Concert Review: Brothers From the Same Quartet

The Emerson String Quartet celebrates forty years.

by Paul J. Pelkonen

The members of the Emerson String Quartet, past and present: Philip Setzer, Paul Watkins
former cellist David Finckel, Eugene Drucker, Lawrence Dutton.
Original photo by Lisa Marie Mazzucco, © Sony Classical. Photoshop by the author.

The Emerson String Quartet is among the most storied of American Chamber music ensembles, having thrilled listeners for four decades with their clean, bright-edged sound and a preference for brisk and efficient music making. On Sunday afternoon, the Emersons played the second of two concerts at Alice Tully Hall this weekend. The occasion: to celebrate the beginning of the 2016-17 season of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and to celebrate four decades of music-making with the release of a mammoth 53-disc box chronicling the ensembles' complete recorded catalogue for Deutsche Grammophon.

Concert Preview: The Men Who Invented Fire

The Emerson String Quartet is Passing the Torch at Lincoln Center.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

This German card from 1932 depicts Beethoven (left) taking music lessons with Haydn.
The caption reads: "Beethoven and his master, Haydn." © 1932 Homann Factory.

The string quartet has enjoyed over 300 years as one of the sturdiest and most perfect vehicles for musical expression. Quartets can be bold and heroic, as four players join forces to conquer the Everest-like works of Beethoven, or anguished like Schubert's Death and the Maiden. In the 20th century, Shostakovich famously used his late quartets as a kind of intimate diary, inserting hidden codes into the music, and Mozart wrote both joy and heartbreak into the fabric of his mature quartets.

Season Preview: The Prodigy Returns

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center focuses 2016-17 on Mendelssohn.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Two sides of Felix Mendelssohn: as child prodigy and man.
His music is at the center of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center's
programming for the 2016-17 season. 

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center has announced its schedule for 2016-17, an ambitious slate focused on the life and artistry of one of the most important but under appreciated composers of the 19th century: Felix Mendelssohn. A pianist at the age of six, Mendelssohn became one of the most noted composers in Europe with his incidental music for A Midsummer Night's Dream, published when its creator was just 19.

Concert Review: It's Gotta Be the Shoes

Jean-Yves Thibaudet and the Emerson String Quartet at Mostly Mozart.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Steve Madden Caviarr Rhinestone Slip-On. In Men's Sizes.

The annual visit to Mostly Mozart by the Emerson String Quartet is a joyous occasion, a cnahnce for New Yokrkers trapped in the sweltering and ever deepening canyons of  gotham to hear one of the best chamber music ensembles in the country without leaving the fortress of Manhattan. On Monday night at Alice Tully Hall, the eminent Emersons were joined by French pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet for a program of Mozart, Beethoven and Fauré at Alice Tully Hall.

Concert Review: That '70s Show

The Emerson String Quartet plays Britten and Shostakovich.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

The new boy: the Emerson String Quartet (Eugene Drucker, Lawrence Dutton,
Philip Setzer) welcome cellist Paul Watkins.
Photo courtesy the Emerson String Quartet.

The average classical music lover is wary of anything written in the last century. However, Wednesday night's concert at Alice Tully Hall by the Emerson String Quartet featured three late works by two composers who survived into this unlikely decade: Dmitri Shostakovich and Benjamin Britten. The program explored the connection between the two composers, who were on friendly terms, with Shostakovich even visiting Britten's home base of Aldeburgh while on a rare visit to England.

The Bottom Drops Out

Cellist David Finckel leaves the Emerson String Quartet

David Finckel (second from left) is leaving the Emerson String Quartet.
Photo provided by Kirshbaum and Associates, edited by the author.

The Emerson String Quartet is undergoing its first lineup change in 33 years.

Cellist David Finckel announced this morning that he is leaving the award-winning chamber ensemble to concentrate on "personal artistic endeavors." He joined the Emerson String Quartet in 1979.

