Dvorák, Tchaikovsky, Borodin: Quartets | Emerson String Quartet

Dvorák, Tchaikovsky, Borodin: Quartets | Emerson String Quartet | Never get tired of this...

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	Dvorák, Tchaikovsky, Borodin: Quartets Emerson String Quartet Deutsche Grammophon, 1995 average customer review:based on 11 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

The Emersons offer one of the very best accounts of the popular American Quartet on disc. It is dramatic, exuberant, persuasive, and right to the point--a well-paced reading full of ravishing details (like the dueting of the violins in the slow movement) that has been beautifully recorded. Originally made for Book-of-the-Month Club in 1984, the recording was later picked up by DG and first released in the U.S. in 1990. For this reissue, it has been coupled with equally well-played accounts of quartets by Borodin and Tchaikovsky, which makes for an especially well-filled CD. --Ted Libbey

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Great recording quality, usual fantastic Emerson sound

These are all popular quartets that belong in the standard repertory, and all feature some beautiful melodies that stick in your mind. Emerson is technically excellent as usual, and the sound quality is great.

A steal at < $10!

Never get tired of this...

I've been listening to this CD for about two years, mostly when I'm cooking, or driving, and lately on my ipod when I run. It's very uplifting music. These quartets are so well known that everyone probably has heard them all before, but they are so good together on one CD. I love the way the Emerson String Quartet plays all three of them. They bring a lot of energy and expression to them and they release all the powerful emotions locked in this music. I would give their cellist more than 5 stars if I could. I think most people would just love this CD.

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Streamlined from Russia -- not for everyone

The two popular string quartets from Dvorak and Borodin are among the easiest to listen to in the genre, romanticism for every ear. Because of the hummable tunes in the Borodin 2nd (lifted wholesale to become part of the Broadway musical, Kismet) and the folksy vigor of Dvorak's "American" Quartet #12, most performers emphasize their lushness. Not the Emersons, whose readings are clean and streamlined. They don't dig deep into the wood the way the Alban Berg Qt. does. Their is the patented Emerson virtuosity at work, however, with impeccable intonation and matched timbres.

For me, the effect is refreshing, particularly in the Borodin, which gets a performance that never threatens to become gooey. The Dvorak is a mite too efficient and far removed from its folk inspiration, yet it is impressive technically. Its buoyancy creates a great deal of enjoyment. I've never been able to warm up to Tchaikovsky's quartet writing, but here again the Emersons go for clean lines over Russian luxuriousness.

In all, a very appealing CD that groups three favorites in vintage Emerson Qt. performances. Very good sound, too.

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Solid, straightforward playing.

Overall, this is a very good recording of the most popular Eastern European string quartets, including the most famous quartet by a master or near-master of the genre, Dvorak. Although the playing here doesn't plumb any great depths, the technical aspects of the performance are beyond reproach; this is a recording that is pleasant to listen perhaps without demanding my greatest attention. To my ears, the recording's engineering is just about right for chamber music for strings alone: close enough to hear everything, but with just a tiny bit of reverberation and distance that give the Emerson's lovely tone a bit of "ring". Nicely done.

My favorite work of the three presented here is the Borodin, a work that is in my opinion far better than his first in the genre. Its beautiful, popularized themes, idiomatic string writing, the careful exploitation of the resources of the medium including some really lovely cello writing in the high register, the quietly radiant Notturno, and the Russian modality that is at times veiled behind a more Germanic Romanticism, the whole work works extremely well. The Emerson plays the work with sympathy, if perhaps a bit too much efficiency: the tempi may not be too fast, but the performance here rarely breathes long enough to allow the listener to enjoy each theme to the fullest. However, their sound is lovely and well-matched.

The other two works are played similarly well. I'm not much of a devotee of Tchaikovsky's quartets and like the Borodin, his first quartet's popularity is largely due to the beauty of the slow movement in various arrangements. It's a fine piece and the performance here is never less than very good. The Dvorak is a deservedly popular work and its piquancy and proficiency need no introduction. My strongest complaint against the Emerson is here: with the exception of the second movement (Lento), the tempos are simply too fast to allow me to enjoy Dvorak's inclusion of folksong, gentle changes of meter, and finely wrought tunes. Perhaps this is a bit of a quibble, but while I admire their complete technical assuredness, the Emerson performs here without much soul; the first movement in particular suffers from a too-fast tempo and a disregard for a more natural, elastic phrasing.

Still, this is overall a good, well-recorded performance and while better recordings of each of these three works exist, the three works here form a good set, played very well by a top-drawer string quartet. Recommended.

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Excellent recoding - very good performances

I purchased this set as a way of getting additional versions of favourite quartets and because since buying the Emerson's Bartok set I have held them in high regard. These are indeed fine performances that seem to me to reflect the contemporary concert practice of their day: that is to say what I describe as an effusive, engaging bravura. It fascinates me at times the way each generation of performers seeks to connect with their audience; something that becomes apparent when listening to historical recordings. My benchmark for the Tchaikovsky is the Amedaus Quartet - a lovely almost diaphanous aura - shimmering with seemingly effortless polish. The Emersons give a well judged, lively and unexaggerated rendering, which by comparison is more straight forward. In the Boridin my bechmark is Quartetto Italiano. I happen to have them on less than perfect vinyl and still I am transfixed by the magical stillness with which the notturno concludes and breathless beauty of all that preceeds the conclusion of that wonderful movement. To me this is a classic recording. The sound of Philip Setzer's first violin in the Emerson's version of the notturno is unsettling to my ears; almost shrill. Magnificent work on the cello by David Finckel is by contrast quite glorious. If anything, the music is just pushed a little firmly here; it doesn't float enough. However, the Emerson's way with the andante-vivace finale is terrific, bringing a rhythmic pulse that ensures that this is not anticlimatic after the notturno. The sound quality of the recording is first rate. Anybody who buys this set will have no reason to be disappointed, but as with many contemporary recordings, there may be better ones in the archive.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3

Tracks
String Quartet No. 12 in F major ('American'), B. 179 (Op. 96): 1. Allegro ma non troppo | String Quartet No. 12 in F major ('American'), B. 179 (Op. 96): 2. Lento | String Quartet No. 12 in F major ('American'), B. 179 (Op. 96): 3. Molto vivace | String Quartet No. 12 in F major ('American'), B. 179 (Op. 96): 4. Finale: Vivace, ma non troppo | String Quartet No. 1 in D major, Op. 11: 1. Moderato e semplice | String Quartet No. 1 in D major, Op. 11: 2. Andante cantabile | String Quartet No. 1 in D major, Op. 11: 3. Scherzo: Allegro non tanto - Trio | String Quartet No. 1 in D major, Op. 11: 4. Finale: Allegro giusto - Allegro vivace | String Quartet No. 2 in D major: 1. Allegro moderato | String Quartet No. 2 in D major: 2. Scherzo: Allegro | String Quartet No. 2 in D major: 3. Notturno: Andante | String Quartet No. 2 in D major: 4. Finale: Andante - Vivace

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