Borodin Quartet 80 years: Brahms and Tsjaikovski (Part 2)

Borodin Quartet 80 years

The musicians of the Borodin Quartet are celebrating their 80th anniversary with a triptych of Brahms and Tchaikovsky, two geniuses, according to the quartet. This music has been on the music stands of the famous Russian string quartet for 80 years. Violist Igor Naidin has been playing in the Borodin for over a quarter of a century. He says the following about the triptych: 'With the three programmes of Brahms and Tchaikovsky that we are playing to celebrate our 80th anniversary, you might think: these pieces are part of our iron repertoire and we have been playing them since our foundation, so we know exactly how to do it. Yes and no, no matter how much they are in our bodies, we have to study and clean up this music again and again.'

Tchaikovsky and Brahms

Two of Tchaikovsky's idols leave their mark on his Second String Quartet . Wagner's Tristan is never far away in the chromatic introduction, and the first movement breathes the spirit of Mozart's divertimentos. With a perfect fugue in the finale, Tchaikovsky demonstrates his craftsmanship. The young Brahms used the manuscripts of his earliest quartet attempts as wallpaper. 'When I lie down, I admire my quartets', he ironically described his Hamburg room. He wrote to his publisher just as critically about the Second String Quartet : 'I always do my best to create a great and compelling work – and it always turns out small and pitiful!' In reality, he had created a masterpiece.