After their highly acclaimed first album with three quartets by Haydn, the Munich-based Goldmund Quartet makes its debut with Berlin Classics. Florian Sch?tz, Pinchas Adt (both violin), Christoph Vandory (viola) and Raphael Paratore (cello) make a leap - not only in time, but also musically. On the schedule are Shostakovich and his string quartets number three and nine. The young, up-and-coming quartet, to whom the S?ddeutsche Zeitung attests extremely appealing musicality with its own signature, made its debut at the Prinzregentententheater in Munich and has been a welcome guest on the stages of Europe and the world ever since. The four musicians, who have known each other since their school days, received important musical impulses from members of the Alban Berg Quartet, among others with G?nter Pichler in Madrid, and the Artemis Quartet in Berlin. Numerous master classes with members of numerous renowned quartets, such as the Hagen, Borodin, Melos, Belcea, Ysaye and Cherubini Quartets as well as Ferenc Rados, Eberhard Feltz and Alfred Brendel show the quartet's constant thirst for knowledge. The latest second prize and the special prize at the International Wigmore Hall String Competition 2018 for the best interpretation of a string quartet of the 20th century prove that the four musicians at Shostakovich know what they are doing: The biggest challenge is that this music is so extreme. Ecstasy, insane depths, incredible sadness. One has to put oneself in the position of the soul. In their contrasting composition by the Goldmund Quartet, Shostakovich's string quartets number three and nine shed light on the various facets of the human Dmitri Dmitrievich Shostakovich. The deep impression the Second World War left on him, his confrontation with the Soviet regime - never aimless, yet so often lost. It is always interesting for us to see how a composer develops. With these two quartets we have already found very contrasting works in terms of their outward appearance. This already makes you want more
