Programs · Episode

Shostakovich Quartets

Program: Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
Aired: Sunday, October 20, 2024 @ 8:00 pm
Hosted by Elliott Forrest

The acclaimed Jerusalem String Quartet performs a concert of "Russian Masters" from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center featuring the 8th and 12th String Quartets of Dmitri Shostakovich. Both works embody the more private, personal, and experimental facets of his musicianship. From the dolorous intoning of the composer’s own musical initials, played by the cello at the outset of the 8th quartet, to the alternately tuneful and dissonant episodes of the 12th quartet, we experience an artist who wore his heart on his sleeve, whose probing creativity advanced the art of chamber music, and whose work helped sustain him and his fellow musicians through the most trying of times.

Heard on this Episode:

Dmitri Shostakovich: Quartet No. 8 in C minor for Strings, Op. 110
Jerusalem Quartet (Alexander Pavlovsky, Sergei Bresler, violin; Ori Kam, viola; Kyril Zlotnikov, cello)

Dmitri Shostakovich: Quartet No. 12 in D-flat major for Strings, Op. 133
Jerusalem Quartet (Alexander Pavlovsky, Sergei Bresler, violin; Ori Kam, viola; Kyril Zlotnikov, cello)