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FINE ARTS QUARTET REVIEWS | ||
 Beethoven: String Quintets- Naxos CD 8.572221  "The Fine Arts Quartet delivers a strongly commited performance of this work [the C major String Quintet], supported by a beautifully balanced but clear recording...They are particularly admirable in the finale, relishing the music's sudden bursts of aggression as well as its moments of outrageous humour" (Erik Levi, BBC Music Magazine, August 2010) "A Rare Beethoven Masterwork...Lovers of Beethoven and of music slightly off the beaten track will enjoy getting to know Beethoven's lovely and unjustly neglected opus 29 String Quintet in C beautifully performed by the Fine Arts Quartet and Gil Sharon." (Robin Friedman, Amazon.com, 9 July, 2010) Full review "It is throughout a most pleasurable release." (David Denton, David's Review Corner, June 2010) Full Review  Franck: String Quartet and Piano Quintet - Naxos CD 8.572009 "**** César Francks Streichquartett und sein Klavierquintett zählen zu den großen Werken der Kammermusik im 19. Jahrhundert. Sie sind auf dieser CD in einen recht leidenschaftlichen und kraftvollen, in den Tempi aber (abgesehen vom langsamen Satz des Quintetts) dennoch eher gemäßigten Interpretation zu hören. Der Klang ist gut ausbalanciert, die Farben sind leuchtend, und so kann man diese CD nur empfehlen." (Norbert Tischer, Pizzicato, 04/2010) Full Review "La agrupación Fine Arst Quartet fue fundada en Chicago en 1946, habiendo realizado un buen número de grabaciones y de giras por todo el mundo. El grupo se muestra sólido, resuelto y con una elegante plasticidad." (Joaquim Zueras Navarro, OpusMusica, Nº 44 - Abril 2010) Full Review "**** Unter den Händen des Fine Arts Quartet und der Pianistin Cristina Ortiz erfahren die beiden am größten besetzten Kammermusikwerke César Francks, das Streichquartett und das Klavierquintett, eine überzeugende Darstellung...Das Ensemble gestaltet diesen Beginn in überaus einheitlicher, choralartig phrasierter Tongebung; die Fugato-Passagen des darauf folgenden Sonatenhauptsatzes gelingen mit nahezu idealer Durchsichtigkeit und Eleganz. Auch das rasante Tremolo in dem geheimnisvollen Scherzo besticht durch große Präzision...Das Fine Arts Quartet...gewährt der Musik die elegische Breite, nach welcher sie verlangt, während die Pianistin Ortiz virtuos und niemals vordergründig zur Seite steht. Im atemberaubenden 'Lento‘ wird der Tonfall der Einleitung wieder aufgenommen; ausgezeichnet gelingen den Musikern die immer wieder von Neuem überraschenden Harmoniewendungen über chromatisch absteigendem Bass. Das Finale...mit fesselndem Pathos dargestellt, leitet zu einem furiosen Schluss und fasst das gesamte motivische Material noch einmal zusammen – eine über weite Strecken überzeugende und die spezifischen Eigenheiten der Musik treffend vermittelnde Darbietung." (Wendelin Bitzan, Klavier.de, 14.03.2010) Full Review "Naxos has added another milestone recording to its already prestigious catalogue of great classical works. The CD that presents the string quartet in D major and the piano quintet in F minor by Cesar Franck and that has been published by Naxos constitutes a recording of exceptional quality, technically and artistically...There are several recordings of the same pieces by Cesar Franck, yet this new one clearly stands out. With it, and chiefly thanks to the superlative interpretation of the Fine Arts Quartet and Cristina Ortiz, Naxos has succeeded one more time in producing another reference classical CD. The interpretation of the Fine Arts Quartet and Cristina Ortiz is immaculate...The clarity of the musicians’ performance greatly helps the listener to overcome the inherent difficulty of Francks’s music and therefore to fully appreciate its beauty. The music is difficult to play as much as it is difficult to listen to, but the result is a rewarding, uplifting experience. There is intense emotional range in the sound, perfectly channelled by the musicians." (Jean-Claude Elias, The Jordan Times, March 7, 2010) Full Review "The Fine Arts Quartet goes back 64 years since its birth in Chicago. Since 1985 it has recorded more than 65 works. Three of its members have been with the group for over a quarter of a century and this rapport clearly shows in their performances...Highlight: charismatic Brazilian pianist adds a charge to the Quintet." (Geoff Adams, Otago Daily Times, March 6, 2010) Full Review "I must mention the Fine Arts Quartet CD featuring the Cesar Franck (1822-1890) String Quartet and the Piano Quintet, with pianist Cristina Ortiz. Naxos seems to be using the Fine Arts Quartet to go over some repertory staples. This is very good news. (I was deeply impressed by their performances of the complete Schumann string quartets and the Bruckner quintet released earlier.) With the Franck works, we enter deeply into the emotionally turbulent world of Romanticism....Ortiz and the Fine Arts Quartet infuse these works with the passion they require. Fasten your seatbelts." (Robert R. Reilly, InsideCatholic.com, March 01, 2010) Full Review "EDITOR'S CHOICE. Cristina Ortiz and the Fine Arts Quartet pinpoint the work's volatility, with Ortiz throwing herself into the work's demands. The quartet is excellent, too. Altogether a fine recording of works that are still done less than they should be." (James Invernes, Gramophone Magazine, February 2010) "Naxos scores again with Ortiz and the Fine Arts’ performances of Franck’s major chamber pieces... Franck requires a bigger, bolder approach than Fauré’s equally complex but more subdued style and Ortiz and her colleagues are fully up to it, their leaner textures in the Fauré works here morphing into a riper, blooming sound appropriate to the required emotional fireworks." (Dan Davis, La Folia Online Music Review, February 2010) Full review "FRANCK'S RICHLY ROMANTIC CHAMBER MUSIC IN DISTINGUISHED FINE ARTS QUARTET PERFORMANCES. This outstanding disc of two of Franck's late masterpieces features the Fine Arts Quartet with Cristina Ortiz in the