Tchaikovsky: Souvenir de Florence, Op. 70

This is the first time the quartet ever recorded a work by Arnold Schoenberg.

It is also the first time in almost 30 years they have recorded a work by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky; they have never recorded "Souvenir de Florence".

“The repertoire selection is simple but evocative:

‘Verklärte Nacht’ is a journey of love and forgiveness, where moonlight shimmers to light and helps transfigure the night”

‘Souvenir de Florence’ is a work of uncommon beauty and excitement, but also of darkness lying beneath its often bright surface” (Phil Setzer)

The album was recorded in September 2012 in LeFrak Auditorium at Queen's College in New York City, with the same producer/engineer that the quartet has worked with for the past 14 years, Da-Hong Seetoo.

International release is scheduled for May 2013 to coincide with a concerts featuring the CD’s programme, at Carnegie Hall in New York. The cover is part of a picture painted by the quartet's violinist Phil Setzer's daughter. The Emerson String Quartet stands alone in the history of string quartets with an incomparable list of achievements over three decades: nine Grammy® Awards (including two for Best Classical Album, an unprecedented honor for a chamber music group); three Gramophone Awards; the coveted Avery Fisher Prize and an international reputation for groundbreaking chamber music projects including cycles of the complete Beethoven, Bartók, Mendelssohn and Shostakovich string quartets in the world's musical capitals.

The Quartet has collaborated in concerts and on recordings with some of the greatest artists of our time. After 36 years of extensive touring, the Emerson Quartet continues to perform with the same benchmark integrity, energy and commitment that it has demonstrated since it was formed in 1976.

When reading about Sarah Nemtanu’s many musical accomplishments in 2012, it is hard to believe that she is only 31 years old. At the age of 21 she became the joint leader and violin soloist of the Orchestre National de France, and in 2007 she won the French classical music industry’s Instrumental Soloist Revelation award. In 2009 she was the ‘real’ violinist in Radu Mihaileanu’s film 'Le Concert'.

"This is one of my favourite works. The effect it had on me the first time I heard it was almost magical! I sensed I shouldn’t play it too soon; I preferred to save it for a special occasion...The special occasion has occurred. The gifted filmmaker Radu Mihaileanu was able to make the concerto his own through the sincere images and magnificent story of the film 'Le Concert', for which I had the pleasure of advising and doubling the actress Mélanie Laurent.

Mihaileanu’s favourite version for the lengthy final scene was a David Oistrakh recording with the Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Eugene Ormandy. I had to adapt my tempi to theirs for the film, but what a pleasure it was to follow this marvellous violinist’s lead – as far as I’m concerned, he is the greatest of them all!

After 'Le Concert' was released, and although I could have taken advantage of the film’s reputation to help my own cause, I didn’t want to record the concerto. I took the time to create my own personal rendition. As chance (or magic. . .) would have it, the concert we recorded took place on 25 April last with the Orchestre National de France conducted by Kurt Masur at the Théâtre du Châtelet." Sarah Nemtanu

Tchaikovsky’s virtuoso string sextet ‘Souvenir de Florence’ is one of the most popular works in the string chamber music repertoire. It has been recorded here with Arensky’s Quartet Op 35 which was dedicated to the memory of Tchaikovsky.