Emerson string quartet brings fame to Finney

The grammy-winning chamber group performs at Oberlin to an appreciative audience

Lately everyone seems to be saying that the Emerson quartet is definitively "the best in the world." This is not an unfounded claim. The quartet has been awarded the Grammy for Best Classical Album and Gramophone magazine's Record of the Year award. They were the first chamber group to receive either. Last weekend Oberlin got its chance to hear the renowned quartet and to decide if it merits the title. Playing a program of Schubert, Rorem and Dvorák, the Emerson quartet seemed to make quite an impression.

Philip Setzer owns one of those fabulous instruments that need no introduction: it's a Strad, a good one and he's not ashamed to play it as such. Playing first violin in the Schubert (and second thereafter), he pulled from those strings such gorgeous and awe-inspiring sounds such as I doubt Finney Chapel will soon again hear.

Although played a bit slower than often heard, the Schubert, in such talented hands, flowed beautifully, giving the audience ample space to revel in the decadent warmth of the ensemble, highlighted by Setzer's sensually intelligent renderings of Schubert's lyricism.

Ned Rorem's String Quartet No. 4 was commissioned in 1994 for the Emerson quartet by the South Mountain Association as the latest in the group's impressive repertoire of contemporary works. The 10-movement work is the result of Rorem trying his able hand at a sonic interpretation of 10 of the better known of Picasso's paintings. The dark, post-modern rendering proves an excellent vehicle for showcasing the Emerson quartet's incredible range of emotion and sound. The 10 movements create moods ranging from ethereal and introspective to raging and belligerent. Indeed, in his program notes for the work, Rorem cites his marking for the eighth movement, Self Portrait, "with horror and indifference" as relevant to the entire piece.

The quartet rose to the task, delivering a performance of enormous technical proficiency while creating a stunning aural landscape. The players' broad understanding of the piece left the listeners with a piquant, engaging reading that expressed Rorem's musical intelligence with fiery passion and acute sensitivity.

Dvorák's Opus 105 is very much in the core of his style - broad, texturally thick and cheerful without lacking darker sentiments. As a result, it poses quite a challenge to the performers: to effect an energetic, engaging sound while avoiding tiresome loudness, to maintain the correct contrapuntal density without inhibiting clarity or compromising the independence of each part, and to serve Dvorák's mood without lapsing into giddiness or losing control.

The Emerson quartet delivered, as expected. One of the great gifts of this quartet is its mastery of the process of assigning weight to lines and letting melodies sing over a subdued but not muted accompaniment. This mastery allows a much more listenable performance of works in this "thick" genre.

The variation in mood and sound perhaps lagged behind perfection, but the blame here seems to rest as much with the composer. However, the implicit and indispensable Bohemian optimism that makes Dvorák's music such a joy radiated from the performance.

Their point was made, and the audience responded with a standing ovation, calling the quartet back for two encores. Both were hearty performances of movements from Beethoven quartets. After the first encore, the Presto from Opus 130, the audience applauded even more than before, prompting the players to continue with the last movement of Opus 59, number 3. Both piqued general interest in the quartet's approach to Beethoven - and should buffer sales of the group's Beethoven cycle when it is released.

The enthusiasm surrounding the Emerson quartet's visit to Oberlin was immense - the performance was very near the top of the short list of candidates for Musical Event of the Year. They certainly fulfilled the high expectations as to their technical perfection and seamless ensemble. But ultimately, the magic the group creates lies in the consuming musicianship of each member, and in the encompassing integration they have attained. This and the penetrating intelligence and sensitivity they bring to bear almost make "the best in the world" sound too trite.