On April 6, 2024, the country’s oldest string ensemble, the Borodin Quartet, will perform in the Chamber Hall of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre for the first time.
The Borodin Quartet is a recipient of the Glinka State Prize of the RSFSR (1968), the State Prize of the USSR (1986), the Prize of the Mayor of Moscow (1998), and the State Prize of the Russian Federation (2001). The creative longevity of the Quartet is registered in Guinness World Records (1995).
The Quartet was founded in 1945 within the walls of the Moscow State Conservatory and over 75 years has become an integral part of the history of Russian performance arts. The main merit in the establishment of creative continuity and preserving the traditions of the Quartet belongs to one of its founders, Valentin Berlinsky, who played in the ensemble for a record 62 years. The modern line-up includes Nikolai Sachenko, Sergey Lomovsky, Igor Naidin and Vladimir Balshin.
Besides the classics, the ensemble has always paid significant attention to contemporary composers, including Sergei Prokofiev, Nikolai Myaskovsky, Mieczysław Weinberg, Benjamin Britten, Samuel Barber. The ensemble is the first performer of many new musical pieces. Those have often been dedicated to and composed with the Borodin Quartet members in mind. Over the years, the Quartet has also worked with a number of outstanding musicians. In 40 years, 83 concerts were given and 14 compositions were performed and recorded with Sviatoslav Richter; the Quartet also worked with Dmitri Shostakovich for over 30 years. The ensemble’s biography also includes about seven thousand concerts in the USSR, Russia, Europe, Asia, America, Australia and New Zealand.
On April 6, 2024, within the confines of its Vladivostok tour, the Borodin Quartet will perform Ludwig van Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 7 and Alexander Borodin’s String Quartet No. 2.
The concert will be held as part of the “All-Russian Philharmonic Seasons” program of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation.
