# Emerson Quartet



## Allegro Con Brio

This venerable ensemble has announced they will disband in 2023 after a remarkable 47 years of performing: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/26/arts/music/emerson-string-quartet.html Their style, which tends toward the muscular but is highly technically accomplished, has proven to be quite polarizing at least on this forum. I admit that I am one of those who ordinarily sees their playing as harsh and monochrome with exaggerated contrasts, but it is undeniable that they have done a great service to all chamber music enthusiasts with their distinguished bevy of recordings, and their playing oozes intrepid personality. The two recordings of theirs that I am partial to are the Grieg/Sibelius disc and their Brahms. I also love their traversal of the Grosse Fuge - it's ferociously and thrillingly virtuosic. What are your favorites?


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## starthrower

They've had a great run! I haven't listened to very many of their recordings but I really like their Berg Lyric Suite / Wellesz CD. It's a good recording that does them justice. And their performance of the Lyric Suite really got me listening to that piece. I hope our local chamber music society can book them during one of their remaining concert tours.


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## Merl

I've always liked the Emersons. Off the top of my head......

Berg Lyric Suite
Late Beethoven
Schumann (their recent set contains possibly their best recordings) 
Some Schubert 
Some Shosty
Brahms
Ives
Some Mendelssohn

Like the Auryn's and Artemis quartets they'll be sorely missed especially as they've now escaped DG and the crap engineering that spoiled some otherwise excellent recordings.


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## Itullian

I saw them live and they were awesome. At the end of their program the audience could choose which Beethoven quartet we wanted them to play and they did.
They then stayed after the concert at a room set up with table, chairs and
champagne and signed their Beethoven sets for you and just plain autographs if that's what you wanted. They stayed and chatted with whoever stayed.
They were really great guys.


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## Josquin13

The Emerson's recording of Samuel Barber's String Quartet, and the two quartets by Charles Ives is one of my favorite discs by them. The Grieg/Sibelius and Berg/Wellesz discs are likewise excellent, I agree. I've also liked their Ravel/Debussy disc, though I don't think it would be my top first or second choice for these works. It took me a long time to like their "edgier" interpretations of Mozart's 6 String Quartets dedicated to Haydn, but I've finally come around.


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## Manxfeeder

I think I'm an outlier, but I like their Bartok cycle. Their precision and dynamic playing is a good match for how I want the Bartok quartets to sound.


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## Kreisler jr

The Emerson Quartet does not figure prominently in my collection. The reasons are trite and practical. When I started buying CDs, theirs were expensive singles and when they became boxed or mid-priced years later I had the core repertoire already and the further expansion concerned either different repertoire or older recordings or really new ones with younger ensembles.

So I think I only have their mid+late Beethoven and I had the Schumann piano quartet+quintet disc with Pressler which I found rather bland and culled at a stage of slimming down. I also heard the Bartok quartets but this was a long time ago and I don't own the discs.
I have not such a clear recollection of their late Beethoven, but the middle quartets were their first recording I got when it appeared separately in a Beethoven edition and they are quite spectacular in their virtuosity, so they must be my favorite Emerson recording.


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## SearsPoncho

I also like the Grieg/Sibelius disc. I don't have their Bartok, but I believe the recording which announced their presence with authority was their Bartok cycle. Perhaps I'm confusing them with the Tokyo String Quartet. I think their recording of the Debussy and Ravel String Quartets was solid, and they've recorded some respectable Haydn, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Borodin and Dvorak; they might not be reference recordings, but, as I said, these are very solid discs I enjoy. There's also a good Berg disc. 

I think they may have been at their best when they augmented the ensemble. I loooove their recording of the Brahms and Mozart Clarinet Quintets with Shifrin, and the same goes for their live Schubert Quintet with Rostropovich. If one went to an average record/cd store in pre-internet days, it was likely that most quartet purchases would be from the Emersons. That's what the record stores stocked most frequently in the chamber music sections (at least in the U.S.).


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## Knorf

I'm a fan of the Emerson String Quartet, and find the flack they receive around these parts utterly baffling, even more so than the Karajan bashing.

I've heard the Emersons live on numerous occasions*, especially around the time they were recording their Shostakovich cycle, and I recall several programs pairing late Shostakovich with late Beethoven. The performances were absolutely riveting; their playing invited some of the most intense and intimate listening I've ever experienced in music.

