Borodin Quartet impresses in Beethoven and Borodin at The Sage, but lacks bite in Shostakovich

In a typically ambitious programme, Vladimir Jurowski and the London Philharmonic Orchestra explored how four Czech composers responded to imprisonment, exile and renewal.

After somewhat tame Tchaikovsky, the combined forces of Barry Douglas and the Borodin String Quartet deliver a compelling Brahms Piano Quintet. 

How does an admirer of Shostakovich's symphonic works react to a performance of two of his string quartets? Well, if it's the Borodin Quartet that is playing, the experience will most definitely be a changing experience. 

The eminent Borodin Quartet brought a programme of Shostakovich and Beethoven with them to the Wigmore Hall – two composers they are very closely associated with. 

The Borodin Quartet seemed safely in their comfort zone with a selection of staple works from Shosatkovich and Beethoven. 

The five musicians on stage performed just like a well-oiled machine in Dvořák's Op. 81 Piano Quintet’s devilishly tricky coda.