fuga libera is pleased to present an important new recording of the fifteen string quartets of Dmitri Shostakovich, one of the most important musical and cultural figures of the 20th century, by Belgium's remarkable Danel Quartet. The Danels created a sensation in 1993 as "dark horse" competitors in the International Dmitri Shostakovich Competition, where they stunned the audience and jury with their intensely dramatic approach and won First Prize. The Danels have worked over the years with members of both the Borodin and Beethoven Quartets (the two ensembles that premiered these works in the USSR) and Shostakovich scholar Krzysztof Meyer, as well as consultation with the composer's widow Irina Shostakovich and Shostakovich documentarian Emmanuel Uttweiler, and have forged a fresh, probing yet individualistic approach to these works, now recognized as a major cornerstone in the quartet repertoire.
The recordings, which are being released at a special value price, were made over a four-year period at the state-of-the-art studios the Bavarian Radio in a cycle completed late in 2005. The set is accompanied by new and illuminating notes by Shostakovich scholars Frans Lemaire and David Fanning, and uses the new edition of the 15 quartets published by the Dmitri Shostakovich Centre.
While recent Shostakovich quartet cycles have benefited in the market from aggressive public relations campaigns, both fuga libera and Forte Distribution are confident that this important release will not only garner a strongly favorable press and critical reaction but will become the preferred digital-era recordings of these undisputed masterpieces.