The Complete String Quartets / Octet op. 20

MUSICWEB RECORDINGS OF THE YEAR (2005)

Grammy Award Finalist - Best Classical Recording 2006

"This highly praised four disc set of the complete Mendelssohn String Quartets from the Emerson Quartet is included in my 'Records of the Year' not for the String Quartets, as good as they are, but for the wonderful account of Mendelssohn's Octet for Strings. The Emersons with the assistance of recording studio technology decided to record the Octet themselves, rather than engage four additional players.

The Emersons have provided a very special interpretation of the Octet that made me sit up and take notice. The gently lyrical andante is so full of passion that I found it so overwhelming that it sent a wave of shivers down my spine. Make no mistake, this is no coiffeured performance from the Emersons, but a highly electrifying and beguiling musical experience. Other recordings of this wonderful score have never previously engendered that special feeling of awe and total involvement as conveyed here by the Emersons, who penetrate deeply into the heart of the score.

This recording of the Octet is not available separately and the complete four disc set of String Quartets, which has won considerable acclaim, has to be purchased. The Emersons are now my leading recommendation in this Mendelssohn masterwork. Simply superb!"
(MusicWeb)

2004 was a great year for the Emerson Quartet. Sold-out concerts, rave reviews and excellent CD sales apart, they were recipients of the prestigious Avery Fisher Prize in April (bestowed by New York's Lincoln Center), the first ensemble, as opposed to solo artists, to be given this great honour.

Today the Emerson Quartet's exclusive recording catalogue on DG covers music from Bach to Edgar Meyer, and they have won numerous prestigious awards, including six Grammys and two Gramophone Record of the Year awards.

Now they return with a big 4-CD set, this time the complete Mendelssohn quartets. Like their Beethoven and Shostakovich complete cycles of 1997 and 2000 respectively, here is a set of recordings that will set new standards.

The Mendelssohn quartets - seven in all, plus individual movements - form an immensely engaging and exhilarating body of work. They range from the passionate utterances of the young composer (opp. 12 & 13) to the anguished outburst of a man devastated by the death of his beloved sister (F minor, op. 80). In between there are the chamber-music equivalents of works like the famous Italian Symphony (the D major op. 44 no. 1)

On the special bonus CD that comes in the package there's an absolute treat: the Emerson's recording of Mendelssohn's delightful Octet, a work brimming with energy and lyricism. How do four players play eight parts? Find out on the CD-R track, "Recording the Octet", a witty and enlightening eleven-minute documentary of eight Emersons in action - also included on the bonus CD.