St Petersburg String Quartet
Alla Aranovskaya
Alla Krolevich
Boris Vayner
Leonid Shukaev

One of the world’s great string quartets, the St Petersburg’s glittering career has included a Grammy nomination, “Best Record of the Month” honours in both Stereo Review and Gramophone, an opening night performance at “Mostly Mozart” at Lincoln Center, and hundreds of concerts on many of North America, Europe and Asia’s most prestigious series and festivals. Hyperion has released the St. Petersburg’s cycle of fifteen Shostakovich quartets; the CDs in this cycle have received ecstatic reviews in the international press and were featured in the San Francisco Chronicle’s article on the best chamber recordings of all time. The disc of Shostakovich Quartets Nos. 5, 7 & 9 was awarded the Chamber Music America/WQXR Prize for Best Chamber Music CD of 2001. Current releases on Delos include Quartets Nos.1 & 2 by Prokofiev, the premiere recording of Quartet No.1 by Georgian composer Zurab Nadarejshvili, and a Glazunov CD featuring Quartet No.5 and the Five Novelettes.

The Quartet was founded in 1985 by graduates of the Leningrad Conservatory under the guidance of Vladimir Ovcharek, first violinist of the Taneyev String Quartet. Early in their career, the Quartet (then called 'String Quartet of the Leningrad Conservatory Named after N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov') won 1st Prize at the All Soviet Union String Quartet Competition. At the First International Shostakovich Competition for String Quartets, held in Leningrad in 1987 they had considerable success, winning one of the prizes, the title of Laureate, and the Special Prize for the best performance of the required work (Shostakovich's Quartet No.7). Due to these successes and positive press reviews, the Quartet received several invitations to tour in the USSR and abroad. In 1987 the ensemble performed in concert halls throughout Russia, made its first recordings for radio and TV, and participated in various festivals.

Having gone through this 'baptism of fire' in their own country, the young quartet was given permission in 1989 to take the name 'Leningrad String Quartet' and to travel to Tokyo to compete in the International Competition of Chamber Ensembles. There they won the Silver Medal and a Special Prize. In the summer of that same year, the Quartet visited the USA for the first time, as Artists-in-Residence at the Musicorda Festival and String Program in Massachusetts, which has become a regular part of their musical life. At the Vittorio Gui International Competition for Chamber Ensembles in Florence, Italy they won not only the 1st Prize but both Special Prizes.

In July 1991, the Quartet entered the International Competition for Chamber Ensembles in Melbourne, Australia. There they had a brilliant success, returning home with the First Prize and the 'Grand Prix Musica Viva.' Intensive periods of international touring followed, with concerts in Germany, Italy, Spain, Estonia, Lithuania, Japan, North and South Korea, Taiwan, the Netherlands and the USA. In August 1991, events took place in Russia that influenced the life of all Russians, including the ensemble. Their native city changed its name and so did the Quartet. Since September 1991 the group has been known as the St. Petersburg String Quartet.


Recent highlights have included appearances at the Frick Collection in NYC, the Chautauqua Summer Music Festival, the prestigious Eastman School of Music Chamber Music Series, numerous concerts throughout the U.S. including débuts in Detroit and Memphis, and a residency at Mainly Mozart San Diego. International tours included the UK (including the Wigmore Hall, South Bank Centre and Bridgwater Hall, Manchester), Germany (including Munich and the Alte Oper Frankfurt), the Netherlands, Mexico and Venezuela. The St. Petersburg Quartet were 'Quartet in Residence' at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music from 1997-2003.