Complete String Quartets

"[The Beethoven Quartet's] view of this cycle carries special authority. Collectors who were lucky enough to get the old Melodiya LPs from the 1950s and 1960s, and who still treasure them, will welcome their reappearance ... no other group was closer to Shostakovich's mind." - PENGUIN GUIDE TO COMPACT DISCS A priceless treasury of the complete string quartets of Shostakovich recorded in the early 1960s by the legendary Beethoven String Quartet, with a bonus of the Two Pieces played by the Comitas Quartet. Although Shostakovich had been acquainted with the members of the Beethoven Quartet since 1925, their professional relationship blossomed in 1938. In this year, the composer attended the Beethoven Quartet's extremely successful Moscow premiere performance of his first string quartet. Shostakovich would go on to dedicate many of his works to the Quartet as a whole or as individuals. Quartets number three and five were dedicated to the quartet, while quartets number eleven through fourteen honored specific members of the Quartet. The Beethoven String Quartet premiered all but two of the fifteen Shostakovich quartets. Only a few chamber ensembles have managed to exist so long and, moreover, to preserve their artistic originality as the Comitas Quartet, which recently celebrated eighty years of continuous activity. Though the Comitas Quartet naturally consisted of different musicians throughout the years of its history, their performances were always marked by a high caliber of professionalism and sense of tact. DOREMI's restoration process is a very special one, as your ears will confirm. The utmost care is taken in lovingly reprocessing only the most significant and truly treasurable historic recordings.