Violist en dirigent Rudolf Barshai arrangeerde met toestemming van zijn leermeester en vriend Dmitri Shostakovich vijf van diens strijkkwartetten. Op deze uitgave brengt The Dmitri Ensemble, genoemd naar de componist, drie van deze vijf door Barshai tot 'kamersymfonie' omgedoopte werken. Uiteraard mag daarbij het gearrangeerde achtste strijkkwartet niet ontbreken: het werk dat de componist aan zichzelf opdroeg als ware het een in memoriam, waarin hij quotes uit zijn eigen werken verwerkte. Het zijn persoonlijke interpretaties die Barshai maakte zonder de intentie van het oorspronkelijke werk te verliezen. De uitvoering doet geheel recht aan deze bijzondere muziek.
Shostakovich: Chamber Symphonies
Chamber Symphony in C minor, Op. 110a
Chamber Symphony No. 5 for Strings in A flat major, Op. 118a (orch.Barshai)
Chamber Symphony in C Major, Op. 49a
The Dmitri Ensemble, Graham Ross
The Dmitri Ensemble under Graham Ross performs Shostakovich's String Quartets Nos. 1, 8 and 10, re-worked as thrilling Chamber Symphonies for string orchestra by his pupil and advocate, Rudolf Barshai. Written in Dresden 1960,
Shostakovich was sent there to compose a film score but was overwhelmed by the aftermath of WWII bombings which he saw; the result was the 8th quartet.
Named after Dmitri Shostakovich, the Dmitri Ensemble is based around the central core of a string ensemble, with a special commitment to presenting both unjustly neglected and newly-penned works with an innovative approach to engaging concert programming. Under the direction of the co-founder and Principal Conductor, Graham Ross, it has worked alongside living composers and has an increasingly diverse discography.
The Ensemble’s collaborations with the Choir of Clare College, Cambridge, for hm USA, include a highly-praised recording of choral works by Imogen Holst, which received both Diapason d’Or and Le Choix de France Musique awards, and which was shortlisted for a 2013 Gramophone Award and 'Lux de caelo: Music for Christmas', released in 2014, was widely praised in the national and international press, selected as Christmas Choice, BBC Music Magazine, 2014. Their latest release in a series of works for the church year, which have regularly made the Top 10 of the UK Specialist Classical Charts, is 'Ascendit Deus: Music for Ascensiontide and Pentecost' with the Choir of Clare College, released March 9th.
