Two By Five

Two Russian piano quintets, Shostakovich and Schnittke, recorded by the Vermeer Quartet with pianist Boris Berman. Shostakovich's quartet was for once not surrounded by any controversy and was in fact awarded a Stalin prize. It is noticeably free of the customary angst and includes both elegiac and resigned moods and even a little folk influence. The contrast with his later string quartets could not be more marked. Whether he was knowingly composing a more user friendly piece to gain a respite from criticism is another of those Shostakovich puzzles. The Schnittke piece is more downbeat, dedicated to his mother after her death. The music is more fragmentary and seems to be forever indulged in a struggle to find a definitive direction until a measure of repose is found in the whimsical finale. The completion of the work also coincided with Shostakovich's death and faint traces of his late quartets and even this quintet can be found, although Schnittke wasn't a direct follower of his predecessor's style. These are budget recordings but the performers play with total committment, Berman's experience in the repertoire being particularly advantageous to the quartet.