Little Missenden Festival 2008

 

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Little Missenden Festival 2007

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Ludwig van Beethoven

String quartet no 12 in E flat, op 127

Igor Stravinsky

Three pieces for string quartet

Dmitri Shostakovich

String quartet no 5 in B flat, op 92

Event 8 2007

St Petersburg Quartet return

Beethoven and Shostakovich

 

Friday October 19th 8.00pm

Little Missenden Church

Tickets £16, £12, £8

St Petersburg Quartet:  Alla Aranovskaya, Alla Krolevich violin  Boris Vayner viola  Leonid Shukayev cello

The St Petersburg quartet stunned last year's Little Missenden audience with the power of their Beethoven and Shostakovich.  They return with the fifth of Shostakovich's great cycle and some late Beethoven, set off by Stravinsky's small but piquant set of Russian miniatures.

 

 

The fifth is pure Shostakovich: a deeply sad but timeless core flanked by passionately-animated outer movements.

"An emotional intensity which leaves little doubt that it meant a great deal to the composer - and to these prize-winning Russian players" (Liverpool Evening News)

 

Beethoven's opus 127 quartet is lyrical and genial in mood, raptly beautiful adagio variations at its heart.  It is the first and most approachable of the late quartets, gateway to an astonishing new sound-world as the totally deaf Beethoven re-invents the string quartet medium for the second time.  

The matchless St Petersburg Quartet have won golden opinions, particularly for their Shostakovich series - their Hyperion CD set is one of the most admired. They have won a Grammy nomination and 'Best Record' honours in both Stereo Review and Gramophone Magazine.

 

"The St. Petersburg performances are characterized by great lucidity, fine ensemble, and passionate insight - a sense of being uncontrivedly inside the music. I get the feeling that these young Russians understand every unspoken thought behind every half-concealed gesture" (Stereo Review)

 

Reviewers talk of their "huge authority", "dazzling technique", "full-blooded playing", and "rich, sublimely blended sounds", which put them at "the top rung of the chamber music ladder".

 

St Petersburg Quartet website

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St Petersburg Quartet

Little Missenden Festival 2007