Piano Quintet...Ortiz and her colleagues realise all of Franck's pent-up feeling in a performance of a special musical refinement and commitment...The Fine Arts Quartet are entirely at home in the very different scope of the String Quartet, relishing both the music's contrapuntal intricacy and its full-blown romanticism...I shall look forward to more exceptional music-making from this team." (Bryce Morrison, Gramophone Magazine, February 2010) "Registros cálidos, envolventes e intensos são obras-primas Composições de Gabriel Fauré e César Franck recebem magnífica interpretação da pianista ao lado do Fine Arts Quartet...A leitura do Fine Arts Quartet e Cristina Ortiz é envolvente. Cálida e ao mesmo tempo emocionalmente intensa...No quarteto, é excepcional a integração entre os músicos do Fine Arts; e no quinteto, o piano paira com uma enorme liberdade sobre o discurso mais rígido das cordas. Antológico o movimento lento, con molto sentimento. No conjunto, um registro difícil de ser superado." (João Marcos Coelho, Estadao.com.br, 09 de Fevereiro de 2010) Full Review "GRANDLY ROMANTIC READINGS OF FRANCK'S QUINTET AND QUARTET. Both the Quintet and the Quartet receive impassioned performances on this new Naxos CD with the Fine Arts Quartet and pianist Christina Ortiz...this CD has a sweeping unabashedly passionate character that sets it apart. This is romantic music played with conviction, emotion, and contrast in long searing vibrato-filled phrases. The music drew me in at the outset and never let go...The quartet and Ortiz play with unrestrained feeling...This reading by the Fine Arts Quartet and Ortiz compels the listener to hear the passion without the potential distraction of the form...With this beautiful recording, the Fine Arts Quartet and Ortiz show intimate music-making at its best." (Robin Friedman, Amazon.com, January 27, 2010) Full Review "In the Quartet, the Fine Arts players strike a near-ideal balance between Romantic espressivo and Classical restraint. The bustling scherzo's post-'Rasumovsky' gesturing is dispatched with a feather-light touch, while the finale's thematic déjà vu is integrated into the music's overall structure with compelling inevitability. Franck's chromatic harmonic profiles have caused intonational havoc with some ensembles in the past, but the Fine Arts musicians sustain a remarkable degree of corporate tonal accuracy in both works. In the Quintet they are joined by the gifted Brazilian virtuoso Cristina Ortiz to stunning effect. In a work notorious for being overburdened with strenuous passion, this team works wonders in clarifying Franck’s occasionally overheated textures, enhanced by engineering of exemplary lucidity and presence." (Julian Haylock, The Strad, January, 2010) "De båda kammarmusikverken på denna cd, som Fine Arts Quartet med pianisten Cristina Ortiz spelar med utsökt, mogen elegans eller med passionerat engagemang, alltefter vad situationen kräver i dessa myllrande stycken." (Carlhåkan Larsén, Sydsvenskan.se, 13 januari 2010 ) Full Review "***** Recorded in Switzerland, the engineering is excellent, with silky string tone. (John Sunier, Audiophile Audition, January 12, 2010) Full Review "This Naxos disc...revisits a combination of experienced and beloved artists that served Naxos well on a previous outing in chamber works of Gabriel Fauré, Brazilian pianist Cristina Ortiz, and the Fine Arts Quartet. This outing makes a very effective case for both works...they concentrate on keeping the level of quality of musicianship very high...These are seminally important late romantic works, and the performance they get from these dedicated and skilled players commends itself." (Uncle Dave Lewis, All Music Guide, January 2010) Full Review ''The Fine Arts Quartet brings a warm tone to the work, and there are some wonderfully idiomatic portamento sighs. They are at their very best in the slow movements, with Christina Ortiz matching their ebb and flow perfectly in the Quintet...This is a strong performance.'' (Christopher Dingle, BBC Music Magazine, Christmas 2009) "These works make the perfect Cesar Franck coupling, the darkly dramatic qualities of the Quintet complementing the intense nature of the Quartet...[which] receives a robust account from the Fine Arts Quartet...They are joined by the charismatic Brazilian pianist, Cristina Ortiz in the Quintet, her presence making this a very highly charged reading. Always outgoing in her musicianship, she never draws back from a dominating role, and has certainly inspired the quartet who give the finest recorded performance I have heard from them. If the big ending to the opening movement is thrilling, there are also moments of wistful tenderness, while choice of tempos are mostly slanted towards urgency. The finale - the work’s shortest movement - is as potent and life enhancing as any performance you will encounter...Such inspired playing, and the string sound is admirable." (David Denton, David's Review Corner, November 2009) " Heady stuff...top rating" (P.S. Boswell, Amazon.com, 27 Nov 2009)" A dynamic account of Franck’s String Quartet; regarded as the summit of his achievement." (Gavin Engelbrecht, The Northern Echo, November 19, 2009) Full review "César Franck's two most substantial chamber works...are impressive and perhaps the most significant contributions to French chamber music before Fauré, Debussy and Ravel...the pairing is a generous, useful one." (Andrew Clements, The Guardian, 6 November 2009) "Cesar Franck's Piano Quintet receives here the best recorded account I have known, superbly balanced and with a rare "rightness" of feeling. Here's a reminder that "youth" isn't everything and that maturity has a lot to offer. The venerable Fine Arts Quartet (three of them have played together for twenty-five years) bring the fruits of experience and Cristina Ortiz is their ideal collaborator; hear them together also in Fauré’s Piano Quintets [8.570938]. Played second (recommended) the three-quarter hour string quartet is given a great performance here; paced with