Borodin: String Sextet; Glazunov: String Quintet; Arensky: String Quartet No. 2 (2012)

Russian chamber music is in general not much recorded, so this release ought to be of interest on its face to Russian music enthusiasts. Novelty, in fact, seems to have been one of the primary determinants of the program selection; Alexander Borodin wrote several chamber pieces as a young man, and the only reason for the inclusion of the incomplete String Sextet No. 2 in D minor here is that it is all but unknown. It's a cheery work in a Mendelssohnian idiom, attractive but not quite able to live up to its top billing. The ... Read More

Russian chamber music is in general not much recorded, so this release ought to be of interest on its face to Russian music enthusiasts. Novelty, in fact, seems to have been one of the primary determinants of the program selection; Alexander Borodin wrote several chamber pieces as a young man, and the only reason for the inclusion of the incomplete String Sextet No. 2 in D minor here is that it is all but unknown. It's a cheery work in a Mendelssohnian idiom, attractive but not quite able to live up to its top billing. The String Quintet in A major, Op. 39, of Glazunov resembles other Russian chamber pieces with its primarily pizzicato scherzo: it feels like a miniature orchestral work. Most unusual and distinctive is the String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 35, for the combination of violin, viola, and two cellos, by Anton Arensky. The work was composed in 1894 as an homage to Tchaikovsky and quotes one of his works in the central theme and variations. Like many of Arensky's compositions, this quartet... Read Less