Dmitri Shostakovich
died in 1975, and a stream of releases commemorating the 50th anniversary of that event is to be expected. The
Cuarteto Casals
arrives in advance of the wave with this release from late 2024, the first volume in a planned complete set of the
Shostakovich
string quartets. The first five are included here. They cover a period of 14 years, from 1938, not long after the composer's first denunciation at the hands of the Soviet cultural apparatus, until 1952, four years after the second such denunciation. One quartet, the
String Quartet No. 2 in A major, Op. 68
, was written during World War II. In short, a lot of water flowed under the bridge for the composer during these years. Although it will be interesting to see what the
does with the more monumental later quartets, these provide a good test of the group's sensitivity to the composer's moods. The group passes this test with flying colors. The
String Quartet No. 3 in F major, Op. 73
, of 1946, has the feel of a sweeping war memorial. The
String Quartet No. 1 in C major, Op. 49
, is almost insolently innocent. Sample the
String Quartet No. 4 in D major, Op. 83
, written in 1949. It obeys Soviet dictates in reverting to a more diatonic language, but it is not of a piece with
's overblown film scores of the period; instead, it has a rather uncanny hesitant quality, and the
catches this beautifully. Russian groups may deliver more intense readings of these works, but these quiet, insightful readings have a great deal to offer, with fine sound from the small La Courroie concert hall in Entraigues-sur-la-Sorgue, France. ~ James Manheim