discretion, maintaining pulse and flow without short-term point making, it emerges as one of the great string quartets and a vindication of Franck's cyclical composing method...At Naxos price, don't let it slip by." (Peter Grahame Woolf, Musicalpointers, October 2009) Full Review  Fauré: Piano Quintets - Naxos CD 8.570938 "Cristina Ortiz and the Fine Arts Quartet nail Fauré’s particular combination of classic form and Romantic passion with perfection. They’re more expansive in the outer movements of the First Quintet, allowing for more detail and subtlety while their Adagio is tighter, more focused than their rival’s version. Ortiz’s crisply articulated piano under the busy strings in the second movement is a particular joy here, as is the way the ensemble fully captures the grave beauty of the Andante third movement by taking a flowing, more liquid approach to tempo, rhythm and melody that reflects their awareness of the style we hear in old recordings of French chamber groups of the 1920s and ’30s...Naxos’ Brazilian pianist and American string quartet are more idiomatically Gallic. The result is a disc to treasure." (Dan Davis, La Folia Online Music Review, February 2010) Full review Named one of "The Best Classical Recordings of 2009"...One of top 3 in the chamber category. (ArkivMusic, January 2010) Full review MusicWeb International critic's choice: Recording Of The Year 2009 (Ian Lace, MusicWeb International, December 2009) Full review "I cannot imagine better performances. Cristina Ortiz is one of the most musical pianists around, and her ability to integrate her sound so fully into the very fabric of these works makes for a very special recording. The Fine Arts Quartet plays with all the subtlety and refinement one could ask for - beautiful, balanced, and blended strings are exactly what is called for in these works. The recorded sound and perceptive notes complete a package, that, like much of what I see and hear from Naxos these days, would be a strong competitor at full price. At under $9 it simply can't be beat." (James Harrington, American Record Guide, November/December 2009) "This new [disc] with the Fine Arts Quartet and pianist Cristina Ortiz is definitely a keeper...The Fine Arts Quartet and Ortiz manage to scent this music with a bouquet I can only describe as quintessentially French. In their hands, Fauré’s music vibrates with a sentient tenderness almost too sad and too personal to be expressed. Beyond recommended, this is a mandatory purchase." (Jerry Dubins, Fanfare, Nov/Dec 2009) Full review "The quintets are played with great devotion, showing fine balance and rich in delicate nuance. The ensemble is perfect, which is as expected from such an experienced group as the Fine Arts...The recording quality is first class, both clean and atmospheric. Another fine disc from Naxos. (Oleg Ledeniov, Musicweb International, November 2009) Full Review "In Faure there is no substitute for experience, and these five veterans show all their modern rivals the way home...The playing has an irresistible pulse...They produce the essence of Romantic playing...lovely tone and lovely phrasing...These are delectable performances." (Tully Potter, The Strad, October 2009) "From the outset, Cristina Ortiz and the Fine Arts Quartet find just the right elegiac atmosphere...the Second Piano Quintet marks the pinnacle of Fauré’s chamber output and is performed here with great affection. The opening movement is radiantly played...a notable addition to the catalogue." (Mark Pullinger, International Record Review, October 2009) "ELEGANT CHAMBER MUSIC. These two major works of chamber music are nothing short of masterpieces. Cristina Ortiz and the Fine Arts Quartet...give us performances that are marked by understated virtuosity, subtle shadings of color and finely honed ensemble playing. The strings perform with a shimmering uniformity of tone and the balance between the keyboard and strings is never off...This ensemble plays with such refined finesse that the only thing that comes across is beauty. These are performances in which a listener can simply luxuriate, thoroughly enjoying the wash of sound that comes out of the speakers. Let’s hope that these artists come together again soon. Perhaps some Brahms and Schumann? Shostakovich maybe? The possibilities are exciting just too think about!" (Kevin Sutton, Musicweb International, October 2009) Full Review and (The Tenor Diaries, Sept 30, 2009) Full Review "RECORDING OF THE MONTH. What entrancing music this is: elusive and enigmatic. It demonstrates how unjust is the relative neglect of Fauré’s chamber works...Two magical, enchanting chamber works in alluring performances by the Fine Arts Quartet and Cristina Ortiz." (Ian Lace, Musicweb International, September, 2009) Full Review "Ideally balanced and recorded, Cristina Ortiz and the Fine Arts Quartet offer performances that are warmly affectionate, fluent and musicianly to the core. Surpassing Domus's fine Hyperion disc, these are outstanding readings." (Bryce Morrison, The Gramophone, August 2009) Full Review "The wonderful Brazilian pianist Cristina Ortiz and the Fine Arts Quartet...sound great playing together as they cultivate the close string blend that Fauré's writing requires, and they show a definite feeling for his glowing harmonies...In sum, I like everything about these performances by Cristina Ortiz and the Fine Arts Quartet. They are the epitome of refinement, warmth and economy." (Phil's Classical Reviews, August 2009) Full Review "At his best, Faure is among the most sophisticated and refined of all composers. And those qualities are enshrined in his two wonderful Piano Quintets, which receive bright and loving performances here from pianist Christina Ortiz and the Fine Arts Quartet. The rippling arpeggio opening to the first quintet cascades around the murmuring theme that unfolds its limbs luxuriously, while the music of the finale epitomises the subtlety of Faure’s supreme craftsmanship. Great performances, streaming with finesse and élan." (Michael Tumelty, The