Mr. Finckel stated: "During the past year, after much soul-searching, I came to the realization that it would be sensible to make the 2012-2013 season my last in the Emerson Quartet."

In addition to his duties with the Emerson Quartet, Mr. Finckel serves as the co-chair of Chamber Music at Lincoln Center, an annual concert series offering over 200 events a year at Lincoln Center. He shares the position with his wife, pianist Wu Han. The duo were named Musicians of the Year in the 2011 issue of Musical America. 

His replacement is Paul Watkins, a Welsh cellist who is currently music director of the English Chamber Orchestra. Mr. Watkins is an acclaimed recording artist in his own right, who is currently recording a survey of solo 'cello works by British composers.

Mr. Watkins said: "I am filled with joy and anticipation at the prospect of exploring this unparalleled repertoire with the members of this legendary quartet. I am also acutely conscious of the enormous contribution David Finckel has made, not only to the Emerson Quartet, but as an artistic leader of uncommon energy and vision. I will make every effort to honor his extraordinary legacy."

Mr. Finckel added: "My heart is warmed by the knowledge that Paul Watkins’ enormous gifts as a cellist and musician will fuel the Emerson’s onward journey with vibrant energy and fresh perspectives. I could not be happier to see him take my chair, nor can I wait to hear how marvelous the quartet will sound in its new incarnation."

Formed in 1976 and named in honor of the American poet Ralph Waldo Emerson, the Quartet emerged in the late 20th century as a potent voice in American chamber music. Its recorded achievements include complete cycles of the string quartets of Beethoven, Bartók and Shostakovich.

Concert Review: The Emersons' Endgame

At Mostly Mozart: Final quartets from four composers.

String theory: Philip Setzer, Eugene Drucker, Lawrence Dutton and David Finckel.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Emerson String Quartet. Photo from their website.

The Emerson String Quartet has reigned for three decades as one of the premium string quartets in chamber music. On Monday night at Alice Tully Hall, they cemented that reputation with a concert surveying the final string quartets by Haydn, Bartók and Schubert.


The ensemble also offered a pre-concert recital which deferred to the theme of the Mostly Mozart Festival. As a taster for a coming concert this fall, the Emersons played the third (and last) of Mozart's "Prussian" quartets. Although this piece was written in Mozart's last, difficult years, the writing sparkles with warmth and humanity. Part of this was because Mozart himself enjoyed playing the second violin or even viola, and thus wrote rich accompaniments to the upper melodic line.

Mozart's works in the genre are unparalleled for their warmth and invention. But when it comes to innovation, Haydn is the father of the string quartet. His 68th and last work in the genre is just two incomplete movements. It proved to be a good pairing with Bartók's last quartet, the Sixth. Pairing Haydn and Bartók is in vogue this year, and the Emersons made the most of the former's good humor and the latter's gloomy depths.


Written in the composer's difficult New York years, Bartók's last quartet is less spiky and dissonant than his earlier examples in the genre. But he still calls for unusual effects from the players: hard-plucked pizzicati, col legno (playing with the back of the bow) and guitar-like strumming from the violist. Each movement starts with a Mestó, a sad melody. The finale works out all of these lugubrious themes, ending in a heart-rending cry.

The formal program concluded with Schubert's 15th and last quartet. The Emersons played with an eye towards Schubert's expansive melodic ideas, particularly in the opening movement. (This theme might be familiar to Woody Allen fans: the director used in Crimes and Misdemeanors.)

The march-like adagio featured skilled glissando playing from the violins, and the fleet scherzo was taken at a scintillating pace. The Emersons dug into the descending main theme of the final movement with ith precision and rhythmic drive, showing almost telepathic communication as the navigated the rolling series of arpeggios.

The concert ended on a lovely note: the third of Dvořák's Cypresses, a series of songs that the composer transcribed for string quartet. Messrs. Finckel, Drucker, Dutton and Setzer played this last with longing and sweetness of tone.