Established in Moscow in 1945, and still performing today, the Borodin Quartet sustains a distinctive tradition in the interpretation of Russian chamber music. Over the decades its members – all trained at the Moscow Conservatory – have inevitably changed, but the ensemble’s identity has remained cohesive, its philosophy and aesthetic embodying an entire musical culture. The quartet’s close association with Dmitri Shostakovich has gone down in history, and his chamber works are central to this 7CD collection which, offering music by a succession of Russian composers from Borodin himself to Schnittke, spans the 19th and 20th centuries. WORKS Borodin: Serenata alla Spagnola (Third Movement from String Quartet on the Theme B-la-F) Borodin: String Quartet No. 2: 3rd Movement (Notturno) Glazunov: All'Ungherese (No. 5 from Novelettes (5), Op. 15) Mahler: Piano Quartet (in one movement) in A minor Prokofiev: Visions fugitives, Op. 22 (extracts) Rachmaninov: String Quartet No. 1: Romance Schnittke: Canon in memoriam Igor Stravinsky for string quartet Schnittke: Piano Quintet, Op. 108 Schnittke: String Quartet No. 3 Shebalin: String Quartet No. 5 - Scherzo Shostakovich: Piano Quintet in G minor, Op. 57 Shostakovich: Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor, Op. 67 Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 1 in C Major, Op. 49 Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 2 in A major, Op. 68 Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 3 in F major, Op. 73 Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 7 in F sharp minor, Op. 108 Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 8 in C minor, Op. 110 Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 12 in D flat major, Op. 133 Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 15 In E Flat Minor, Op. 144 Shostakovich: Two Pieces for String Quartet (Elegy & Polka), Op. 36a Stravinsky: Three Pieces for String Quartet Tchaikovsky: Album for the Young, Op. 39 Tchaikovsky: Andante Cantabile (from String Quartet No. 1 in D Op. 11) Tchaikovsky: Souvenir de Florence, Op. 70 Tchaikovsky: String Quartet movement in B flat major (1865) Tchaikovsky: String Quartet No. 1 in D major, Op. 11 Tchaikovsky: String Quartet No. 2 in F major, Op. 22 Tchaikovsky: String Quartet No. 3 in E flat minor, Op. 30