Shostakovich: Complete String Quartets, Vol. IV Mandelring Quartett

• Dmitri Shostakovich (1906 - 1975): String Quartet No. 10 in A-Flat Major, Op. 118:
• 1 Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 10 in A-Flat Major, Op. 118: I. Andante 04:09
• 2 Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 10 in A-Flat Major, Op. 118: II. Allegretto furioso 03:53
• 3 Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 10 in A-Flat Major, Op. 118: III. Adagio 06:25
• 4 Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 10 in A-Flat Major, Op. 118: IV. Allegretto 09:17
• String Quartet No. 12 in D-Flat Major, Op. 133:
• 5 Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 12 in D-Flat Major, Op. 133: I. Moderato 06:22
• 6 Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 12 in D-Flat Major, Op. 133: II. Allegretto 19:22
• String Quartet No. 14 in F-Sharp Major, Op. 142:
• 7 Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 14 in F-Sharp Major, Op. 142: I. Allegretto 08:38
• 8 Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 14 in F-Sharp Major, Op. 142: II. Adagio 09:32
• 9 Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 14 in F-Sharp Major, Op. 142: III. Allegretto 07:52
• Total Runtime 01:15:30

Info for Shostakovich: Complete String Quartets, Vol. IV

Nos. 11, 13 and 15. It must already be clear beyond doubt that the interpretations by these four musicians are of the very highest quality. In the case of Shostakovich the question always arises to what extent the biographical and/or political subtext affects the content of the music and whether, or how much, this should influence the interpretation. The Mandelring Quartet has opted for a spare, limpid style of performance which avoids loading each and every note with exaggerated significance, yet reveals the formal structure with all the depth of focus at their command. Their homogeneity of sound and their tonal quality and phrasing can only be described as phenomenal, and in their pianissimos they achieve miracles of finely differentiated shades of colour – listen, for instance, to the Valse in Quartet no. 2. [...] Particularly impressive is their reading of Quartet no. 6, in which the potential for danger, ever present with Shostakovich, lies concealed beneath an apparently peaceful surface. Here the Schmidt siblings – Sebastian, Nanette and Bernhard – and their viola player, Roland Glassl, perfectly convey the oscillation between an untroubled, harmonious sound picture and a la- tent sarcasm. It would be hard to imagine the laconic Quartet no. 7 coming across as more venomous, more sarcastic yet at the same time more tragic, and the Mandelring Quartet attains a climax of concentration in the madly impetuous fugato passage just before the end. As a bonus, the sound engineers have performed outstanding work and created a sound quality that is beyond praise in terms of clarity and depth of focus. [...] (Translation Celia Skrine)

„The Mandelring Quartett (three siblings and a violist!) is now one volume shy of completing its Shostakovich cycle [...] Without sacrificing accuracy or tonal quality, the Mandelring Quartett dig in fearlessly, and in the succeeding Adagio (of Quartet No. 10), the musicians are by turns painfully eloquent and emotionally stunned. [...] The opening (of Quartet No. 12) is darkly lyrical and here the members of the Mandelring display the beauty of their playing as individuals, and their ability to listen to and match each other. The lengthy second movement, with its obsessive working over of its opening gesture, is masterfully shaped by these musicians. Even this movement’s biting pizzicato passages are delivered with expressiveness by first violinist Sebastian Schmidt. A further step towards the darkness is taken in Quartet No. 14 (1973). [...] The Mandelring Quartett, more than any other ensemble I’ve heard in these three quartets, brings out the music’s essential equivocations. (The Fitzwilliam Quartet, once regarded as the sine qua non in this repertory, now seem lacking in imagination.) That they do so with a luxurious sound and with unanimity of intention is reason enough to welcome this release and its predecessors and to give it a strong vote as the Shostakovich cycle of choice. This is uncanny playing and it has been recorded with uncanny clarity and presence by Audite’s engineers.

Mandelring Quartett

Mandelring Quartett
The Mandelring Quartet’s remarkable homogeneity of sound, intonation and phrasing has become its distinguishing characteristic; four individuals who play as one in their shared determination to always seek out the innermost core of the music and remain open to the musical truth. By grasping the spiritual dimension, exploring the emotional extremes and working on the details, these musicians probe far beneath the surface of each work, thus revealing the multiplicity of meanings inherent in each. Their approach to the music is always both emotional and personal. All this combines to make the Mandelring Quartet one of the most high-profile ensembles on the international chamber music scene.

As winners of several major international competitions – Munich (ARD), Evian and Reggio Emilia (Premio Paolo Borciani) – the Mandelring Quartet has emerged as one of the important string quartets of today, appearing at the world's great concert venues. In addition to numerous performances in Germany, the Mandelring Quartet's concert tours have taken them throughout Europe – Amsterdam, Brus­sels, London, Madrid, Paris and Vienna – annually to North America – New York, Washington D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles, Vancouver – to Japan – Osaka and Tokyo – Central and South America – Buenos Aires, Lima, Montevideo – the Middle East and Asia.

The Mandelring Quartet has enjoyed highly successful appearances at the Rheingau Festival, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival and other important international festivals such as Lockenhaus, Montpellier, Montreal, Ottawa, the Engadiner Konzertwochen in Switzerland and the Salzburg Festival, where they have been invited to present complete cycle of Shostakovich string quartets in summer 2011.

The Quartet's CD recordings have received numerous awards. Numbering more than two dozen, they include a Schubert string quartet cycle, piano quintets by Brahms and Franck and a series "Brahms and his Contemporaries", selected by the Strad Magazine as CD Of The Month saying: “Here the Mandelring combine the LaSalle Quartet’s intellectual vigor with the Amadeus’ unbridled passion to provide the best of both worlds.” Their recordings of the string quartets of Shostakovich have been hailed by the press as one of the outstanding complete recordings of our time. “The direct comparison I've done puts the Mandelring Quartet's cycle up with the best. If I were to shed all but two cycles, I would keep the Borodin cycle and the Mandelring Quartet.” (Fanfare). The CD with Schumann’s Piano Quartet and Piano Quintet has been praised as the new reference recording, and their recent disc of String Quartets by Leoš Janác(ek has received the German Record Critics' Prize.

The HAMBACHERMusikFEST, the quartet’s own festival, provides a meeting place each year for lovers of chamber music from all over the world. Since 2010 the Mandelring Quartet has presented a regular series of concerts at the Kammermusicsaal of the Berlin Philharmonic.

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