Herald Scotland, 24 August 2009) Full Review "Performance: Four stars; Sound: Four stars...The Fine Arts Quartet has a notably ‘golden age’ approach, drawing on the aesthetic of an era not far from Fauré’s own and bringing both quintets fully to life in every bar. The sweet-toned first violin Ralph Evans produces portamenti worthy of Fauré’s friend Jacques Thibaud; Ortiz’s playing blends in sensitively, dousing the texture with showers of pianistic glitter; and the ensemble’s vibrant emotionalism - though suitably modified for Fauré’s purposes - emphasises the passion and questing exploration within the composer’s elusive language." (Jessica Duchen, BBC Music Magazine, July 2009) "Faure, Piano Quintets (Naxos 8.570938) Gabriel Faure, more known for his Requiem, created some piano quintets moments of pure beauty and melodic inspiration; wonderfully expressed by the The Fine Arts Quartet". (Gavin Engelbrecht, Northern Echo, July 20, 2009) Full review " Glorious, Subtle Playing of these Glorious, Subtle Works...Both works are given subtle and musical performances here by the Fine Arts Quartet and pianist Cristina Ortiz...Previously my benchmark recordings for the Fauré Piano Quintets had been those of Domus...but this Fine Arts/Ortiz set is easily its equal, and it's at budget price. If you are in the market for the Fauré piano quintets, snap it up. (J Scott Morrison, Amazon.com, July 8, 2009) Full Review"There are many outstanding recordings of Fauré's two piano quintets available, and this 2009 Naxos disc by the Fine Arts Quartet with pianist Cristina Ortiz can take its place among the finest. The American chamber group plays with complete unanimity; though each musician is clearly an individual, in their more than 50 years together, the members of the Fine Arts Quartet have refined their ensemble to the point where their individuality has become truly collective. Joined here by Brazilian virtuoso Ortiz, they produce a comely sound and offer lively performances of the two quintets. In fast movements, particularly the second quintet's Allegro vivo, they hold together tightly. In slow movements, especially the first quintet's Adagio, they sing together beautifully, bringing out the deep longing and affecting expressivity at the music's heart. Captured in lean, clean, yet atmospheric sound, this recording is another feather in the cap of the performers, and adds another outstanding recording of these chamber music masterpieces to the catalogue." (James Leonard, AllMusic.com, July 2009) Full review "The two piano quintets are quintessential Fauré: a refined, translucent flow of interwoven melody. But the very subtlety of his chamber music has restricted its wider dissemination. If you don't already know the quintets, here is your introduction. The performances are nuanced. At bargain price, it's a snip." (Andrew Clark, Financial Times, June 27, 2009) "Brazilian pianist Cristina Ortiz joins up with the American Fine Arts Quartet for this disc of Fauré’s two piano quintets. The first...opens magically, with tinkling piano arpeggios beautifully played by Ortiz, before plunging into vigorous string figures...The great merit of this disc is the perfect integration of the piano into the quartet" (Geoffrey Norris, Telegraph.co.uk, 22 June 2009) Full review "Their approach is warmly expressive, their phrasing generous and intense, so that the music's French pedigree is never in doubt...at budget price this is a real snip." (Andrew Clements, The Guardian, 19 June 2009) Full Review "Their account of both [quintets] is outgoing and often highly charged...and Ortiz brings a wealth of delicate playing." (David Denton, David's Review Corner, June 2009) Full review "Red-blooded , passionate performances show these neglected works for the masterpieces they truly are." (Sean James, Amazon.com) Full Review  Bruckner: Complete Chamber Music - Naxos CD 8.570788 "The Adagio of course is beautiful, and it sounds especially lovely in this tender, flowing performance...a wholly recommendable performance. The early (1862) String Quartet in C minor is...very well played here...the Intermezzo...is lovely, and the Rondo...fills out the disc to bring the playing time up to 79-plus minutes. Self-recommending for Bruckner fans or chamber music lovers looking to fill a gap in their collections." (David Hurwitz, Classics Today, 3/25/2010) Full review " Rare Chamber works revealed as gems...The Fine Arts Quartet (with Gil Sharon as the second viola in the quintet), give luscious and compelling performances of this all-too-rare repertoire. The recording is exemplary, and the CD can be warmly recommended to Brucknerians and chamber music enthusiasts alike." (S.J. Bonsor, Amazon.co.uk, 29 Dec 2008) Full review"This recent Naxos release has a lot going for it…the Fine Arts Quartet (plus the just as talented Mr Sharon) is splendid in ensemble and rich and smooth in tone. It is in these respects surely at the top of the list of currently available recordings of the music. It is clean as a whistle, smooth as cream, split-second accurate in execution…The recording presents also a four-minute Intermezzo, which may have been designed as an extension of the finale of the quintet. Also at the end of the program, we are offered a six minute Rondo, which is clearly a slightly longer substitute for the rondo finale of the quartet." (John P McKelvey, American Record Guide, July 2009 ) "CD del mese" (Angelo Foletto, Suonare.it, Luglio/Agosto 2009 - n° 152) Full review "I haven’t heard many of the dozen or so recordings of the Quintet, but you’re unlikely to find one much better than this finely executed and clearly recorded disc; doubly so for the far rarer Quartet. The Fine Arts Quartet gives a warmly expressive and carefully calibrated reading." (Michael Cameron, Fanfare, May/June 2009) Full review "Diese CD...verdient einen Hinweis besonders durch die intensive Interpretation des Streichquintetts (besonders des 1. Satzes), aber auch, weil sie zu einem moderaten Preis das ganze bisher veröffentlichte Oeuvre für Streichquartett." (Brucknerdiskografie.nl, 13.4.2009) "You may be surprised to know that [Bruckner] wrote chamber music, too...And it's all on the present CD offering by the Fine Arts Quartet, a revered musical organization that has been in existence (with changes of personnel) for more than 50 years...Warm, affectionate playing by the members of the Fine Arts allows us to experience the Mendelssohn-like melodies that predominate in [Bruckner's] String Quartet in C Minor]...