America's
Emerson String Quartet keeps getting better and better in deeper repertoire. Three years after its 2006 disc of romantic Scandinavian quartets by
Sibelius,
Nielsen, and
Grieg, it released a disc of modernist Czech chamber music by
Janácek and
Martinu, the former's two string quartets and the latter's three madrigals for violin and viola. As before, the results are superb, and as befits
Janácek's extremely passionate music, the performances are tonally voluptuous and expressively intense. The
Emerson's first quartet is emotionally volatile and relentlessly driven, but the ensemble is together at all times. The second quartet is mellower in tone much of the time, but the
Emerson's concentration never lets up and when the closing movement explodes, the effect is shocking. Violinist
Philip Setzer and violist
Lawrence Dutton make the most of
Martinu's madrigals' heightened lyricism and effervescent rhythms and create performances of such ineffable beauty that they may bring these lesser known works to a larger audience. It may even be possible that the
Emerson may tackle
Martinu's seven quartets, or so fans of the composer may hope. As always for this group, Deutsche Grammophon's digital sound is cool, clear, and immediate.