John Pitman's CD Reviews
Eugene Drucker and Emerson Quartet’s 40th anniversary Limited Edition Set
One of the greatest quartets in the world today, Emerson String Quartet has been making great music together for 40 years. They’ve been celebrating this year with concerts around Europe and the United States, and were here in Portland with the summertime Chamber Music Northwest Festival, and their old friend, artistic director and clarinetist, David Shifrin (who appears in this set playing Mozart and Brahms).
Violinist Eugene Drucker is my guest in this conversation about the quartet’s origins, their Juilliard training (with, naturally, the Juilliard Quartet), Mr. Drucker’s own personal association with the Busch Quartet (regarded by many musicians as possibly the greatest string quartet of all time), as well as the group’s decision early on to share first violin duties (hint: it’s not about sharing the spotlight). The 52-CD set is a gem: from their earliest (1987) recordings, to a collaboration with soprano Renée Fleming, the multiple-Grammy winning Emerson String Quartet continues to delight and inspire people around the world, and clearly have much more to say, and to share.
Emerson String Quartet: Complete Recordings on Deutsche Grammophon
Buy Now