One evening, as I had nothing better to do, I decided to check out what was playing in the venues I normally frequent. I saw that the Mandelring Quartet was performing an all-Shostakovich program in the Kammermusiksaal. So I decided to get tickets last minute. They were performing Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 7 in F-sharp minor, followed by the Piano Quintet in G minor (together with Henri Sigfridsson), as well as the String Quartet No. 9 in E-flat major. None of these pieces were familiar to me, so I figured why not check them out.
I've never been familiar with Shostakovich's string quartets, with the exception of the 8th, in C minor. I loved that piece, and perhaps that was a motivation for me to check out the other string quartets. No. 7 was a small compact piece, clocking in only within around 12 minutes. All of its movements were to be played without interruption. And as is typical with Shostakovich, there is this dark cloud of musical tension that seems to be hovering over the entire piece.
The piano quintet was an interesting piece, as I think I haven't encountered a quintet before. This combination of a string quartet together with a piano is actually new to me, and while I know that works for this combination exist, I really am not familiar with the literature at all. So hearing one for the very first time was actually a very educational experience. I think I liked it.
The 9th string quartet was intense, and a massive piece. It is one of those things where I think I would want to listen to it again, to analyse the structure and format of the piece. And yes, the performance of the Mandelring Quartet was also spectacular. I am not familiar with this group, but I have to say I liked what I saw on stage.
Overall, this was a massively enjoyable evening, and while Shostakovich isn't really my most favourite composer, I also like the fact that I had the opportunity to widen my exposure to his music.
