Dmitri Archive

SHOSTAKOVICH: Sonatas for Violin and Viola – Duo TschoppBovino – Genuin

by Audiophile Audition | Jan 16, 2017 | Classical CD Reviews

SHOSTAKOVICH: Sonatas for Violin and Viola – Duo TschoppBovino – Genuin 16428, 62:29 (6/6/16) [Distr. by Naxos] ****: (Mirjam Tschopp – violin & viola/ Riccardo Bovino – piano) Challenging and desolate late works of Shostakovich (just in case you need some sobering up.) If there were a Rotten Tomatos Index for 20th century chamber music, one could be certain that the string quartets of Dmitri Shostakovich are among the only works that would receive equally high scores from both critics and audience. If you left out the first as well as the last six quartets, this score would put them among the most cherished music of all time. Likewise, the trios and the quintet are works of enduring appeal and are increasingly performed and recorded. Those who have seriously engaged with this music are marked for life, imprinted with its message and emotional power. Of course, the last third of this composer’s quartets involve special challenges. One must face the famous bleakness and also the sense that a formidable technique has been purposefully narrowed down. A lot of craft and architecture have been jettisoned. If in the quartets from the ‘40s and ‘50s, he was building a house, in his final […]