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Borodin Quartet

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

The Borodin Quartet is a string quartet founded in the Soviet Union in 1944 and is one of the longest-lived quartets in the world. In 2015 it celebrated its seventieth season. The group began as the Moscow Conservatory Quartet, with Mstislav Rostropovich on cello, Rostislav Dubinsky and Vladimir Rabei on violin and Yuri Nikolayevsky on viola, students of Professor Mikhail Terian. Rostropovich withdrew after a few weeks in favour of Valentin Berlinsky, and Nina Barshai and Rudolf Barshai took the places of two others. In 1955 the quartet was named after Alexander Borodin, one of the founders of Russian chamber music.

Music and breakthrough

In 1946 the quartet met Dmitri Shostakovich and became a regular interpreter of his music. Shostakovich consulted the members personally about each of his string quartets, and the quartet played all fifteen of them around the world. It also often played with the pianist Sviatoslav Richter. During the Cold War it was one of the best-known Soviet quartets in the West, thanks to recordings and concerts in the United States and Europe. It played at the funerals of Stalin and Prokofiev, who died on the same day in 1953. Recordings appeared on Melodiya, Teldec, Virgin and Chandos, including all the quartets of Shostakovich and Beethoven.

Influence

The 1970s brought a difficult period: Dubinsky defected to the West and the second violinist stopped for health reasons. Berlinsky kept the group out of sight for two years in order to rebuild its own sound. That sound had an almost symphonic volume and a highly developed phrasing that nevertheless kept the group together. All the members were graduates of the Moscow Conservatory.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to a Shostakovich string quartet played by the Borodin Quartet, such as the Quartet no. 8, and notice the full sound of four instruments. Try to hear how they phrase together without any one of them dominating.

Discography

Studio albums

Categories: Artists