{"id":7311,"date":"2012-02-13T22:55:01","date_gmt":"2012-02-14T06:55:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/?p=7311"},"modified":"2013-02-07T21:03:58","modified_gmt":"2013-02-08T05:03:58","slug":"wtf-david-finckel-to-leave-emerson-quartet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2012\/02\/13\/wtf-david-finckel-to-leave-emerson-quartet\/","title":{"rendered":"wtf? david finckel to leave emerson quartet"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"This is truly an end of an era. After 34 years (since 1979) with the Emerson Quartet, cellist David Finckel has announced that he is leaving the group at the close of the 2012-1013 season to pursue other artistic endeavors, reports<\/a> the New York Times. His replacement has been named, British<\/del>\u00a0Welsh cellist\/conductor Paul Watkins.<\/p>\n

UPDATE:<\/strong> Finckel writes on his blog<\/a>:<\/p>\n

During the past year, after much soul-searching, I came to the realization that it would be sensible to make the 2012-13 season my last in the Emerson Quartet.\u00a0 My colleagues of 33 years have been extremely understanding of my desire to pursue, with greater energy, my increasing number of performing, educational and presenting commitments that are independent of the quartet. My heart is warmed by the knowledge that Paul Watkins\u2019 enormous gifts as a cellist and musician will fuel the Emerson\u2019s onward journey with vibrant energy and fresh perspectives. I could not be happier to see him take my chair, nor can I wait to hear how marvelous the quartet will sound in its new incarnation. While I will forever treasure the rich network of friendships and experiences I have enjoyed as a member of the Emerson Quartet, I am equally excited for the opportunities which await me in the next chapter of my artistic and professional life.<\/p>\n

I owe the bulk of my musical education to the Emerson Quartet, not only through the experience of learning so many great works, but also from the quartet\u2019s rigorous pursuit of fidelity to each composer\u2019s style. The Emerson\u2019s unflagging commitment to a 100% effort for every performance, from big cities to small, remains for me the definitive example of being true to one\u2019s art. Each individual in the quartet has always sought a higher level from himself in each successive performance, an expectation which is palpable to audiences and, I believe, has created for the Emerson that sense of perpetual quest which has enticed presenters the world over to bring the quartet back again and again.<\/p>\n

The Emerson\u2019s idea to perpetuate itself \u2013 a decision that was made by Philip, Eugene and Larry \u2013I think is logical and tremendously exciting.\u00a0 It makes sense to view the work we have done over the last three decades as having significance and purpose larger than any of us as individuals.\u00a0 The Emerson\u2019s accomplishments can not only be celebrated, but built upon. With the help of new personnel equally committed to the ideals that has built the quartet\u2019s reputation, the quartet can be sustained and continue its artistic development.<\/p>\n

The principles of performance practice which we inherited from our mentors are responsible for the Emerson\u2019s successes across a wide range of music.\u00a0 I believe our adherence to those artistic values account for the quartet\u2019s appeal to the vast majority of listeners worldwide.\u00a0 Pursuing innovation while remaining faithful to the composer, and holding ourselves to the instrumental standards set by the greatest players of all time, constitutes the Emerson\u2019s artistic journey. It is a musical path with no end in sight.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is truly an end of an era. After 34 years (since 1979) with the Emerson Quartet, cellist David Finckel has announced that he is leaving the group at the close of the 2012-1013 season to pursue other artistic endeavors, reports the New York Times. His replacement has been named, British\u00a0Welsh cellist\/conductor Paul Watkins. UPDATE: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[153,136,503],"tags":[2712,2944,2943,2945],"class_list":["post-7311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cello","category-chamber-music","category-string-quartet","tag-cellist","tag-david-finckel","tag-emerson-quartet","tag-leaving"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-1TV","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":371,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/06\/21\/are-quartets-meant-to-stand\/","url_meta":{"origin":7311,"position":0},"title":"Are string quartets meant to stand?","author":"Charles Noble","date":"June 21, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"[Photo courtesy Chamber Music Northwest] I've been ruminating about my experience of watching the Emerson Quartet perform at Carnegie Hall a week ago today. I was telling a friend about the concert, and happened to note to her that the quartet now performs standing up (with the exception of cellist\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"emerson quartet","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/06\/emerson_wide_finale.thumbnail.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":360,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/06\/16\/david-letterman-cab-rides-and-the-nytimes\/","url_meta":{"origin":7311,"position":1},"title":"david letterman, cab rides, and the nytimes","author":"Charles Noble","date":"June 16, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Well, I'm back in Portland in one piece, which considering my day yesterday (Friday) is no small achievement! Aside from a ferry, the four days I was in New York involved traveling in most every other form of conveyance. I was transported in a jumbo jet, taxi, passenger van, bus\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"779664917_72eced2a23.jpg","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/07\/779664917_72eced2a23.thumbnail.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13800,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2015\/07\/21\/methow-preview-part-two\/","url_meta":{"origin":7311,"position":2},"title":"methow preview, part two","author":"Charles Noble","date":"July 21, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Another work (in fact, the first of the three)\u00a0that I'm performing at the Methow Valley Chamber Music Festival is Dvorak's great E-flat major Piano Quartet. If you're a cellist (as in the Schumann), you're loving this piece, especially the slow movement. Dvorak doesn't really get his due in the chamber\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "chamber music"","block_context":{"text":"chamber music","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/chamber-music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/p01bqhjb-e1437505221952.jpg?fit=500%2C281&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7513,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2012\/04\/20\/au-revoir-tokyo-quartet\/","url_meta":{"origin":7311,"position":3},"title":"au revoir, tokyo quartet","author":"Charles Noble","date":"April 20, 2012","format":"aside","excerpt":"It was just recently announced that the Tokyo Quartet will not continue on after this season, following the previously announced retirements of its two remaining founding members. It's the graceful way to go, with the quartet still near the top of its game, and without the tricky business of trying\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Tokyo String Quartett - Photo: Marco Borggreve","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/press-11628-599x833.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4121,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2010\/02\/26\/rip-david-soyer-longtime-cellist-of-guarneri-quartet\/","url_meta":{"origin":7311,"position":4},"title":"RIP – David Soyer, longtime cellist of Guarneri Quartet","author":"Charles Noble","date":"February 26, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Color photo: \u00a9 Peter Schaaf\/www.peterschaaf.com It was with great sadness that I learned of the passing of the great cellist David Soyer today, one day after his 87th birthday.\u00a0 He was the founding cellist of the legendary Guarneri Quartet, with which he played from 1964 to 2001.\u00a0 His former student\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "cello"","block_context":{"text":"cello","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/instruments\/cello\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/02\/38480-400x266.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7474,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2012\/04\/03\/full-emerson-quartet-concert-video\/","url_meta":{"origin":7311,"position":5},"title":"full emerson quartet concert video","author":"Charles Noble","date":"April 3, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I stumbled upon this concert video of the Emerson Quartet while randomly looking at videos on Vimeo.com. It's a great program (taped at Concordia Conservatory in New York City): Haydn's Op. 33 No. 3 \"The Bird\", Mendelssohn's great A minor, Op. 13 \"Ist es wahr?\", and Beethoven's Op. 59 No.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "soloists & recitals"","block_context":{"text":"soloists & recitals","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/soloists-recitals\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/303"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7311\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}