This recording was nominated for the 2000 Grammy Award for "Best Small Ensemble Performance (with or without Conductor)."
There hasn't been a violist with as big a name as Yuri Bashmet since the days of William Primrose. Bashmet has taken the classical world by storm, and like Primrose, he has greatly expanded the repertoire for his instrument. Bashmet has commissioned many works from prominent composers and has also made some compelling arrangements which serve as vehicles for his ensemble, Moscow Soloists.
His arrangement of the Brahms Clarinet Quintet is quite original. Rather than simply playing the clarinet part on the viola, Bashmet pulls a solo part out of the five parts, thus re-arranging Brahms' original hierarchy of instrumentation. The result is almost a different piece, but no less compelling. The Moscow Soloists give a romantic yet distinctly Russian performance, utilizing rubato and sound color in a way that makes the piece even more rhapsodic.
In Alexander Tchaikovsky's arrangement of the Shostakovich 13th String Quartet, the solo viola is more integrated into the string texture. Shostakovich's late works have the hard edge of death written into them, and Bashmet masterfully enhances this effect by coaxing his orchestra to create brittle, uncompromising sounds. The movement is not without its beautiful sections, but the pervading emotion is that of painful grief.