Let me set the scene: four
dinner-jacket-clad musicians walk on to the
stage and stand in place - the cellist alone
sits between the violins and viola. With less
decorum, however, second violinist Eugene
Drucker gives the still-fidgeting audience
little warning as he plunges into an awkwardly-fingered
solo line that defies all melodic logic with
its clumsy string-crossings.
But this hitch was forgotten
as soon as the Emerson Quartet’s full capacity
took the reigns with a brilliant and sophisticated
execution of these selected movements from
Bach’s contrapuntal masterpiece. The sweet
maturity of the Emerson sound was strikingly
beautiful. Moreover, a tempered collaboration
of technical consistency and musical homogeneity
made a perfect ally for a composition that
was probably designed for pedagogical and
intellectual contemplation at the keyboard.
The Emerson Quartet made
good sense of the increasingly-complicated
constructions in ‘The Art of Fugue’. That
the instrumental differentiation within the
quartet itself catered for the separate voices
was understood by the Emersons who did well
not to stoop to vulgar characterisations.
A clear and confident pulse that anchored
the intricate musical language was the natural
consequence of the Emerson's fundamental accuracy
and integrity of tempi and dynamic choices.
First violinist Philip Setzer
and violist Lawrence Dutton played particularly
well. Setzer was possibly the most confident
performer on stage but it was Dutton’s untiring
energy and passion that injected real vibrancy.
How appropriate that the lively Dutton should
round off this unfinished contrapuntal tour
de force with a sudden break where Bach began
to use an energetic theme based on his own
name!
In common Emerson practice,
the violinists swapped seats for the Beethoven
so that Drucker was now leading. I did wonder
at this choice as it was quite clear from
the Bach that Setzer was the more secure player.
The opening of the Beethoven
was impeccably delivered – the bright, crisp
sonority was quite a startling departure from
the more mellow and muted Bach. After such
an impressive start there were less glorious
moments of dubious intonation and uncommitted
sounds from the cello, but the general richness
of vibrato and tone quality outshone any discrepancies.
The second movement Andante
con moto ma non troppo was certainly one
of the highlights of this colourful performance:
a flexible and yet controlled rendition brought
out a delightful transparency and playful
nostalgia that sounded almost Mahlerian at
times.
And what a finale! Beethoven's
notorious ‘Great Fugue’ stood as the barbaric
heavyweight piece to answer to Bach’s fugal
offering. Once again, the Emerson Quartet
captured the essence: for the first time during
the concert there was real sense of instability
and danger. These episodes of violence were
interjected with passages of calm which momentarily
allayed the fear of total chaos and destruction.
The viola contributed a powerfully grounding
presence that made some sense of what the
Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung reviewer
at the 1826 premiere called a "Babylonian
confusion"!
The Emerson Quartet was received
with a standing ovation. In return for the
generous reception, Setzer announced an encore
– albeit in muted tones, hence my questionable
paraphrasing: "…a chorale by Bach…so
beautiful we’d like to play, even though…not
a suitable ending". This meditative antidote
to the mayhem of the ‘Great Fugue’ was a welcome
relief and went some way towards calming the
excited audience members not to mention curbing
their desires for a second encore.
Aline Nassif
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