Szymanowski Quartet - LES VENDREDIS

Mitrofan Petrovich Belaieff was a wealthy Russian wood trader, who was also an excellent violist and the founder of a music publishing house. Beginning in the 1880s he held regular string quartet evenings every Friday, inviting the most popular composers and musicians of St. Petersburg. The collection of works for string quartets by these composers was published in 1899 as Les Vendredis. The current release presents these rarely-performed pieces by Russian composers from the end of the 19th century. The Szymanowski Quartet is the perfect ensemble for these Russian miniatures, demonstrating an exciting mixture of musical enthusiasm and soulful performances