Shostakovich Quartet

Russian String Quartet

Shostakovich Quartet (Квартет имени Шостаковича) was founded in 1966 by Alexander Korchagin and Andre Shishlov in the Rafael Davidyan class at the Moscow Conservatory. A few years later, professor Sergei Shirinsky (legendary cellist, member of Beethoven Quartet) mentored the ensemble. The Quartet gained international reputation after receiving the third prize at the XIX ARD International Competition (1970) in Munich and winning the XIII Leó Weiner International Competition (1973) in Budapest. The quartet had been touring internationally since the eighties and visited 38 countries. Along with giving concerts and touring, Shostakovich Quartet recorded over 50 albums on vinyl and CD for Olympia (2) (Great Britain), Мелодия (Russia), Deutsche Grammophon (Germany), Ricordi (Italy), Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (USA), Toshiba EMI and Sacrambow (Japan). Their repertoire include a cycle of fifteen quartets by Dmitri Shostakovich, his quintet (which the group performed with many famous pianists, including Tatiana Nikolayeva, Aleksey Nasedkin, Vladimir Krainev, Nikolai Petrov, Mikhail Voskresensky, Alexander Bonduriansky, Tigran Alikhanov, Nikolai Lugansky, Nina Kogan, Vladimir Viardo, Oxana Yablonskaya, Enrico Pace, and Ikuyo Nakamichi), music by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann and Brahms, the Russian classics: Glinka, Tchaikovsky, Borodin, Glazunov, Grechaninov, and also XX century innovators Debussy, Ravel, Prokofiev and Stravinsky. The musicians of the Quartet have a wide range of interest and are competent in different musical spheres, including modern jazz. Current line-up 1st violin: Graf Murzha 2nd violin: Alexander Dogadaev Viola: Yury Tkanov Cello: Alexander Korchagin