The Emersons' Bartók is justly famous, and still the set I reach for the most often. I'm also very fond of their complete Webern album, which is gorgeous and does not get mentioned nearly often enough. Their Beethoven cycle remains one of my top 5, if not necessarily my favorite overall. Their many recordings of quartets by American composers are ubitiquously authoritative. And Schubert, Mendelssohn, Dvořák, Ravel, Debussy, Sibelius ... so much great stuff.

All in all, they've had an incredible career. They've always demonstrated tremendous professionalism, commitment, and versatility. In terms of their recorded legacy: _far_ more hits than misses.

(Speaking of a near-near-miss: around when they recorded Schumann Op. 44 and Op. 47 with Pressler, I heard them play at least Op. 44 live with Craig Sheppard. I wish they had recorded that rep with Sheppard. But I suppose Sheppard isn't quite the same level of celebrity as Pressler, regardless of quality, for the likes of Deutsche Grammophon. Pity.)

*NB I had been well impressed by their recordings, especially Bartók, well before I heard them live.


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## Malx

The one disc of theirs I like that no one has mentioned as yet is their* Bach, Art of Fugue *not their core repertoire but a disc I enjoy a lot. 
I find the voices and lines of the piece easier to follow when played by a string quartet than by a keyboard.


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## SearsPoncho

Knorf: I forgot about the excellent Barber/Ives disc. 

Mal: The Bach Art of Fugue disc is one of the recordings I've been meaning to suggest for the Weekly String Quartet thread. Unfortunately, it's a long list.


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## Bruckner Anton

I went to their concert years ago and was surprised that they gave equally great live performance as they did in recordings. Honestly, I am not a big fan of their intepretation of Mozart, Beethoven or Mendelssohn, but I like their performance of Dvorak, Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky.


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## Quartetfore

They have given programs for many years at Stony Brook University located on Long Island N. Y. It is about a 35 minute drive from my home, so I never missed a chance to hear them.I guess I have heard them play 10 or so times. Always enjoyed their concerts .


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## wkasimer

I only heard them once, in 2018 (after cellist Paul Watkins joined the group, replacing David Finckel) at Rockport. They played the Grosse Fugue and the Schubert Quintet D956 (with Colin Carr, who had played the six cello suites a few nights earlier). I was more impressed with them live than on recordings. All of their recordings are technically impressive, but I'm one of the people who finds them a bit cold and aloof.


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## PeterF

I have seen the Emerson Quartet perform live about 3 times over the years as part of our Chamber Music concert series.
They were never among my favorite string quartets. To my ears, there was always a bit of “slickness” in their playing. Or perhaps as the previous poster - walsimer - put it, the Emerson struck me as a “bit cold and aloof”.

There are many many other string quartets I have heard lives and/ or on rcrdings I much prefer.


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## Barbebleu

I’m listening to their Bartok at the moment. Superb.


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## Rogerx

For me personally, this is the best recording they've made.


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## wormcycle

Emerson had some great recordings where they entirely refuted commonly shared opinion that they are technically perfect but somewhat "soulless". Good example is their take on Brahms string quartets, clear, with restrained emotions exactly as Brahms would like it 
There are more examples.
There are also examples where their playing is superb but the recording is totally messed up by incompetent Deutsche Gramophone recording engineers. Just listen how they butchered David Finckel's cello on in Contrapunctus 4 of The Art of the Fugue. 
Overall Emerson was very important part of my musical journey.


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## Rogerx

I bought this when it came out, never regretted it .


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## Merl

Whilst every quartet has a certain style and can often play in a certain way, I think what the post above highlights is the common problem in old Emerson Quartet recordings for me, and it should not be understated - the sound. All too often, when I've blogged on their performances, I've said the same thing. Great playing, shame about the sound! I'll give you a perfect example. I've just reviewed a host of Mendelssohn SQ2 recordings and although the Emerson recording is easily recommendable it could have been so much higher had DG not given them such a flat, unresponsive sound. It affects quite a few of their recordings on DG yet the Hagens were rarely given the same treatment, with clearer, much more detailed bass. Originally I thought it was just the Emersons but judging by the number of badly engineered DG discs I have, I'm putting mosr of the blame on DG. For the Emerson's most recent Schumann set Pentarone gave them terrific sound (with penetrating and clear bass and better midrange, replacing DG's murky sludgefest). I'm hoping that someone goes away and remasters the Emersons recordings properly one of these days and finally does their recordings justice but I did hear that they were one of the artists affected by the huge Universal fire, some years back so a lot of their master tapes have met their fiery end. It would be ironic if that was the case. Never has one ensemble suffered at the hand of those recording them as much.


