As Communist Party bureaucrats were more interested in music played by large symphonies than music for chamber ensembles, Dmitri Shostakovich was able to hone his skills without attracting too much attention. His fifteen string quartets are considered some of the main works of the contemporary chamber music repertoire. Three of them will be performed by the internationally acclaimed Jerusalem Quartet. Except for Ori Kam (viola), all the other members of the string quartet, Alexander Pavlovsky (violin), Sergei Bresler (violin) and Kirill Zlotnikov (violoncello), are from the former Soviet Union. The four musicians are famous for their passionate and dynamic playing. Through Shostakovich's string quartets, the musicians will present three typical musical artefacts of the late Stalin period, in which an air of melancholy hangs over the scherzo-like puppet marches.
Alexander Pavlovsky, Sergei Bresler (violin)
Ori Kam (viola)
Kirill Zlotnikov (violoncello)
Programme
Dmitri Shostakovich
String quartet no. 4 D-major op. 83
String quartet no. 5 B-major op. 92
String quartet no. 6 G-major op. 101
In cooperation with Gesellschaft für Kammermusik Basel
Entrance fee: CHF 60 / 50 / 40 / 30
