Emerson ...

Emerson ...

One of the great things about Goshen is Sauder Concert Hall. A world class venue attracts world class performers. Tonight it was the Emerson String Quartet.

I have at least one of their recordings - a couple of the Mozart quartets - and the recording is fantastic. But hearing and seeing them live is a completely different experience. They played Mozart, Bartok, Beethoven as well as a single-movement requiem by a 20th C Dutch Composer: Neilson. Their ensemble was outstanding: each voice distinct but integral to the whole. And the energy, especially for the Bartok, was palpable. Having heard the Academy of Ancient Music in a wholly Mozart concert last spring, I found the Mozart a tad heavier than I wanted. But they hit their stride with Neilson, and they didn't let up the rest of the night.

At intermission someone mentioned that the second violinist was playing a strad. I had been watching him during the first half of the concert and had been impressed with the beauty of his fiddle, and the how it carried itself with the rest of the group. In the second half, during Beethoven, he played the first violin part and - it wasn't just knowing it was a strad - the instrument really took off. It never dominated, but it had an undeniably sweet voice that wove through the other parts like the third chocolate in a triple chocolate cheese cake.

Of course these guys look so effortless.

For an encore they played a quartet arrangement of a Bach Chorale. I don't know what it was, but when they finished, unlike at the end of Beethoven when people lept to their feet and shouted 'bravo', there was a collective sigh.

What a satisfying night!