Formed in the Soviet Union at the end of World War II, the Borodin Quartet reigned at the pinnacle of string ensembles throughout the 20th century and into the millennium. While named for Russian Romantic composer Alexander Borodin, they were known best for the performances and recordings of the complete cycle of violin works by Dmitri Shostakovich plus the complete Beethoven cycle. The original quartet was comprised of cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, violinists Rostislav Dubinsky and Vladimir Rabei, and violist Yuri Nikolaevsky although Rostropovich was succeeded quickly by Valentin Berlinsky, who played with the group for six decades until his death at 83 in 2008. Nina Barshai took over from Rabei and Rudolf Barshai replaced Nikolaevsky soon after and there has been a succession of great string players ever since, most recently Ruben Aharonian and Sergey Lomovsky on violin, Igor Naidin on viola and Vladimir Balshin on cello. The Borodin Quartet was immediately popular in the Soviet Union, and they played at the funerals of both dictator Joseph Stalin and composer Sergei Prokofiev in 1953. Their fame extended to the West during the Cold War and later they performed at concert halls around the world. Albums flowed through the decades with recordings of not only Shostakovich and Beethoven but also Richter, Brahms, Schoenberg and Dvorák. Their releases include Borodin: String Quartet No. 2 (1958), Tchaikovsky: Quartet No. 3 (1964), Debussy - Ravel: String Quartets (1969), Debussy - Ravel: String Quartets (1988), Schubert: String Quartets (1991), Russian Miniatures (1995), Beethoven: String Quartets (2003), Borodin Quartet Performs Russian Chamber Music (2005), 60th Anniversary (2008), and Shostakovich: The Complete String Quartets - Piano Quintet (2018). Since the Borodin Quartet has been in existence for over 75 years, there have been numerous line-up changes and many former members have passed away including long-serving (1974 -2011) second violinist Andrei Abramenkov, who died on October 3, 2023, at the age of 88.
