Emerson String Quartet, 2023 (from left): cellist Paul Watkins, violinists Eugene Drucker and Philip Setzer, violist Lawrence Dutton. Jurgen Frank photograph
By Keith Powers
Emerson String Quartet, Jan. 22, Jordan Hall
There really is only one subject possible in chamber music this week: the Emerson String Quartet. With the narrow aims and limited space of this column, it would be inappropriate to ask the group for comments on its farewell tour, which comes to Jordan Hall thanks to the Celebrity Series on Jan. 22.
So let’s just say thanks, and get there if you can. The program streams for a week as well, so there no excuse for missing this set: Bartok 2, Walker Lyric for Strings, Shostakovich 12, Beethoven second Razumovsky. Going out with a bang.
Emerson String Quartet formed out of Juilliard, in 1976. Original members were violinists Eugene Drucker and Philip Setzer, violist Guillermo Figueroa, Jr. and cellist Eric Wilson. The fiddlers remain, with longtime violist Lawrence Dutton. Cellist Paul Watkins replaced David Finckel in 2013.
I won’t bore anyone with Emerson memories. I believe they were one of the first groups to alternate violin chairs, but there were undoubtedly predecessors. The Emersons seem to me the quartet of my generation, nobly representing the repertory in the manner of the Budapest, or Borodin. Overlapping with equally prolific ensembles like Juilliard, Tokyo and Guarneri, the late century quartet repertory was in good hands.
“Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events.”
Emerson String Quartet, on its farewell tour, comes to Jordan Hall as part of the Celebrity Series, Jan. 22. Program streams as well, beginning Jan. 24.
Chamber Music Events, Jan. 19–29
Opera Bites. Bite-sized, that is. Eight short works, mostly commissions, show that the Boston Opera Collaborative is going strong. At Longy’s Pickman Hall, Jan. 19, 20, 21. Daniel Pinkham’s centennial gets celebrated at King’s Chapel on Sunday afternoon, Jan. 22. Heinrich Christensen directs the King’s Chapel Choir and a small ensemble in works by Pinkham and friends. “Singer’s Choice” with Cappella Clausura includes works by Van Ness, Thomas, Tann, Clarke, Frank and others Jan. 21 at War Memorial Auditorium in Newton and Jan. 22 at Emmanuel Church. A tribute to Robert Burns features the Concordia Consort at King’s Chapel, Tuesday noon, Jan. 24.
The Danish String Quartet includes Haydn Op. 20, no. 3, and Shostakovich 7 along with Nordic folk arrangements Jan. 27 at Jordan Hall, part of the Celebrity Series. Countertenor and cornettist Michael Collver joins Music for Viols & Friends on Friday, Jan. 27 at First Church in Cambridge for Spanish Renaissance works. Program repeats Jan. 29 at Somerville Museum.
“Clockworks” program at BoCo Jan. 28 looks interesting: Hinge Ensemble (electric guitar, piano, sax, perc) explores Czernowin, Young, Spiegel, Cox and Andriessen. Same program the night before in Providence’s Music Mansion. The Celebrity Series hosts Branford Marsalis and his quartet at the Berklee Performance Center on Jan. 28.
Arneis Quartet plays at First Church Boston on Jan. 29, music of Bailey-Holland, Prokofiev, Schulhoff and Lerdahl, joined by a quartet of guests as well (winds and bass). The first New Gallery Concert Series event of the year, Jan. 29, Zooms. Entitled “Begin There,” the NewGal program includes scads of great performers and composers, including Curtis Hughes (world premiere of TULPA).
How many musicians does it take to perform a trio sonata? Ah, trick question. H&H sends a notable ensemble (Nosky, Fishman, Watson, Martinson) to the Gardner Jan. 29 for trio sonatas by Purcell, Handel and Bach. Looks like the same program on Friday 27th, if you’re near the Endicott College neighborhood in Beverly.
Another great program, also North Shore: Harlem Quartet plays Bolcom, López-Gavilán, Gillespie and Debussy on Jan. 29 in Rockport Music’s Shalin Liu Performance Center. Cherry Street Players feature director/cellist Allison-Yoshie Eldredge and pianist Max Levinson Jan. 29 in West Newton.
The Cape Cod Chamber Orchestra plays quartets, trios and duos Jan. 29 in Yarmouth Port, with a wind and string ensemble performing Dohnanyi, Ibert, Elizondo, Beethoven and Mozart.