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Name: Jeff Huntington
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Date: Wednesday, July 10, 2002 at 14:51:47
Text: Following their grammy-winning recording, the Emerson Quartet has taken #15 on tour, even performing it on the same program as #14. Sometimes this works very well (they interpose Haydn Op.54.1 between the two grim quartets and play the hymn from Beethoven's Op.135 as an encore), but in some venues critics report that it has fallen flat. (The outdoor performance at the 2002 Ojai festival made the Wall Street Journal.) Perhaps presenters do not give enough attention to the suitability of the space and the mood and background of the audience? We would like to believe that great works and great artists will prevail in any setting, but in truth, it may be no favor to the music to perform to an unwilling audience in an acoustically poor space. Should artists do it anyway, just to shake up the audience?

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