Borodin Quartet

Wigmore Hall, London

4/11/2016
Shostakovich

String Quartet No. 9 in Eb, Op. 117

Moderato con moto
Adagio
Allegretto
Adagio
Allegro

Beethoven

String Quartet in F, Op. 59 No. 1, Razumovsky

Allegro
Allegretto vivace e sempre scherzando
Adagio molto e mesto
Theme russe. Allegro

Ruben Aharonian

violin

Sergei Lomovsky

violin

Igor Naidin

viola

Vladimir Balshin

cello

When listening to the Shostakovich string quartets, I find that the Borodin Quartet always
produce the authoritative rendition, with incredible ensemble and an innate understanding of
the music at hand. Perhaps this is why I felt it such a great honour to them perform the music
they understand so well in the beautiful acoustics of Wigmore Hall.
While the Beethoven was wonderfully performed, with both reverence (as heard in the third
movement, with its hymn-like, funereal character) and a reserved sense of humour (as seen in
their rallentandi with each repeat in the final movement), their interpretation of
Shostakovichs String Quartet No. 9 was masterful, at times even disturbing.
As this was the first piece performed, what struck me immediately was the blend between the
musicians; each instrument took on its own character, even between the two violins,
Aharonians sound sparkled while Lomovskys took on an almost viola-like level of richness.

The passing about of themes from violin to cello to viola in the first movement demonstrated
this wonderfully. The manner in which the quartet flows from movement to movement allows
opportunity to shift drastically between moods, most notably in the third movement. Opening
with a cartoonish equestrian theme, the members of the quartet delivered the performance
with great humour, only for this to be dashed with haunting harmonics and eerie discordant
sonorities as the movement continues, the theme returning in the final movement as a ghost
of itself, each distinct mood captured wonderfully both in music and the body language of the
players.