Renée Fleming and friends bid adieu to the Emerson String Quartet

By Sam Jacobson, 18 October 2023

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“balance and control were absolute, the fruits of nearly half a century”

Reviewed at Severance Music Center: Mandel Concert Hall, Cleveland on 15 October 2023

Glass, Étude no. 6

Beethoven, String Quartet no. 14 in C sharp minor, Op.131

Previn, Penelope

Renée Fleming, Soprano

Merle Dandridge, Narrator

Emerson String Quartet

Simone Dinnerstein, Piano

The Emerson Quartet begins its last series at Lincoln Center

Edward Sava-Segal, 23rd April

In the first leg of a chronological traversal of the string quartet repertoire, the Emersons were on top form.

****1

The Emerson Quartet bid a bleak farewell to London

Stephen Pritchard, 9th November

An elegiac farewell as the Emerson String Quartet – retiring next year – close their Shostakovich cycle at the Southbank Centre.

*****

The shadows of this life: the Emerson Quartet on tour in Sydney

Zoltán Szabó, 7th September

A disappointing outing for the Emerson String Quartet in the first Sydney concert of their eight-city tour of Australia.

**111

White-hot intensity from the Emerson Quartet at Milton Court

Mark Pullinger, 8th November

From the claustrophobic intensity of Britten and Shostakovich to the sunny balm of Beethoven, this was an excellent recital.

****1

Evgeny Kissin and the Emerson Quartet at Carnegie Hall

Edward Sava-Segal, 27th April

There was a palpable sense of communion during a performance bringing these great musicians together at Carnegie Hall for the first time.

****1

At Tanglewood, a weak contextualization of Shostakovich

Edward Sava-Segal, 19th July

Linking Shostakovich and Chekhov, a full of good intentions performance at Tanglewood, was marred by a shaky mise en scène.

***11

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Sam Jacobson

Sam Jacobson has been writing for Bachtrack since 2015 and is currently in Pittsburgh, having previously lived throughout the Midwest. A keen traveler, he endeavors to see all the great orchestras and opera houses across the US and abroad. Outside of music, he works as a software engineer. He also maintains a blog which can be read here.