Dmitri Schostakowitsch: Klavierquintett op.57 on CD

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This disc brings to fruition the St Petersburg String Quartet’s complete cycle of Shostakovich’s fifteen quartets.

Composed in 1938, some thirty-six years before No 15, String Quartet No 1 appears as a simple work, composed in response to the ‘somewhat naive and bright moods associated with spring’ following the birth of the composer’s son and the triumphant premiere of his Symphony No 5. Yet the directness of language which characterizes all of this composer’s quartets is already present, and the work is a perfectly formed masterpiece.

Pianist Igor Uryash joins the St Petersburg Quartet for the Piano Quintet of 1940; after its performance the work won for Shostakovich the Stalin Prize of 100, 000 roubles. A glance at the list of movements might lead one to imagine that this is a neoclassical work, but its direct emotional power and thematic integration place it on altogether a higher level than mere pastiche. Piano Trio No 2 (No 1 does not survive complete) was written four years later, in memory of the life of the Russian musicologist Ivan Sollertinsky. The resulting solemnity of tone is an early example of the composer’s increasing preoccupation with texture and produces a work of captivating intensity.

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'Russian players have an unanswerable trump card when interpreting Russian music: self-evidently, they know what it's all about. Besides that, the exceptional quality of these musicians makes this a recording to treasure' (Classic FM Magazine)

'Igor Uryash is exemplary, striking the right balance between the demands of soloist and chamber player … Hyperion's recording is beautifully balanced and crystal clear. A very fine achievement all round' (Gramophone)

'With a superb recording to boot, this release provides an extremely fitting conclusion to the St Petersburg's excellent Shostakovich cycle' (BBC Music Magazine)

'I suspect that this performance and that of the Piano Quartet will wear well, and I'm able to recommend them to the ever-expanding legion of Shostakovich devotees who may not have followed the St Petersburg survey of string quartets' (Fanfare, USA)