Emerson is my go to quartet. I like their sweet, spicy sound. The downside is that they favor quicker tempi and usually I favor broader tempi. On the rare occasion they do slow down (i.e. Brahms piano quintet in F minor or Beethoven's op. 132 in A minor) the results can be spectacular. I like Shostakovich's music: the symphonies of course, but the piano music as well. I had an old cut-out CD of the Borodin quartet performing quartets no. 7 and 8 which inspired a search for Emerson and Shostakovich. So, here I am!And I like this music too! Only 5 of the 15 are in the minor. The music might not be as dark as I contemplated, but it can be strong and hard. Shostakovich had a gift of melody that many of his contemporaries lacked. But, make no mistake, there's plenty of darkness. There's plenty of great music here, though not all of it is great quartet music. As an example: the last quartet no. 15 in E flat minor consists of 5 adagio's. Nothing else. Is it even a quartet? I do like no. 15 though and yes, that's a dark one.As far as these performances go, I like what I hear, but have little to compare them to.Some of the quartets include audience applause at conclusion. Yes, I get that Emerson is playing this difficult music live. Gratefully, applause isn't included after every quartet. Each CD is wrapped in a sealed envelope. I've never seen this before. It doesn't do anything for me, and I don't understand if it does anything for the manufacturer.But, these are quibbles. I'm definitely glad I made this purchase!