[In the] String Quintet in F Major...the Fine Arts Quartet...is joined on second viola by Gil Sharon. It is a happy union of forces, bringing out the rich harmonies throughout the work as well as the surging waves of increasing dynamics that end both the opening and closing movements on a note of real affirmation...How the Fine Arts and Sharon enjoy the expansive theme of the opening movement and the subtle variants Bruckner introduces on it! (Atlanta Audio Society, February 2009) Full review "Faithful readers may recall my high praise for the Fine Arts Quartet in a performance of Schumann quartets on Naxos last year. Naxos now gives us the Fine Arts Quartet doing the Bruckner String Quintet, accompanied by his early String Quartet (8.570788). The Quintet is one of the great chamber works of the late 19th century, famous for its sublime adagio. The Fine Arts Quartet gives it a spacious reading of three-quarters of an hour that fully reveals its glories in a grateful acoustic. If you love chamber music and have not heard this masterpiece, this is a great introduction." (Robert R. Reilly, Inside Catholic, January 27, 2009) Full Review "The Fine Arts Quartet, with Gil Sharon added in the Quintet in F, plays all this music with warmth, style and great emotional intensity: a palpable sense of joy emerging from the Quintet’s slow movement is perhaps the highlight of an altogether excellent CD." (Infodad.com, January 15, 2009) Full review "  The Fine Arts Quartet gives a grandly inspired treatment to Bruckner's great F-major Quintet--(something akin to Thielemann's recent treatment of the Symphony No. 5)...Recordings of Bruckner's Quintet are now thankfully plentiful; but for price, sound, and performance, Naxos' issue here is definitely a bargain." (Sébastien Melmoth, Amazon.com, December 25, 2008) Full review"Questo leggendario quintetto, così come il quartetto per archi, il “Rondo” e l’“Intermezzo in re minore”...essere ascoltato nella registrazione effettuata dal “Fine Arts Quartet”, con l’aggiunta della viola di Gil Sharon, nel cd pubblicato dall’etichetta Naxos. Un’esecuzione, quella dell’ensemble statunitense, tersa e lucidamente espositiva nei suoi contrasti tematici e nell’articolarsi delle variazioni, il che unito dal fatto che praticamente in questo disco (dal prezzo decisamente basso) si trova tutta la produzione cameristica di Bruckner...ne fa un’edizione alquanto allettante per coloro che vogliono conoscere questo ambito della produzione musicale del sommo compositore austriaco." (Andrea Bedetti, guide.supereva.it, 22 dicembre 2008) Full review "  Great performance...They really understand Bruckner as a symphonist...I have a lot of references like Raphael Ensemble and Raphael Quartet, Amadeus, Archibudelli, Leipzig, and Kocian, but this one is one of the best and very complete with the Quartet and Rondo and Intermezzo. At such a price, a real gem, a must for Brucknerites." (naxosdirect.com, December 14, 2008) Full review"The Fine Arts Quartet, with Gil Sharon as second viola, produce a richly blended tone in keeping with the Quintet’s structure, while taking a more restrained approach to the Quartet. Almost 80 minutes of music, the French recording perfectly weighted between instruments." (David Denton, David's Classical Music Reviews, December 2008) Full review  American Classics: Four American Quartets (Glass, Herrmann, Antheil, Evans) - Naxos CD 8.559354  "Une interprétation particulièrement remarquable du Quatuor à cordes N° 3 de George Antheil" (wikeo.fr, 03-2009)"Indépendamment de leurs mérites respectifs, ces quatre quatuors ont un point commun: ils requièrent la plus grande virtuosité collective et la trouvent au sein du Fine Arts Quartet, dans une excellente prise de son." (Claude Gingras, cyberpresse.ca, 11 janvier 2009) Full review "Quatuor d'une conception originale avec ses brèves sections enchaînées, Echoes bénéficie d'une exécution splendide où les instrumentistes du Fine Arts Quartet montrent tout leur talent et mettent en valeur chaque épisode." (Denis Urval, wikeo.fr, 01-2009)"***** BBC MUSIC CHOICE... RARE EXCELLENCE...A FINE FOUR BY FOUR ...HOWARD GOLDSTEIN HAILS THE FINE ARTS' IMAGINATIVE SET...Fine Arts Quartet are this month's premiere group...For over 65 years, the Fine Arts Quartet has set standards of style and repertoire that have rarely been equalled." (BBC Music Magazine, August 2008) "Naxos' Four American Quartets is a refreshing and intriguing program that whets one's appetite for the remaining slate of Fine Arts Quartet releases...[Evans' Quartet] is whimsical and clever, and in relation to the Babbitts and Boulezes of that time, this quartet has a Flying Spaghetti Monster-ish aspect to it. It is the Darmstadt school turned on its head, containing no specific references to pre-existing music, yet Evans constructs fleeting figments of tonality in a formal design that is architectonic, rather than based on psychological form or other established strategies. Evans' quartet is both engaging and amusing and well deserves recording...It is stimulating to hear this quartet [Glass No.2] played with a little more bite than is the norm...Fine Arts' recording represents a positive step toward establishing this excellent quartet [Antheil No.3] to a well-deserved place in the main quartet literature..." (Uncle Dave Lewis, Allmusicguide.com, August 2008) Full review "A thoroughly winning CD...The [Fine Arts Quartet's] present personnel are still going strong and Naxos' typically generous 62.5 minutes of wholly engaging playing time reveals the ensemble in its element." (Howard Smith, mvdaily.com, July 22, 2008) Full review "FOUR FINE RARITIES...A disc of 4 rarities, all of them worth your time. Recent Fine Arts Quartet releases have included the likes of Schumann and Mendelssohn, but this is a valuable trip off the beaten path." (Jim Shine, amazon.com, July 29, 2008) Full review "The Fine Arts quartet gives [these four quartets] full measure...