Shostakovich String Quartets

[San Antone]

The Pacifica Quartet!

+1

[jlaurson]

Interested in purchasing a complete set of Shostakovich quartets, I searched the forum and found this thread.  Inspired by the comments, I ordered the Fitzwilliam set on Amazon for about $17 USD including shipping.  The Borodin set is a bit hard to come by, however, there is an iTunes download available for $59.99.  My trigger finger is itching...

Borodin II


+ Mandelring and/or Pacifica

[NJ Joe]

Borodin II

This is the one pictured on iTunes. It also includes Two Pieces For String Octet, and a Piano Quintet. I'm guessing it's the correct one?

[SonicMan46]

The Pacifica Quartet!

Well, I've been keeping my 'eyes' on the Pacifica Quartet recordings - just took a look on Amazon USA - four separate 2-CD sets available; just added up the least expensive route using both Prime & the MP - $58 and no space saving?  Is a 'box' forthcoming soon?

The Mandelring Quartett is my current favorite; also own the Rubio Quartet on Brilliant - Dave

[NJ Joe]

Well, I've been keeping my 'eyes' on the Pacifica Quartet recordings - just took a look on Amazon USA - four separate 2-CD sets available; just added up the least expensive route using both Prime & the MP - $58 and no space saving?  Is a 'box' forthcoming soon?

The Mandelring Quartett is my current favorite; also own the Rubio Quartet on Brilliant - Dave

ArkivMusic has each individual cd on sale for $12.99.  Adding the cost of shipping, the full set can be had for $58.29.  So now I must decide:  Borodin II or Pacifica...

[jlaurson]

This is the one pictured on iTunes. It also includes Two Pieces For String Octet, and a Piano Quintet. I'm guessing it's the correct one?

That's the one. Complete, with boni, and best remastering yet.

[Wakefield]

ArkivMusic has each individual cd on sale for $12.99.  Adding the cost of shipping, the full set can be had for $58.29.  So now I must decide:  Borodin II or Pacifica...

Both of them!

I know you want a complete set, but Borodin 1 (a fantastic set) might be purchased for $25.98.

[asin]B00008WQB4[/asin]

After all Borodin 1 was a complete set when it was released. 

[kishnevi]

Both of them!

+1

I do actually prefer Borodin 2,   but Pacifica has the advantage of being DSCH Plus--with one quartet in each of the four volumes being from a Soviet contemporary to the Shostakovich music it's coupled with (plus interesting cover art--a series of Soviet propaganda poster, all more or less contemporary with the works therein).

BTW, the pianist on the Borodin Quintet is Richter.

[The new erato]

I bought the Borodin 1 in the LP age (the 70ies) and supplanted the late quartets with Fitzwilliams. In the CD age I have owned the complete Fitzwilliams and have been very content with that, though buying and playing through the complete Borodin 2 in the remastering shown above. So I have never been a great collector of cycles. But I have been collecting the Pacifica and now have them all, and have been pretty bowled over by their quality.

[NJ Joe]

Saturday I ordered the Fitzwilliams from Amazon, and yesterday I downloaded Borodin II from iTunes, and purchased the four individual Pacifica discs from ArkivMusic.  It's all a blur...

[Karl Henning]

. . .  It's all a blur...

I dunno, you've selected three quite distinct profiles

[The new erato]

Saturday I ordered the Fitzwilliams from Amazon, and yesterday I downloaded Borodin II from iTunes, and purchased the four individual Pacifica discs from ArkivMusic.  It's all a blur...

Good man. Few posts, but strong will.

[NJ Joe]

Good man. Few posts, but strong will.

Ha ha, thank you! So far I've listened to the first six quartets of Borodin II.  I'm really enjoying them, particularly the slower passages which I find to be mysterious, powerful, and moving.

[NJ Joe]

I dunno, you've selected three quite distinct profiles

Yes, but I went over budget!

[Karl Henning]

I think, as you listen to them, you will not consider the budget excessive

[RebLem]

I currently own nine complete sets of the quartets--Borodin, Brodsky, Danel, Emerson, Fitzwilliam, Manhattan, Rubio, St Petersburg, and the Shostakovich Quartet.

Of these, the Borodin are undoubtedly the best performances, but the sound is not very good.  Almost as good a set of performances, with infinitely better sound, and therefore winner of my Total Aesthetic Value Award, is the St. Petersburg, and CD1 of the 6 CDs also contains the Piano Trio and the Piano Quintet.  For some reason, they've never put them in a box; but all 6 volumes are available separately. 

