Intimate Letters

"At every stage, these performances command attention and serve Janácek's highly personal agenda superbly. Quite rightly, the performers recognise the near-operatic quality of much of the writing, reaching an apogee of expressiveness in the finale of the Second Quartet. Martinu's Madrigals for violin and viola, played with a clear understanding of the lineage they bear with Janácek, make an excellent makeweight."
(BBC Music)

"The performances here have the sovereign control and the perfect weighting of each line in the musical argument that are the group's trademarks."
(The Guardian)

When the Emerson String Quartet releases an album, one's expectation of excellence isn't met - it's exceeded. The Emersons' way with Czech chamber music on this new recording further burnishes a lustrous reputation. The Emersons perform with the same benchmark intensity, integrity, energy, and commitment demonstrated since its formation in 1976. It now brings these qualities to the first two of Janácek's String Quartets and 3 Madrigals for violin and viola by Martinu. Intimate Letters (Quartet no. 2) is based on Janácek's letters to his muse, Kamila Stösslová, whom he promised that "our life is going to be in it".