RAVEL, SHOSTAKOVICH & DVOŘÁK

RAVEL Quartet in F
SHOSTAKOVICH Quartet in No. 8 in C minor, Op. 110
DVOŘÁK Quartet in F, Op. 96, American

The Piatti Quartet makes a welcome return to Portsmouth, with perhaps the most famous of all quartets not yet heard in our series, Dvořák’s vigorous and very tuneful ‘American’.

Dvořák was still alive when Ravel composed his only addition to the repertoire, and indeed only ten years separates the two pieces, and yet their sound‐worlds could not be more different. Another huge contrast comes with Shostakovich’s darkly autobiographical C minor work, composed in just three days in 1960. At the time he thought it might be his last, though in the event he went on to produce seven further quartets.