The St. Petersburg String Quartet and pianist Igor Uryash present three landmark works of chamber music on this 2004 Hyperion recording. Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 1 is a modernist statement of the 1930s, his Piano Quintet glitters with restless energy, and the Piano Trio No. 2 is a masterwork of emotional depth. These aren't the late, austere quartets—these are works that balance twentieth-century innovation with direct emotional weight. The St. Petersburg ensemble brings precision and warmth to material that can sound either too cerebral or too dark in other hands. A perfect introduction to Shostakovich's chamber output if you're starting out, or a fresh reading if you know the territory.