"For nearly 40 years, the Emerson String Quartet has commanded a certain reverence from music lovers. Its polished and authoritative performances, its comprehensive and mighty discography, its fearless embrace of the new and unusual as well as the classics — all have placed this string quartet high in the pantheon of chamber music." — Seattle Times
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“The group remains one of our best chamber ensembles, not merely precise but expressive and intelligent to the last ounce.” — OC Register
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"Their revelatory account of Beethoven's Op. 131 at Lincoln Hall embraced the music's strangeness with warmth and humanity." — The Oregonian
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“Let’s make one thing perfectly clear: The “old” Emerson String Quartet never phoned one in. But this new group — Mr. Watkins alongside the violinists Eugene Drucker and Philip Setzer, and the violist Lawrence Dutton — complemented their customary power, finesse and unanimity with a fresh, palpable vigor at Tully, and it was electrifying.” — The New York Times
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"... with musicians like this there must be some hope for humanity."
— The Times (London)
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"The performances were everything we have come to expect from this superb ensemble: technically resourceful, musically insightful, cohesive, full of character and always interesting."
— The New York Times
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"Few string quartets have regularly displayed such individuality among members -- an ideal stance for coloring and differentiating the complex strands of the fugues."
— The Philadelphia Inquirer
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"The precision and grace with which the ensemble dispatched the opening of the final movement was breathtaking, and by the adrenaline-pumping coda it was difficult to sit still."
— Andante.com
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"The Emerson has staked its claim to being the one indispensable quartet in a world that is constantly creating more, excellent ensembles."
— Newsday
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"These are high-powered performances with at times terrifying attack and explosive accenting...they are mightily impressive."
— Gramophone
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"...the Emerson played with vigor and style ...infusing the familiar music with energy and transparency."
— Houston Chronicle
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"The Emerson String Quartet...has the easy virtuosity, precise sense of ensemble, rhythmic vigor and rich polished tone..."
— The Washington Post
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"The Emerson performances represented an extraordinary fusion of experience and authority with audacity and freshness."
— The Boston Globe
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"The Emerson is one of the most impressive of American string quartets."
— The New York Times
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"I very much doubt whether Haydn ever heard his music sound like this; and if that is so, then I think it was a deprivation much to be regretted on his behalf."
— Fanfare
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