An inspired follow-up to its recording of Bach's Die Kunst der Fuge, the
Emerson Quartet's disc of fugues for four and five voices from Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier is simply superb. These 21 arrangements (all by either Emanuel Aloys Förster or Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart), present Bach's music with a surprising ease and naturalness. Bach's highly contrapuntal music sounds very appropriate played on melodic instruments, and taking the fugues out of their original contexts makes them sound new and fresh. The skillful
Emerson players make all of it sound strong and idiomatic. With the addition of violinist Da-Hong Seetoo in the two five-voice fugues while regular violinist
Eugene Drucker moves over to second viola, these performances deserve to be heard by Bach devotees, as well as fans of the ensemble. Deutsche Grammophon's digital sound is clear, warm, and smooth.