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## Knorf

I'm extremely picky about recording quality. I have ditched any number of recordings from my collection because the recorded sound bugs me too much, even when the performances are good (if the performances are special enough, I'll still keep them.) I generally can't abide monophonic orchestral recordings, and I certainly can't stand MP3s at all for regular listening on my home system. I am a well-educated professional musician, and I trust the quality of my ears.

I never never, ever heard a single Emerson String Quartet recording where I thought the recording quality was a significant problem. I'm not sure I can say on the other hand that any of them come across to me as what I would consider audiophile quality, just that it's never been a problem.

Caveat: I've never heard the _Art of the Fugue_ album.

There are far worse string quartet recordings that are commonly recommended.

YMMV


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## Kreisler jr

Yes; I have heard only a few Emerson recordings (Beethoven, Bartok, Schumann with Pressler) and while the DG recording might be a bit dry, it's not bad, certainly not distractingly bad. 
Of famous SQ recordings I find the "classic" Juilliard CBS 1960s-70s with "in your face" and almost no hall ambience at all far more difficult to take (although many of the interpretations are worth keeping up with that overly direct sound).


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## Mandryka

The thing I’ve liked most from them is Shostakovich 14.


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## HenryPenfold

Knorf said:


> I'm a fan of the Emerson String Quartet, and find the flack they receive around these parts utterly baffling, even more so than the Karajan bashing.
> 
> I've heard the Emersons live on numerous occasions*, especially around the time they were recording their Shostakovich cycle, and I recall several programs pairing late Shostakovich with late Beethoven. The performances were absolutely riveting; their playing invited some of the most intense and intimate listening I've ever experienced in music.
> 
> The Emersons' Bartók is justly famous, and still the set I reach for the most often. I'm also very fond of their complete Webern album, which is gorgeous and does not get mentioned nearly often enough. Their Beethoven cycle remains one of my top 5, if not necessarily my favorite overall. Their many recordings of quartets by American composers are ubitiquously authoritative. And Schubert, Mendelssohn, Dvořák, Ravel, Debussy, Sibelius ... so much great stuff.
> 
> All in all, they've had an incredible career. They've always demonstrated tremendous professionalism, commitment, and versatility. In terms of their recorded legacy: _far_ more hits than misses.
> 
> (Speaking of a near-near-miss: around when they recorded Schumann Op. 44 and Op. 47 with Pressler, I heard them play at least Op. 44 live with Craig Sheppard. I wish they had recorded that rep with Sheppard. But I suppose Sheppard isn't quite the same level of celebrity as Pressler, regardless of quality, for the likes of Deutsche Grammophon. Pity.)
> 
> *NB I had been well impressed by their recordings, especially Bartók, well before I heard them live.


I too am baffled by the negativity they seem to attract and your Karajan parallel is apposite.

They are always at, or near the top for me in any work. And I find they are almost always recorded in demonstration sound quality, YMMV.

I also saw them perform live in London some years ago and they are clearly a class act.


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## starthrower

DG sound engineering and mastering is inconsistent from what I've experienced. But they're a big label with a long history. I mentioned in the weekly quartet thread that I bought a three disc reissue of the Emerson's Schubert recordings which sound pretty bad to my ears. Maybe the original tape sounds good but the CD mastering is inferior. I didn't notice that the Mendelssohn set sounded so bad but I'll have to listen closer. It's a library copy I picked up last week.


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## HenryPenfold

starthrower said:


> DG sound engineering and mastering is inconsistent from what I've experienced. But they're a big label with a long history. I mentioned in the weekly quartet thread that I bought a three disc reissue of the Emerson's Schubert recordings which sound pretty bad to my ears. Maybe the original tape sounds good but the CD mastering is inferior. I didn't notice that the Mendelssohn set sounded so bad but I'll have to listen closer. It's a library copy I picked up last week.


Interesting about the Schubert. I bought the late quartets on a Trio release and I've ben very happy with the SQ.


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## starthrower

HenryPenfold said:


> Interesting about the Schubert. I bought the late quartets on a Trio release and I've ben very happy with the SQ.


