In a catalogue flooded with realizations of "The Art of Fugue" on every keyboard instrument and for every other ensemble imaginable, including saxophone quartet, did we really need another string quartet version? For myself, I will be sending my other string quartet recordings of these pieces to the resale bin. The Emersons bring to this music, as they bring to Beethoven, Shostakovich, Webern, and Bartók (or anything else they touch), a quality in which they really do exceed the possible sum of their parts: impeccable technical skills, agile intelligence, warm heart, infectious energy, and a breathtaking sense of ensemble. Each individual voice breathes with an independence rarely achieved in performance of this work, and yet each seems somehow utterly inseparable from the others. Definitely a performance to shelve with the keepers - just like any other recording by this remarkable band of musical brothers.