Published on: 2026-11-05
Source: Melodiya – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
The great string quartet macrocycle of the past century was recorded many times by various ensembles, both in Russia and abroad. The present edition is a digitization of recordings made by the Taneyev Quartet between 1968 and 1978 and released by Melodiya in 1991. The performers are Vladimir Ovcharek (first violin), Grigory Lutskiy (second violin), Vissarion Solovyov (viola), and Iosif Levinzon (cello).
Listening to all of Shostakovich’s quartets allows one to trace not only the evolution of the composer’s style but also a unique chronicle of the author’s life: from the bright and youthful energy-filled First Quartet, which Shostakovich himself called “spring-like,” to the philosophically focused and almost mournful monologue of the Fifteenth Quartet. These compositions reflect the experiences of the war years, the joy of human interaction, reflections on fate and time, creative searches, and artistic experiments. Moreover, almost all the quartets are dedicated to people close to the composer, which gives the cycle the character of a unique confession or personal diary. In particular, the works from the Eleventh to the Fourteenth are dedicated to the musicians of the Beethoven Quartet (which premiered almost all of Shostakovich’s quartets)—Vasily Shirinsky, Dmitri Tsyganov, Vadim Borisovsky, and Sergey Shirinsky; the Seventh—to the memory of his first wife; the Tenth—to the composer Mieczysław Weinberg.
Another digital edition of “Melody,” dedicated to the music for the unfinished animated film by Mikhail Tsehanovsky based on Pushkin’s “The Tale of the Priest and of His Workman Balda.” Performed by the orchestra of the Leningrad Small Theatre of Opera and Ballet under the direction of Valentin Kozhin. The recording was made in 1983.
Tsehanovsky and Shostakovich began working on the animated film in 1933, and not in the most traditional order — first the music was created based on a detailed script outline. Moreover, while the director was working on the film, the seven-part suite had already been performed at the First Leningrad International Arts Festival by the Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Melik-Pashayev (1935). The prolonged work on the animated film was ultimately stopped after the publication of the articles “Confusion Instead of Music” and “Ballet Falsehood,” since the film relied heavily on the music of the criticized composer. During the war, the film reel with the recorded material was almost completely destroyed in a fire at “Lenfilm.”
Playing from the beginning, 12.10.2026
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