[Evans Quartet]: In this egalitarian and at times contrapuntal work, they are careful to keep the textures clear, and make the most of the intense slow movement and the dancing finale. In Philip Glass's Second Quartet...they do well to convey a feeling of emotional involvement...The Fine Arts Quartet plays [Antheil's Quartet] with energy and open-hearted emotion, deftly negotiating the kaleidoscopic whirl of material in the last movement...Of these four works the most rewarding is Bernard Herrmann's Echoes...to which the players bring reserves of subtlety." (The Strad, November 2008) "Dopo rilevata la rarità dei tre Quartetti sin qui menzionati, la sorpresa e l’interesse maggiore arrivano con il Quartetto di Evans (1995)...Il suo Quartetto si rivela, melodicamente ed armonicamente, un piccolo capolavoro. Anch’esso nell’insieme ligio alle norme che van dalla dominante alla tonica, dalla cadenza d’inganno a quella plagale, da una settima diminuita a una quinta aumentata, è d’audizione affascinante." (Gli Amici della Musica, Novembre 2008) Full review "Those living in Europe can easily forget the enormous amount and diversity of chamber music produced in the United States during the 20th century. This arresting disc provides a guide to quartets from composers throughout the century" (David Denton, David's Review Corner, July 2008) Full review "**** Offbeat but listenable: a nice combination." (Arthur Kaptainis, Montreal Gazette, Aug 6, 2008) Full review "Here are four string quartets by American composers, all vivid and in diverse styles." (Rob Barnett, MusicWeb International, July 2008) Full review "   Veteran violinists Ralph Evans and Efim Boico, violist Yuri Gandelsman and cellist Wolfgang Laufer...bring their assured, no-nonsense playing to four American pieces written during the quartet's lifetime. The oldest...is George Antheil's String Quartet No. 3. We also get a dynamic reading of the "Company" Quartet (No.2) by Philip Glass, written in his typical, layered note-patterns, and Evans' rich and inventive String Quartet No.1, from 1995. The standout is by film composer Bernard Herrmann, whose fabulously melancholy Echoes for String Quartet was written a decade before he died." (John Terauds, Toronto Star, Aug 12, 2008) Full review"Most interesting are the Third Quartet of George Antheil, where Dvorák meets Shostakovich, and Bernard Herrmann's Echoes for String Quartet, music that typically combines atmosphere (it was written for a ballet) with motivic tautness...The attractive First Quartet by the Fine Arts Quartet's violinist Ralph Evans has plenty of substance...The players' advocacy is never in doubt." (Matthew Rye, The Telegraph, August 23, 2008) Full Review "Evans's quartet joins a pleasing programme...I find Herrmann's Echoes the most intriguing...Hitchcock aficionados may well find themselves creating mental images to match the moods of these evocative pieces...It is to be hoped that other quartets may find their way to this concert piece by Herrman at last...Expertly played, like everything else here" (Gramophone, October 2008) "The new Naxos recording by the Fine Arts Quartet...suggests that Evans was wise to share the piece with the world...The piece contains lovely string writing and some wry, often delighting, harmonic swerves...What makes the Second Quartet [Glass] so effective is the freshness and energy with which these gestures are employed...the [Antheil] quartet’s deliberate angularity and even its occasional Bartokian bumptiousness contain considerable wit and charm...[Herrmann's] Echoes...demonstrates that the epic sweep of his cinematic style could also be applied with good results in chamber music." (Christian Carey, Sequenza21, August 29, 2008) Full review "Vigorous and committed playing by the Fine Arts Quartet...The present disc offers an offbeat program and a real discovery with Bernard Herrmann’s Echoes." (Lawrence A. Johnson, South Florida Classical Review, September 11, 2008) Full review "The four 20th-century quartets played by the Fine Arts Quartet show some of the very different directions in which chamber music moved in the last century...The Evans work is lively and tuneful...The quartet by Herrmann...is in a single movement whose 10 sections are skillfully linked in an understated way. And the Antheil is fun..." (Infodad, September 11, 2008) Full review "This is an interesting and intelligently planned recital mixing the unknown with the well known...The performances of the Fine Arts Quartet are full-blooded and very committed...Well worth having for the Herrmann and Antheil scores which should be better known." (Bob Briggs, MusicWeb International, October 2008) Full review "*** Chaque présidentielle américaine est l’objet d’une couverture médiatique effrénée. À cette occasion, les perceptions anxieuses du monde se tournent vers cette nation paradoxale, souvent l’objet de simplifications extrêmes. Dans ce contexte, la série American Classics (Naxos) offre la possibilité de changer de regard et de sortir l’imaginaire des ornières polarisées de la politique. Très différents, les Four american quartets témoignent de la diversité de style qui anime les compositeurs de ce pays." (Journal Le Soleil, Québec, 13 Sept 2008) Full review "Het Fine arts quartet doorstaat de test met glans en dat maakt deze cd een feest om naar te luisteren" (klassiekezaken.nl, October 2008) Full review "Levyn yhtyekin on perustettu jo 1946, mikä tuo soittoon mukavaa väriä ja varmuutta." (Karjalainen.fi, 25. lokakuuta 2008 ) Full review "George Antheilin kansansävelmiä hyödyntävässä kvartetossa on puhtia ja persoonaa: laulullisuutta, ironista kipinää ja lennokasta