Piano quintets by Shostakovich and Weinberg

The piano quintets of Dmitri Shostakovich and Mieczysław Weinberg are the last great masterpieces in this genre, which reached its peak in the 19th century. Shostakovich’s quintet achieved widespread acclaim, while Weinberg’s work fell into obscurity – a fate shared by the composer himself. Weinberg has only recently begun to receive the recognition he deserves as a musical kindred spirit to Shostakovich. Both quintets are intensely dramatic and imbued with Slavic and Jewish emotions.

The Quatuor Danel has been instrumental in the rediscovery of Weinberg. The string quartet has recorded all Weinberg’s string quartets and performed them at the Muziekgebouw in 2019 to mark the centenary of his birth. Alexander Melnikov and the Quatuor Danel previously performed the quintets successfully during an acclaimed tour, which in 2015 included the Muziekgebouw.