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- From: kint@rio.engr.washington.edu (Rick Kint)
- Newsgroups: alt.fan.shostakovich
- Subject: Re: Piano Quintet - a good recording!
- Date: 22 Jan 1993 23:02:57 GMT
- Organization: University of Washington
- Lines: 36
- Distribution: world
- Message-ID: <1jpuf1INNert@shelley.u.washington.edu>
- References: <1jflh7INN92k@escargot.xx.rmit.OZ.AU>
- NNTP-Posting-Host: rio.engr.washington.edu
-
- I have most of the available recordings of the Piano Quintet:
-
- Borodin Quartet/Edlina: Angel/Melodiya LP (worn out)
- Borodin Trio: Chandos
- Fitzwilliam Quartet/Ashkenazy: London
- Borodin Quartet/Richter: Angel
- Beaux Arts Trio: Philips
-
- I remember the first as the best, but it's been a while since I
- listened to it, since it's quite scratchy. Of the CDs, I like the
- Borodin Trio and the Borodin Quartet versions best.
-
- The personnel overlap: on the Borodin Quartet LP, the first
- violinist is Rostislav Dubinsky and the pianist is Lyubova Edlina, both
- of whom are now in the Borodin Trio. The Borodin Quartet CD features
- the new, improved (sic) Borodin Quartet, with different violinists.
-
- The two are very different. The Borodin Trio version is better
- recorded and very impassioned. Sometimes it goes over the top, but there
- are moments of extreme beauty and Dubinsky gets most of the harmonics in
- the fourth movement. The Borodin Quartet CD version is cooler, but equally
- intense in its way. I think it's a live recording. Richter nails the part.
-
- The others just don't do anything special for me. I would have
- thought that the Fitzwilliam Qt version would blow me away, but it didn't.
- There is a low rumble in the recording which doesn't help. The Beaux Arts
- version left me wondering what was so great about the music. There is
- another Melodiya version which I only heard once, don't remember my reaction.
-
- The interesting thing about this piece is that I've never heard a
- live performance of it which I really thought worked. It doesn't seem that
- hard technically, but is evidently not that easy to put across to an audience.
-
- --
- Rick Kint UNIX Geek, College of Engineering
- kint@engr.washington.edu University of Washington, Seattle
-