Shostakovich was deeply sensitive to antisemitism, viewing it as a form of contemptible tyranny, which influenced the poetry of his Quartet No. 10.
Performer Biography
Quartetto Noûs, formed in 2011, has quickly become a prominent chamber music ensemble, winning awards like the Piero Farulli Prize and the Arthur Rubinstein Award.
Interpretation
Quartetto Noûs explores innovative concert formats, such as performing by heart in complete darkness, demonstrating their versatility and interpretational originality.
Composition History
Shostakovich dedicated his later quartets, including No. 11 and No. 12, to individual musicians of the Beethoven Quartet, the ensemble that premiered most of his quartets.
Compositional Technique
In his String Quartet No. 12, Shostakovich, at 62, experimented for the first time with Schoenberg's serial (dodecaphonic) technique, using it as a thematic element rather than a strict principle of order.
Recording & Production
This album is part of a major recording project by Quartetto Noûs for Brilliant Classics, which began in 2021, to record all of Shostakovich's string quartets.
Composer Biography
Dmitri Shostakovich, the composer, dedicated his String Quartet No. 10 to his friend Mieczyslaw Weinberg, a Jewish composer and pianist who fled Poland.
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