Shostakovich string quartets recommendation

Agree with Krisjan's assessment of the Emersons. They have no affinity for music.

I second the mention of the St. Lawrence recordings. Of the quartets that they have put on disc, they are my favorite versions, seemingly closest to heart of the music. I've seen them perform Shostakovich as well and I would enthusiastically recommend that all watch for the opportunity to see them.

"The Fitzwilliam is good but the sonics are dated."

I don't find anything to criticize about sonics of this set.

I'm hoping the Jerusalem Quartet does the whole cycle.

Birdies-- I too had the pleasure of seeing them live. They did the John Adams quartet dedicated to them and the Beethoven C# quartet as well as a Haydn quartet. I was disappointed that they did not do one of the Shostakovich quartets instead of the Haydn. The Beethoven and Adams were wonderful. I'd probably rather get my Haydn elsewhere though. On my way out, I heard one patron remark, "That concert was an assault on the senses." She got considerable support for her comment among other patrons. St. Lawrence is not for everyone.
I think the St. Lawrence style is perfect for Shostakovich. He was a man who lived in constant fear of Stalin's whimsical brutality. A man who smoked himself to death trying to cope with this never ending stress. A man who I think found an avenue for relatively free expression in his chamber works, which did not receive the same level of scrutiny that his symphonies and operas did. St. Lawrence just gets this music right.

I have the Borodin and Emerson. Agree with Krisjan in toto regarding Emerson. The best version I ever heard was of #8 being played by four high school students on a live radio broadcast from Atlanta, very raw, very wanton, and somehow what I felt Shostakovich must have intended.