I'll have to spin it again, Henry. I listened through the set once earlier this year and the mastering sounded strident to my ears. But I'll give it another go.


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## HenryPenfold

starthrower said:


> I'll have to spin it again, Henry. I listened through the set once earlier this year and the mastering sounded strident to my ears. But I'll give it another go.


my set was bought nearly 20 years ago, so maybe a different transfer?

or perhaps we have different ears


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## starthrower

HenryPenfold said:


> my set was bought nearly 20 years ago, so maybe a different transfer?
> 
> or perhaps we have different ears


I think we have the same set. Mine says released 1999. Includes quintet with Rostropovich. Speaking of different ears, my own tend to hear things differently when I go back to stuff I haven't listened to for a season or two.


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## Malx

When it comes to sound quality there are so many variables at play - recording quality, amplification, tone control settings (if you have them), speakers, headphones and by no means least, ears combined with hearing ability - is it any wonder we can end up making different judgements.


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## Knorf

Malx said:


> When it comes to sound quality there are so many variables at play - recording quality, amplification, tone control settings (if you have them), speakers, headphones and by no means least, ears combined with hearing ability - is it any wonder we can end up making different judgements.


This is all true. I have a pretty high-end system that I've built for general neutrality and maximal transparency, but it is definitely true that some recordings can sound worse on different systems. Lower-end systems will especially (but not excusively) be fussy about what sounds good.

I should add that I also don't know the Emerson's Mendelssohn cycle, which is one that Merl specifically criticizes.


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## Merl

starthrower said:


> I didn't notice that the Mendelssohn set sounded so bad but I'll have to listen closer. It's a library copy I picked up last week.


I'm not saying that the sound of the Mendelssohn (I've had that set for many, many years btw) and some of the other DG Emersons is unacceptable. I just wish that the recording quality matched the Emerson's often exemplary performances. In my blogs the Emersons are almost *always* recommended so I rate a lot of their performances highly but when you hear some of the wonderful sound their competitors get (eg Takacs. Leipzigers, Eroica, Wihan, Ebene, Zehetmair, etc) it annoys me that DG never _consistently_ got the sort of sound they gave them for their Berg Lyric Suite, for example (superb disc) . Perhaps my problem is I'm listening to multiple recordings so there's a lot to compare them with. It doesn't take away the fact that the Emersons were a class outfit who made some terrific and many highly recommended recordings. I feel the same about the sound of some of the Talich recordings on Calliope, btw.


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## HenryPenfold

Knorf said:


> I should add that I also don't know the Emerson's Mendelssohn cycle, which is one that Merl specifically criticizes.


Funny enough, I don't know the JLFMB either .....


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## Merl

HenryPenfold said:


> Funny enough, I don't know the JLFMB either .....











Incidentally the quote below is from the review of that Mendelssohn set from a certain well-known (ahem) critic who is a massive Emersons fan. He calls it right, in this case, IMO. In fact that particular review, for me, is bang-on, regardless of who wrote it. 

_"DG's engineers give the quartet an up-close perspective that comparatively lacks warmth and doesn't quite do justice to the ensemble's dynamic sensitivity. It's clear, for example, that the players take the trouble to observe shadings of softness, but these don't register as vividly as they otherwise might."
_


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## Knorf

Merl said:


> I'm not saying that the sound of the Mendelssohn (I've had that set for many, many years btw) and some of the other DG Emersons is unacceptable. I just wish that the recording quality matched the Emerson's often exemplary performances.


Ok, that's fair. They almost never get the audiophile quality some other quartets enjoy.

BTW, I'm streaming Mendelssohn No. 2 with Emerson and I have to agree the sound quality isn't great. It's not quite poor enough for me to be a disqualification, but it's not wonderful.


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## starthrower

Merl, isn't that Emerson Berg disc on Decca? Or are both labels owned by one company now? I haven't kept up with the buyouts and aquisitions? One other question. Have you heard that six disc set on Brilliant Classics by the Gewandhaus Quartet? That's one set I considered buying several years back. I guess I should've asked this question in the Weekly quartet thread since it concerns Mendelssohn.


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## Merl

Ah yeah, you're right about the Berg, ST. My bad. I've not heard all the Gewandhaus set tbh apart from #2 and #6 (which were easily recommendable) but I do intend to review all the remaining mendelssohn quartets soon so when I do I'll let you know.


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