If I had to pick a third choice, it would be the Manhattan Quartet set.   I have also ordered the Manderling Quartet set, and I'd like to get the Sorrel set, too.  I hadn't paid much attention to the Pacifica Quartet performances, because they are available only with the works of other composers, but if Karl Henning likes them, there must be something to them.  Maybe I'll give them a whirl, too.

[Brahmsian]

I currently own nine complete sets of the quartets--Borodin, Brodsky, Danel, Emerson, Fitzwilliam, Manhattan, Rubio, St Petersburg, and the Shostakovich Quartet.

Of these, the Borodin are undoubtedly the best performances, but the sound is not very good.  Almost as good a set of performances, with infinitely better sound, and therefore winner of my Total Aesthetic Value Award, is the St. Petersburg, and CD1 of the 6 CDs also contains the Piano Trio and the Piano Quintet.  For some reason, they've never put them in a box; but all 6 volumes are available separately. 

If I had to pick a third choice, it would be the Manhattan Quartet set.   I have also ordered the Manderling Quartet set, and I'd like to get the Sorrel set, too.  I hadn't paid much attention to the Pacifica Quartet performances, because they are available only with the works of other composers, but if Karl Henning likes them, there must be something to them.  Maybe I'll give them a whirl, too.

Hi Reb, I'll make a pitch for the Eder Quartet on Naxos.  Really good performances.  Not to be dismissed, just because of the Naxos label. 

Hard for me to pick an outright favourite set.  I have three (Borodin II, Fitzwilliam, and Eder).  Many favourites dispersed across these three sets.  Perhaps, if I could only take one with me to an island, I'd end up with the Borodin set, but I'd sobbing that I had to leave the other two behind. 

[jlaurson]

I currently own nine complete sets of the quartets--Borodin, Brodsky, Danel, Emerson, Fitzwilliam, Manhattan, Rubio, St Petersburg, and the Shostakovich Quartet.

Of these, the Borodin are undoubtedly the best performances, but the sound is not very good.  Almost as good a set of performances, with infinitely better sound, and therefore winner of my Total Aesthetic Value Award, is the St. Petersburg, and CD1 of the 6 CDs also contains the Piano Trio and the Piano Quintet.  For some reason, they've never put them in a box; but all 6 volumes are available separately. 

If I had to pick a third choice, it would be the Manhattan Quartet set.   I have also ordered the Manderling Quartet set, and I'd like to get the Sorrel set, too.  I hadn't paid much attention to the Pacifica Quartet performances, because they are available only with the works of other composers, but if Karl Henning likes them, there must be something to them.  Maybe I'll give them a whirl, too.

Danel: Not up there, for you, among these??

St.Petersburg: Not in a box?


The have, but it's oop now.
Reasonable prices for used sets (better than buying individually, at least) at Amazon.com and at Amazon.co.uk.

If I had to pick a third choice, it would be the Manhattan Quartet set.   I have also ordered the Manderling Quartet set, and I'd like to get the Sorrel set, too.  I hadn't paid much attention to the Pacifica Quartet performances, because they are available only with the works of other composers, but if Karl Henning likes them, there must be something to them.  Maybe I'll give them a whirl, too.

Last night I dreamt I went to Manderling again. (Mandelring) 

I have Borodin I, II, Brodsky, Danel, Emerson, St. Petersburg, Shostakovich Quartet, Sorrel, Mandelring, and as of yesterday the complete Pacifica... Borodin II and Danel, Mandelring and Pacifica being the ones that get the most instinctive grab when I listen to them. Emerson I might as well not have.

[kishnevi]

Some of the individual CDs from the St. Petersburg  Quartet pop up on Hyperion's "Please buy me" page from time to time.  Don't know if you can get the complete cycle that way if you're patient enough.....

Current Personal Ranking, now that I have the last installment of Pacifica

Borodin II
****
Emerson
Shostakovich
Mandelring /Pacifica (about equal)
Fitzwilliam


**** represents the 2CDs recorded by the Jerusalem Quartet

The Fitzwilliams left me deeply unimpressed;  I don't seem to hear what other people hear in their performances.   And in complement,  I seem to hear things in the Emersons that most people don't.....

The Pacifica cycle, for me,  is valuable mostly for the non-DSCH works  included.   For instance (and it is true that while I've obviously heard DSCH's 13-15 a number of times, and never heard the Schnittke before today) it was the Schnittke Third Quartet that seemed the best part of Pacifica's fourth installment when I gave it a first listen today.

[NJ Joe]

Yesterday I finished my first traversal of Borodin II. I was barely able to "put down" these gripping performances, and hardly listened to anything else all week.  My immediate instinct is to start again from the beginning and listen through a second time. And now I have Fitzwilliam and Pacifica sitting on my desk, unopened. Maybe I'll give the Pacifica a shot. Decisions, decisions...