Janacek - String Quartet Nos. 1 & 2
Martinu - Three Madrigals for Violin & Viola
Emerson String Quartet
DG 477 8093

Release date April 2009

The Emerson String Quartet have performed Janá?ek’s two string quartets several times throughout their career, yet this is their first recording of the quartets. String Quartet no. 1, “The Kreutzer Sonata” opens the disc. The strength of emotion and sound that the Emersons can be relied upon to bring to their performances is immediately present in this quartet. Martin?’s Three Madrigals for Violin and Viola are an interlude between the Janá?ek quartets and make this disc all the more special for its inclusion. The Madrigals were new to me and became more and more addictive as they developed – I was left in awe that just two instruments could create such a rich and varied texture. Each madrigal takes on a different form: a complicated and spiky two-part invention, a slow and shimmery fantasia, ending with a jaunty dance-like finale. This Allegro finale has a cheekiness to it, combining moments of triumph with quirky harmony, almost as though the violin and viola are teasing each other! Janá?ek’s String Quartet no. 2, “Intimate Letters”, such a powerful work (written to express his somewhat obsessive one-sided love for Kamila Stosslova), here left me feeling utterly engulfed by the music. The whole disc sounds as though the instruments have been closely recorded, creating a sense of the quartet playing immediately in front of you. The resulting intensity suits the music well - the Emersons themselves believe that “[If] Janá?ek makes a quartet sound like an orchestra, Martin? makes two instruments sound like a quartet”. This recording easily matches their belief, making the disc a must for all Janá?ek and chamber music lovers alike!

Reviewed by Ruth Squire