Shoegazing with the Emersons

I’m afraid “wall of sound” may not be a musical term of endearment these days, given that the creator of this wailing electronic reverberation, Phil Spector, hasn’t the most sterling reputation after his recent murder trial. But as far as I know, “shoegazing,” which is what the British press liked to call ‘80s alternative pop with its fuzzy distortions, is still OK.

So “shoegazing at the Samueli” it will be to describe the Emerson Quartet’s appearance Thursday night at the 350-seat chamber music theater attached to the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall in Orange County. Which is not to say that this wasn’t a highly distinguished concert or that the Emersons don’t deserve a reputation as the leading mainstream American string quartet.

The program was somber, weighty, long and loud. The Emersons essayed major, grim 20th century string quartets by Shostakovich and Bartok; a stunning, if even gloomier, new work by Kaija Saariaho; and Brahms’ massive Piano Quintet in F Minor, with Leon Fleisher as guest pianist. The evening’s tone matched the environment well. At dusk, a red full moon made the site feel as though it were the Blood Orange County Performing Artscenter.

To hear the Emersons up close and in your face at the acoustically voluble and intimate Samueli rather than in the much larger kind of concert venues where they typically appear is a rare and special thing. And for the first half of the program, the ensemble made a powerful show of its intensity.

Shostakovich’s Fourth String Quartet, written in 1949, is said to represent the fallout of postwar Soviet oppression. Shostakovich was in a Jewish period, supposedly attracted to Jewish music because it symbolized the sad yet vibrant voice of an oppressed people.

Bartok’s Third Quartet, from 1927, is short, concise, abstract but full of the eerie, squealing sounds of the night.

In between came Saariaho’s “Terra Memoria,” the first string quartet in 20 years by the Finnish composer. Dedicated to “those departed,” it was written for the Emersons, who premiered the score in June at Carnegie Hall. Saariaho won’t tie down feelings as specifically as Shostakovich. She doesn’t reproduce nature nearly as distinctly as Bartok. Rather she smears emotions, and her idea of the Earth is a place forever shifting under your feet.

Harmony in Saariaho is not as specific as in Shostakovich or Bartok. Her chords are of tones not so much sounding together as smashed together, and from the collision come sonic emissions. The effects can be quite beautiful, but they still disturb. The collisions are the terra not-quite-firma. The radiations with their strange, riveting textures and colors are the memories, the sounds, of souls hard to define.

Shostakovich and Bartok got the usual Emerson treatment: plush sonorities and plenty of power in reserve. In the Saariaho, the ensemble was a sensation, especially in producing the thick, radioactive glow of her more complex resonances.

The Emersons are also perfect for Brahms, and they have recently released a very fine recording of the composer’s three string quartets along with the Piano Quintet, also with Fleisher.

Half a century ago, as a young American with the promise of a spectacular career, Fleisher made a series of great Brahms recordings that are now classics. Paralysis in two fingers in his right hand forced him, in 1965, to rely on only left-hand repertory, teaching and conducting.

In recent years, he has regained the use of his right hand, been the subject of a documentary film nominated for an Academy Award, recorded a bestselling solo CD and become something of a legend in his own time.

I wish there were a happy ending to this story, but the Brahms Quintet on Thursday was a plodding shoegazing affair. Fleisher now plays with a physical effort that can result in pounding. The Emersons didn’t help by exaggerating their own sound, proving you don’t need amplification to produce acoustical distortion and even the effect of wah-wah pedals -- just add too much vibrato, too much pressure on the strings and some problems with intonation.

The encore was the slow movement of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 12 in its version for string quartet and piano.

mark.swed@latimes.com