The recent good fortune of Shostakovich string quartets on disc continues with this CD, the first step in a new complete cycle. The all-female Sorrel Quartet has existed since 1987, and has strong qualities to its credit: highly polished technique, careful intonation, and velvet-like sonority combined with a deep understanding of this music’s peculiar character. If the elusive Seventh Quartet lacks the fire and immediacy conveyed by the Borodin Quartet, the expansive Sixth is treated with all the required serenity and broad gestures. In the Tenth, the Sorrels’ sense of suspense and the whispering dynamics create a powerful feeling of introspection and imminent drama that perfectly suits the music and makes the contrasting outbursts of violence in the Allegretto furioso all the more effective. The recording is a bit dull and distant, but it’s truthful to the music’s dark coloring.
