Meet the Quartet
For more than seventy years, the Borodin Quartet has been celebrated for its insight and authority in the chamber music repertoire. Revered for its searching performances of Beethoven and Shostakovich, the Quartet is equally at home in music ranging from Mozart to Stravinsky.

Described by the Daily Telegraph Australia as “the Russian grand masters”, the Borodin Quartet’s particular affinity with Russian repertoire is based on constant promotion, performances and recording of the pillars of Russian string quartet music – Borodin, Tchaikovsky, and Shostakovich, as well as Glinka, Stravinsky, Prokofiev and Schnittke. The Quartet is universally recognised for its genuine interpretation of Russian music, generating critical acclaim all over the world; the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes about them “here we have not four individual players, but a single sixteen-stringed instrument of great virtuosity”.

The Quartet’s connection with Shostakovich’s chamber music is intensely personal, since it was stimulated by a close relationship with the composer, who personally supervised its study of each of his quartets. Widely regarded as definitive interpretations, the Quartet’s cycles of the complete Shostakovich’s quartets have been performed all over the world, including Vienna, Zurich, Frankfurt, Madrid, Lisbon, Seville, London, Paris, and New York. The idea of performing a complete cycle of Shostakovich’s quartets originated with the Borodin Quartet. In recent seasons, the ensemble has returned to a broader repertoire, including works by Schubert, Prokofiev, Borodin, and Tchaikovsky, while continuing to be welcomed and acclaimed at major venues throughout the world.

The Borodin Quartet was formed in 1945 by four students from the Moscow Conservatory and remains one of the very few existing established chamber ensembles with uninterrupted longevity. The world has changed beyond recognition since 1945; the Borodin Quartet, meanwhile, has retained its commitment to tonal beauty, technical excellence, and penetrating musicianship. The ensemble’s cohesion and vision have survived successive changes in personnel, thanks not least to the common legacy shared by its members from their training at the Moscow Conservatory. The current members of the Quartet are Nicolai Sachenko, Sergei Lomovsky, Igor Naidin and Vladimir Balshin. In addition to performing quartets, the Borodin Quartet regularly joins forces with other distinguished musicians to further explore the chamber music repertoire. Their partners have included Sviatoslav Richter, Yuri Bashmet, Michael Collins, Alexei Volodin, Barry Douglas, Mario Brunello, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Christoph Eschenbach, Boris Berezovsky, and Nikolai Lugansky.

The Quartet also regularly receives invitations to give masterclasses, and to serve as jury members at major international competitions.

Piano: Andrey Pisarev

Mozart competition's grand prize
In 1991, in the International Mozart Competition in Salzburg, a young Russian pianist won Grand Prize — which was the first time since 1956 that Grand Prize had been awarded in this competition. It was Andrey Pisarev.

Swedish newspaper
On October 10 2006 the reviewer Gunilla Boström wrote in Swedish newspaper “Helsingborgs Dagblad”: “In April 2004 I believed that Andrey Pisarev was the best pianist I have ever heard, and this opinion remains after his recital... The expression ‚World pianist‘ is not an exaggeration regarding him... ”

The first price ever
Besides Mozart Competition Andrey Pisarev won 1st Prize in the Rachmaninoff Piano Competition (Moscow 1983) as well as 1st Prize in the UNISA TRANSNET International Piano Competition and Special Prizes for the best performances of a classical sonata and a Mozart Concerto (Pretoria 1992).

His performance cannot be forgotten
The German newspaper “Westdeutsche Algemeine Zeitung” wrote about Mr. Pisarev: “His performance cannot be forgotten. ...The pianist presented such impressive music, that is rarely heard. The fact that his playing is distinguished for virtuosity — is of no doubt. Because that is the basis for transparent sounding of music by Debussy, Liszt, Chopin and Kreisler/Rachmaninoff. His performance was really transparent. The sounds of Sonata by Scarlatti sparkled like clear radiant water drops. The ‘Suite Bergamasque’ by Debussy sounded as a canvass painted with clear bright colours.”