leikkiä. Hienostunein teoksista on Bernard Herrmannin Echoes jousikvartetolle. Siinä on kaikuu baletti: hienosyisiä siirtymiä elegisistä sävyistä valssiin, melankoliaan ja riuskaan leikillisyyteen, makaaberiin ja voimannäyttöön." (demari.fi, 29.10.2008) Full review "Le Fine Arts Quartet est un ensemble renommé et de qualité, qui bénéficie dans cet enregistrement d’une prise de son très satisfaisante. Seul le choix arbitraire du répertoire, inhérent à toute compilation, pourrait faire émettre quelques réserves sur ce disque, dont on ne peut considérer qu’il soit très représentatif des œuvres majeures américaines du genre. Mais c’est aussi sa qualité principale que de sortir des sentiers battus pour présenter le Troisième quatuor de Georges Antheil et les Echoes de Bernard Herrmann : cela aurait suffit à notre bonheur. On considèrera que le reste constitue un bonus" (ClassiqueInfo-disque, 25 novembre 2008) Full review "Evans...finished it in 1995: distinctive, personal and generally tonal, it makes a fine disc-mate for Glass’ nine-minute piece from 1983, Antheil’s conservative, folk-oriented in a Dvorakian way, quartet of 1948 and Herrmann’s single-movement piece from 1965...Particularly good to have a new recording of anything by Herrmann!" (Records International, August 2008) Full review "The Fine Arts Quartet is one of the best American quartets that get a bum rap. They deserve better recognition then they've been having over the years. All the of the quartets are played just fine without the overproduction tricks that most of the new quartets have adopted. Even the Glass quartet sounds somehow musical and why isn't Antheil played more often? The recital here may not have all of the glitz and gags that come with most new music recordings but they sure do have the goods." (Boolez, iTunes Customer Review) Full Review  Mendelssohn String Quintets (complete) - Naxos CD 8.570488 "The Fine Arts Quartet...strike(s) a splendid balance between vitality and elegance, the Intermezzo of the A Major Quintet is engagingly played, the Scherzo is crisp and brilliant, the Adagio of the B Flat Quintet is most warmly and stylishly played, and both Finales sparkle. The recording is excellent." (2010 Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music) "Naxos has another winner on its hands with the Fine Arts Quartet and Danilo Rossi (viola) and this has the fascinating bonus of the original third movement of the Op.18 Quintet." (Nigel Simeone, International Record Review, December 2009) " Mendelssohnian magic! I first listened to samples of these quintets on the amazon site, inspired by other reviwers, and was struck by the infectious music-making of the Fine Arts Quartet. Having now listened to the complete works, I can only agree with my fellow reviewers that this is music to bring a smile to your face, and a lift to your heart. The quality of the playing gives such a zestful 'bounce' to the movements that this has the quality of a live performance without the attendant niggles. Highly recommended. (Sentinel, Amazon.co.uk, 21 Nov 2009) Full review MusicWeb International critic's choice: Recording Of The Year 2008. "The best of Mendelssohn can be found in the chamber music, and these vibrant, brilliantly played performances bring further confirmation of the rewards this repertoire can bring." (Terry Barfoot, MusicWeb International, December 2008) Full review "**** What a joy to hear the Fine Arts Quartet back in stride! Certainly they rank as one of the best of the last hundred years, and almost always underrated. But there is no period instrument puffiness or strident adherence to dogma here; no sir, these are passionate, impassioned, and fervently lustful readings that cry damnation to all that get in their way. Actually, I don’t recall the Fine Arts ever sounding this violently tempestuous in any reading I can immediately bring to mind. Who cares—this one sings and soars with a free spirit and a dare-you-not-to-like-it attitude that is great fun to hear... This Naxos [release], recorded last year in Germany has as much pride and spirit as I can imagine, and certainly fares well considering the price. If you have not made the acquaintance of these works before, there is no excuse for not indulging now, and while they are not Mozart, they are interesting and rewarding, played immaculately and in fine sound." (Steven Ritter, Audiophile Audition, December 29, 2008) Full review " HIGH FIVES...2009 is the bicentenary year of Mendelssohn's birth, and I can't imagine a better monument than his string quintets in this superb recording...Mendelssohn's idiom is a delicate flower, calling for a patrician poise from the players to match the patrician elegance of the music. One real benchmark for measuring the performances is how the scherzos are handled. Mendelssohn's scherzos are something unique in the history of music...To my ears, the Fine Arts Quartet have the idea of it to absolute perfection,This is artistic interpretation, itself a form of artistic creation...Schumann, with characteristic generosity, described Mendelssohn as the Mozart of the 19th century. Mendelssohn at his best has something of the same sense about him that he is one of the beloved of God as Amadeus himself has. This is the sense that makes me as enthusiastic as I am about this disc, and I recommend it entirely without reservation."