San Francisco Symphony

String Quartets 5 & 7/piano Quintet in G San Francisco Symphony

The origins of this album - the Artemis Quartet's first recordings of Shostakovich - lie in the ensemble's long-established relationship with the great pianist Elisabeth Leonskaja. For years, the quartet had been wanting to record the Russian composer's Piano Quintet with her. It is coupled with Quartets No 5 and No 7, multi-faceted works which are expressive of the composer's private persona. 2019 will be a significant year for the highly respected Artemis Quartet. It is not only a jubilee year of the ensemble founded in 1989, but also the time of a renewed change of occupation. The only founding member, the cellist Eckard Runge, and the violinist Anthea Kreston, who plays in the quartet since 2016, make way for successors. Now the last recording in the old formation appears.