Quatuor borodine shostakovich biography

The quartet, being one of the world’s most senior ensemble was founded in , ten years before it adopted the name Borodin Quartet. Its longest-serving member, Valentin Berlinsky, was there almost at the beginning, though he modestly declines the title of having been the original cellist.

His one predecessor, who decided after some time that his career lay outside full-time devotion to ensemble playing, was Mstislav Rostropovich.

The first settled formation comprised Rostislav Dubinsky and Vladimir Rabeij (violins), Rudolf Barshai (viola) and Valentin Berlinsky (cello), performing under the name Quartet of the Moscow Philharmonic.

During the first decade there were several changes of personnel: Nina Barshai (wife of Rudolf) replaced Rabeij after two years, then made way for Jaroslav Alexandrov in In – the year the quartet was required to play on a single day at the funerals of both Stalin and Prokofiev – Rudolf Barshai left to pursue his career as a soloist and conductor, and