Quintette en sol mineur Opus 57 Quatuor numéro 3 en fa majeur Opus 73

Description

Formed at the Royal College of Music in London in 1994, the Belcea Quartet has already recorded the complete string quartets of Beethoven, Brahms, Bartók, and Britten. For this Alpha album, the ensemble has chosen two works by one of the major figures of 20th-century chamber music, Dmitri Shostakovich. The historic String Quartet No. 3 was initially censored by the Soviet regime and then revised by Shostakovich for its premiere in 1946; the refined playing of the Belcea Quartet brings out all its nuances. As for the Piano Quintet, one of the composer's most famous works, which significantly contributed to his international success as well as with the Soviet authorities, the quartet performs it alongside Polish pianist Piotr Anderszewski, for an exceptional musical encounter.