Shostakovich Quartet 15

[Mandryka]

A suite of six slow movements. Does anyone bring it to life?

Anyway, this morning I'm listening to The Danish String Quartet and I'm wondering whether there are any other interesting interpretations on record.

[Jo498]

I have not heard it (and don't really know the piece well enough, rarely enough patience for 6 slow movements...) but didn't Kremer record this with an ad hoc/friends quartet?
Some of his other chamber music recordings like Schubert D 887 or Mozart string trio divertimento are quite interesting and original.

[Atriod]

The St. Petersburg Quartet, particularly because it shows off Shostakovich's incredible cello writing and there is just this sort of laid bare quality to this performance.

[DavidW]

St. Petersburg and Pacifica for me.  The included Schnittke is also fantastically played!

[Mandryka]

I'll check these out obviously and report back. Just today I found an old comment from @amw saying that she thought the latest line up of the Borodin Quartet is the best ever, and so I thought I'd check what they do. And it is indeed a special sound -- and that's quite important in this quartet, the timbre matters a lot for me in this one. That's maybe the way to bring t to life -- have a living tone.  Anyway, this is what the box looks like,

[Herman]

I'm not sure I'm such a fan of SQ15. I have seen it in recital various times and its relentless lugubriousness doesn't appeal to me. I like the previous four string quartets better.
The Borodin String Quartet in the Kopelman-era used to play a program of LvB 132 and DSCH15. They'd have a big candelabra with lit candles and they'd blow out the candles after DSCH15. Very subtle.
Nt a fan of the Viola Sonata either.
I do however love Symphony nr 15

[Atriod]

SQ15 is one I wish Barshai transcribed for chamber orchestra. With its more sparse qualities this could have been one that highlighted the extreme contrasts of dynamics. All the ones he did transcribe are mostly intense throughout.

[DavidW]

Funny, I love SQ 15 and consider it a great work.  I'm genuinely surprised by the middling reception here.

[Herman]

It's a great work, I just don't feel like listening to it.

[Mandryka]

Funny, I love SQ 15 and consider it a great work.  I'm genuinely surprised by the middling reception here.

Well, according to Wikipedia, Shostakovich wasn't really sure himself.

In an article published by the Information Bulletin of the Copyright Agency of the Soviet Union, Shostakovich wrote, "I tried to make [the Fifteenth Quartet] a dramatic work; it is hard to say whether I succeeded."

This comment amused me

"Play the first movement so that flies drop dead in mid-air and the audience leaves the hall out of sheer boredom." were Shostakovich's strange instructions for its performance.

http://www.quartets.de/compositions/ssq15.html

[Atriod]

Funny, I love SQ 15 and consider it a great work.  I'm genuinely surprised by the middling reception here.

It's one of my favorite Shostakovich string quartets, I wasn't wishing for a Barshai transcription because I disliked it.

[foxandpeng]

Funny, I love SQ 15 and consider it a great work.  I'm genuinely surprised by the middling reception here.

Since taking several months to explore the DSCH SQs a couple of years ago, I've been greatly taken with all of them. I've deliberately avoided this thread and another recent discussion around another of the SQs, because I will end up getting dragged into an extended exploration of all of the cycles I have now playlisted.

I have no willpower. *sighs*

I offer the Mandelring Quartet from memory.

[Mandryka]

I'll check these out obviously and report back. Just today I found an old comment from @amw saying that she thought the latest line up of the Borodin Quartet is the best ever, and so I thought I'd check what they do. And it is indeed a special sound -- and that's quite important in this quartet, the timbre matters a lot for me in this one. That's maybe the way to bring t to life -- have a living tone.  Anyway, this is what the box looks like,

Back to this having dipped into some of the suggested ones on this thread so far. What the Borodin Quartet do is really exceptional. This together with The Danish String Quartet has caught my imagination most up to now. That being said I can certainly hear there's something very special about Kremer's Lockenhaus performance - I intend to give it more attention some time.

[DaveF]

"Play the first movement so that flies drop dead in mid-air and the audience leaves the hall out of sheer boredom." were Shostakovich's strange instructions for its performance.

The album cover of the Fitzwilliams' recording sums the piece up rather well:



And not quite on the subject of the thread, but I must say that the 5 volumes of the Danish Quartet's Prism series, which was where we started, are one of my favourite late-Beethoven cycles.

[Mandryka]

The album cover of the Fitzwilliams' recording sums the piece up rather well:

To hear it actually implemented then listen to Oleg Kagan and friends. It's a bit much for me so far, I'll have to wait till I'm in the mood for that sort of thing




https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/7932309--oleg-kagan-edition-volume-xxx-shostakovich


There's a Conan Doyle story where Sherlock experiments to see whether he can make a sound on his fiddle which repels flies. Well now we have the answer!

[aukhawk]

I've not paid a grewat deal of attention to this music up to now, but I find in my collection I have:
Sorrel Q, Borodin Q (II), Mandelring Q, Danish Q.
I listened to about half of the 1st movement from each in turn (lovely music), and then streamed the Kagan recording in its entirety.
 
I liked the Sorrel Quartet best, closely followed by the Danish, the others not so much for various reasons.  The Sorrels and Danish use minimal vibrato, and that is why I like them, they are also both on the slow side and I like that too.  Just going by track durations, Kagan is slowest of all (in 5 of the 6 movements) but there is a febrile rapid vibrato that I really dislike. 
The Boridins just sound old-fashioned to me, not to my taste although some will like it.  The Mandelrings are consistently quicker than all the others, and have a lightness of tone and touch which makes the music (1st movement) sound quite different, removing some of the darkness.  They do use more vibrato than I like to hear, but like the Borodins theirs is a broad vibrato - it's not a deal-breaker if you are drawn to their faster reading overall.  And the Mandelrings are easily the best-recorded, the Sorrels good too but their cycle is afflicted with a rich Chandos sound - rather un-DSCH-like - that isn't really a problem in this particular very intimate music though.

I might stream Quatuor Danel next, to see what they make of it - their timings are similar to the Danish, and their flat vibrato-less sound similar to the Sorrels, and better-recorded than either.  Yes, I will definitely give them a go!

[Mandryka]

To hear it actually implemented then listen to Oleg Kagan and friends. It's a bit much for me so far, I'll have to wait till I'm in the mood for that sort of thing




https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/7932309--oleg-kagan-edition-volume-xxx-shostakovich


There's a Conan Doyle story where Sherlock experiments to see whether he can make a sound on his fiddle which repels flies. Well now we have the answer!

I have become completely besotted with this Kagan recording. But be warned: it takes no prisoners. If you're not open to it, it'll just shoot you and leave your body for the dogs to eat.

[foxandpeng]

The Mandelrings are consistently quicker than all the others, and have a lightness of tone and touch which makes the music (1st movement) sound quite different, removing some of the darkness. 

I found the same lightness with almost all their quartet interpretations. Sometimes I like it, and sometimes - SQ8 for example - I'm not too sure. They are a decent foil to those interpretations that lean toward the mournful or astringent.