Emerson).

[DavidW]

Yes, that's the one I found of Qobuz. I streamed a bit of the old cycle before I noticed that you were talking about a newer one, and found the audio on the old one a bit strident.

That is interesting. I find them to be more relaxed than many of the modern sets.  I would never use the word strident to describe Danel! 

[Spotted Horses]

That is interesting. I find them to be more relaxed than many of the modern sets.  I would never use the word strident to describe Danel! 

I was referring strictly to the audio engineering. I didn't listen enough to form any opinion of the performances.

[DavidW]

I was referring strictly to the audio engineering. I didn't listen enough to form any opinion of the performances.

Well then definitely try the second set then at @Mandryka is talking about, they are live recordings.  I think different engineers, different room acoustics.

[Spotted Horses]

Well then definitely try the second set then at @Mandryka is talking about, they are live recordings.  I think different engineers, different room acoustics.

Yes, I planned to listen to it because Mandryka had described particular sonority the had been achieved in that recording. I'm undecided whether to resume listening to the Fitzwilliam set, maybe try Sorrel, or even Danel.