Press Release – SWPR

Acclaimed Borodin Quartet returns to New Zealand for National Tour

Auckland concert: Wednesday 22 October

“They are sounding better than ever. Are they now the world’s best? All I know is that I never heard quartet playing at quite that level before” – Ottawa Citizen
One of the world’s longest-lasting and most revered string quartet ensembles, the Borodin Quartet, will perform at five venues across New Zealand this October

Chamber Music New Zealand presents the Borodin Quartet as part of the 2014 Kaleidoscopes Concert Season. The tour begins in Wellington on Friday 16 October, before making its way to Christchurch, Dunedin (as part of Arts Festival Dunedin 2014) and Napier, and finishing in Auckland on Wednesday 22 October.

Founded originally in 1945 in Moscow, the quartet’s history maps that of the Soviet era and beyond. The original members were colleagues and friends of Shostakovich – who personally consulted with them on each of his quartets – and played at the funerals of both Stalin and Prokofiev.
Now, almost 70 years later, the quartet’s members come from a new generation, yet have remained true to their roots and to the artistic excellence and integrity that has always been a hallmark of this astonishing ensemble.

The programme for the New Zealand tour features music from the composers for which the Borodin Quartet is renowned: a quintessentially Russian first half, followed by Beethoven’s monumental Op 130, symphonic in scale, the work that pushes to the very limits of expression and considered by many to be the greatest of his late quartets.

The Myaskovsky string quartet is neoromantic, impassioned, stirring Russian writing at its best, while the Shostakovich String Quartet No 11 remains one of his most personal and emotional works, “a crumbling, disintegrating memorial to lost happiness”, dedicated to the memory of one of his close friends.

The Borodin Quartet will perform in Wellington on Thursday 16 October, Christchurch onFriday 17 October, Dunedin on Saturday 18 October, Napier on Monday 20 October and Auckland on Wednesday 22 October. For full tour details and booking information visit www.chambermusic.co.nz

Chamber Music New Zealand acknowledges major funding from Creative New Zealand. The Borodin Quartet is presented in association with Musica Viva Australia and is part of Arts Festival Dunedin 2014.

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