Haydn - The Seven Last Words Of Our Saviour On The Cross [Borodin String Quartet]This is the first time i've ever played this work, i do like a nice Haydn String Quartet, especially the Op76 Quartets, this is different, it's in essence a huge String Quartet of 70+ minutes, Haydn would usually compose a String Quartet between 20 and 25 minutes long, so first off i'm not incredibly wowed, and yet it's worth giving it a review and analysing it, especially in a performance as committed as the Borodin's give.
The Borodin String Quartet are from Russia, formed in 1945, they are still going strong, however they have a completely different line up from when they first started, non of the Quartet recorded here are the original members, and neither are they members of the present Quartet, here's the line-up and the dates, the Quartet on this disc are in yellow,
First Violin
Rostislav Dubinsky [1945-1976]
Mikhail Kopelman [1976-1996]
Ruben Aharonian [1996-Present]
Second Violin
Vladimir Rabei [1945-1947]
Nina Barshai [1947-1953]
Yaroslav Alexandrov [1953-1974]
Andrei Abramenkov [1974-2011]
Sergey Lamovsky [2011-Present]
Viola
Rudolf Barshai [1945-1953]
Dmitri Shebalin [1953-1996]
Igor Naidin [1996-Present]
Cello
Mstislav Rostropovich [1945]
Valentin Berlinsky [1945-2007]
Vladimir Balshin [2007-Present]
they recorded this disc in 1993, the front booklet is a treat [photo by Thomas Muller], showing the Quartet couched in some nice autumn colours, the lettering to the right is well done.
On the whole i enjoyed this work, but it does last over 70 minutes, so i started to lose slight interest towards the end, i guess i enjoyed the First Sonata the best, it's slow like the rest of the work, sounds exactly what Haydn would do in a slow movement of a conventional String Quartet, it's quite simple music, the First Violin [Mikhail Kopelman] freely takes the voice of the 'lead singer' in the band, playing really sweetly, singing strongly against the other players, it's a lovely gentle movement.
Here's the Arioso String Quartet playing the First Sonata [Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!] on YouTube.
