Redolent of the work of Dmitri Shostakovich in its musical language, Evgeny Kissin's String Quartet op. 3 comprises four strongly contrasting movements: on the heels of the stately 'Adagio liberamente' comes an extremely lively 'Allegro inquieto' that wanders between dynamic extremes and bristles with glissandi.

The third movement, marked 'Largo drammatico', is sustained by an insistent, heavily rhythmic dotted motive, while the final movement shifts from the introduction, marked 'Pensierosam...