Emerson Encores

Emerson String Quartet (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 10, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Deutsche Grammophon
• ASIN: B00006AKUX
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #142,051 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Marketing Coup: Sweet but Slick, October 20, 2003

By 

JMB1014 "JMB1014" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Emerson Encores (Audio CD)

The Emerson Quartet, commendably, likes to offer albums introducing listeners to the quartet literature. Their "key" to the Beethoven quartets, featuring movements from several of the 16, is one such album. This disc, by contrast, displays a wide variety of music composed for string quartet, from Haydn to Puccini, Shostakovitch and Webern. It is a delightfully diverse collection, offering grace, wit, beauty and passion. The sound is rich and excellent, making the album a pleasure to own. Why only 4 stars then? The Emerson is, if anything, a bit too slick, too facile and even cute. They are a string quartet in leather baseball caps and gleaming new SUV's, boasting of their vacation in Tuscany and reflecting much that is smug, trendy, and ultimately, superficial. There is plenty to admire in their technical prowess, and, granted, these pieces are labeled "encores," but it is still painful to hear Beethoven dashed off as if the point were simply to see how fast it can be played. The Emerson plays well, but will not be known for the kind of thoughtfulness, let alone richness of insight, much of the literature - and many of its adherents - demand. Indeed, some of the lengthier or calmer movements can sound, frankly, tedious. I am grateful to the Emerson for giving me a rollicking good time with pieces like Wolf's "Italian Serenade," but they are far from being my choice for Beethoven's middle, let alone late quartets, for instance, or for Janacek, Schubert or Sibelius.

9 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Color of sounds, February 17, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Emerson Encores (Audio CD)

This disks offers those who are beggining to hear music through this difficult medium (the string quartett), a very varied selection of some of the best music written for this medium, some recommendations would be the Beethoven, the Shostakovich, the Debussy, etc. The Emerson Quartett leaves you very satisfied with this selections. Some rarities you can find in this disk is Samuel Barber's "Adagio for Strings" in its original conception and also Puccini's "Chrisantemo" which is a very nice arrangement. This disk is a must be for anyone who is beggining to explore the so-called "pure music": the string quartett.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun, December 8, 2005

By 

R. Albin (Ann Arbor, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Emerson Encores (Audio CD)

This is a very enjoyable CD from the excellent Emerson Quartet. They have separately recorded their encore pieces, a nice variety of the quartet literature. The choices comprise a broad variety of the quartet literature, all performed beautifully. Certainly not a substitute for listening to the complete pieces but well worth owning.