47年の輝かしい活躍に幕を下ろす世界最高峰の四重奏団の偉業を称えるCD5枚組セット

2023年、最後のシーズンを迎えたアメリカのエマーソン弦楽四重奏団。1976年の結成以来グラミー賞を何度も受賞したこのアンサンブルは最も精力的で洗練された室内アンサンブルの一つとしてクラシック音楽界に君臨しました。今シーズンが終わりに近づくと、最後まで室内音楽の殿堂で高い地位に居続けたこの四重奏団の50年近くに及ぶキャリアも幕を下ろすことになります。彼らの輝かしい偉業を称え、ドイツ・グラモフォンからショスタコーヴィチの弦楽四重奏曲全集が新たにCD5枚組ボックス・セットとして発売されます。限定盤。
「これは、まさしく、21世紀のショスタコーヴィチ・チクルスだ」―『グラモフォン』誌
ユニバーサル・ミュージック/IMS

発売・販売元 提供資料 （2023/03/31）

If you like your Shostakovich quartets big, brawny, and a bit brutal, you'll like the Emerson Quartet's Shostakovich quartets. The Allegros are muscular, with sharp attacks, strong sforzandos, and relentless rhythms. The Passacaglias are powerful, with massive sonorities, monumental structures, and inexorable tempos. And the Allegrettos are aggressive, with ironic accents, sarcastic tones, and mordent tempos. If you like your Shostakovich quartets smooth, suave, and very soulful, you'll probably like the Emerson Quartet's Shostakovich quartets. The Andantes are tuneful, with long lines, supple harmonies, and warm colors. The Adagios are soaring, with arching themes, aching harmonies, and brilliant colors. And the Largos are penetrating, with expressive counterpoint, weighty sonorities, and burnished colors. If, however, you like your Shostakovich quartets straight, no ice, no chaser, you'll probably not like the Emerson Quartet's Shostakovich quartets. The Emerson seems unable to restrain itself and too often adds too much of itself to the scores. The rawness of the chords in the Fourth Quartet's opening movement? The Emerson's idea. The nostalgia of the tone in the Ninth Quartet's slow movement? The Emerson's notion. The sentimentality of the closing bars in the Fourteenth Quartet's finale? The Emerson's interpolation. For Shostakovich straight, try the Beethoven Quartet. It premiered almost all the quartets and learned their meaning from the composer. For Shostakovich plus, try the Emerson Quartet. DG's live sound is crisp, clean, deep, and detailed with the audience intruding only with energetic applause.

Rovi