"These quartets, which deeply mirror the composer's own life and deep conflicts, present quite the musical challenge for any ensemble. In a recent interview, the group mentions having a close personal connection to the quartets and that they represent a "spiritual cross-section of the composer's entire life." This sentiment is well reflected in their playing. What the Pavel Haas Quartet brings to the forefront incredibly well are the nuanced emotional facets of the quartets, ranging from irony to tragedy, to madness"

"It's their lightness of touch that commands; the subtle nuances of colour, line and texture performed with almost spectral intensity ... Expressive extremes are elucidated with exquisite rawness and refinement ... The results wonderfully cohesive - and carhartic"

"There's definitely room in the marketplace for the Pavel Haas Quartet's restrained approach, recorded very close up and very effectively by Supraphon engineers at Prague's Domovina Studio. Recommended, and it makes you want to hear more Shostakovich from this group"

"Shostakovich's Second Quartet is remarkable for its sheer insistence ... The Pavel Haas register all this to the 'n'th degree, and I would have been inclined to hail this one of the finest of all recorded accounts had they only brought more coiled tenseness to the shadowy outer sections of the Waltz third movement"

Vurdering: 5/5