One of the world’s most acclaimed chamber groups gives the festival a magnificent start. Winner of nine Grammys and three Gramophone Awards, the fabulous Emerson String Quartet performs two monuments of quartet literature, by Beethoven and Schubert, plus a fascinating piece that Benjamin Britten composed in tribute to Henry Purcell. “The performances were everything we have come to expect from this superb ensemble: technically resourceful, musically insightful, cohesive, full of character and always interesting.” – New York Times