(David Bryson, Amazon.com, 30 Aug, 2009) Full review "**** Leidenschaftlich, beinahe stürmisch geht das Ensemble [Fine Arts Quartett] an die Musik heran, eine frische Interpretation." (Isabel Fedrizzi, Ensemble Magazin für Kammermusik, 1/09) "The performances from the Fine Arts Quartet are ideally suited to this kind of music. They tailor their sound perfectly to the very different demands of each movement and carry off the technical issues flawlessly...The musicians work together as an integrated unit and listen to each other to "gel" seamlessly...One can hardly imagine these works being given a more sympathetic reading." (Simon Thompson, Music Web International, June 2008) Full review "The sheer élan with which this piece opens is breathtaking. The music requires playing of a high order to make its mark, and it receives this from the Fine Arts Quartet and their guest violist, Danielo Rossi. (Terry Barfoot, Music Web International, July 2008) Full review "The performances here by the Fine Arts Quartet, augmented with violist Danilo Rossi, are tight, lucid, energetic, and life affirming...This disc should be heard by anyone who enjoys Mendelssohn's music in general and his chamber music in particular." (James Leonard, Allmusicguide.com, June 12, 2008) Full review " TWO GLORIOUS STRING QUINTETS BEAUTIFULLY PLAYED...On this disc there is absolutely nothing I could find fault with. Their playing is sophisticated, nuanced, spirited and entirely satisfying." (J Scott Morrison, Amazon.com, June 12, 2008) Full review "The performances by the Fine Arts Quartet and violist Rossi are very fine." (Fanfare Magazine, September/October 2008) "(++++) STRINGS THAT SING...The Fine Arts Quartet and Daniel Rossi give the works lovely, well-balanced readings that fully bring out their tunefulness and emotions." (Infodad, June 12, 2008) Full review "Stormende spilleglade førstesats, som de fem musikere angriber på det mest henrivende...Ingen af de to strygekvintetter tilhører det foretrukne kammermusikalske repertoire, men charmerende er Mendelssohn altid; også Fine Arts Quartet og gæsten Danilo Rossi engagerer sig helhjertet, pilfingret og medrivende i." (Ibyen.dk, 5. aug 2008) Full review "THE BEST OF 2008...This is a list of albums that have got good reviews from various sources: the print magazines Gramophone, BBC Music Magazine, American Record Guide, and Fanfare and the web sites Classics Today, MusicWeb, Klassik Heute, and Classics Today France." (Nereffid's Guide to eMusic Classical, October 2008) Full review "The Fine Arts Quartet brings a distinguished and learned approach to these works. Highly recommended." (Boolez, iTunes Customer Review) Full review  Schumann: String Quartets Nos. 1-3 - Naxos CD 8.570151 *** KEY RECORDING/TOP RECOMMENDATION..."Having all three of Schuman's Opus 41 Quartets on a single Naxos disc makes a superb bargain...The Fine Arts Quartet, founded as long ago as 1946, remains a magnificent interpreter, here vividly recorded in sessions in Holland in 2006." (Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music 2010) "Naxos offers a splendid bargain in the form of all three works, squeezed onto a single CD, by the Fine Arts Quartet (8.570151), which Göran Forsling made Bargain of the Month – see review – a judgement with which I am happily in accord...The playing is full of nuance and the high-spirited account of the finale sets the seal on a fine recording...The performances of other two Op.41 quartets are equally attractive." (Brian Wilson, MusicWeb International, February, 2010) Full Review "Amerikanska ”Fine Arts Quartet” väcker förstås skyhöga förväntningar, men denna nyinspelning klargör omedelbart att bättre än så här kan det knappast bli. De tätt sammanlänkade musikerna levandegör intensivt med sina instrument: det är bara att låta sig omslutas." (Björn Gustavsson, Ovanmyra Missionshus blogspot, 29 januari 2010) Full Review "One of the very finest chamber-music recordings of the year" (Bender, American Record Guide, September/October 2007) Full review "I cannot leave the theme of chamber music without recommending the Naxos release (8.570151) of Robert Schumann's String Quartets Nos. 1-3, played so expressively by the Fine Arts Quartet. Playing of this caliber in music this wonderful makes for an outrageous bargain." (Crisis Magazine, July/August 27, 2007) "Edge-of-the-seat playing marked by probing insights...The FAQ's intonation and balances are beyond reproach. Its ensemble is razor sharp in the quicker music, and in the slower moments its phrasing breathes naturally (no mean feat). Given the competition by such ensembles as the Emerson, Melos, and Takács Quartets, they shine. The sound of this disc is excellent, capturing the quartet's distinctive timbre and steering a judicious course between linear detail and ensemble heft and mass. In short, this is desert island stuff." (William Zagorski, Fanfare Magazine, March 2007) Full review "The tone, as ever with this line-up, is both beguilingly tangy and warm...The lyrical side of Schumann, which predominates in the quartets, is beautifully handled." (The Strad, March 2007) "The outstanding aspect of these performances is the quality of sound, rich and beautifully blended. With a heartfelt, expressive quality, they're able to bring out fully the lyrical side of Schumann's invention...Throughout, the tone is full and rounded, and never harsh...Their playing is elegant and singing...It's lovely quartet playing, and I'll want to return to it." (Duncan Druce, Gramophone, March 2007) Full Review "THE BEST OF 2007...Here are the albums that have got the best reviews from Gramophone, BBC Music Magazine, Classics Today, and MusicWeb" (Nereffid's Guide to eMusic Classical, March 2007) Full Review "The three string quartets by Schumann deserve to be heard more often than they are…they contain much beautiful music. [The Fine Arts Quartet] is a fine ensemble, giving excellent performances of these quartets. Its tone throughout has just enough edge on it to be stimulating and each of the players, all of them virtuosi, is very successful in making his instrument heard—the part playing is excellent. The group avoids the dynamic excesses that plague much quartet playing today." (Richard Gate, Limelight, March 2007) "Cette formation prestigieuse nous livre une lecture exceptionnelle de précision, d'atmosphères et de nuances...Il convient de qualifier cette lecture comme il se doit: incontournable." (Jean-Luc Caron, ResMusica.com, March 03, 2007) Full Review "...a must for any serious lover of string quartet music..." (Wholenote, Toronto, February 2007) Full Review "This is one of the few CD's that have all 3 quartets on one CD and happily it is also one of the best. The playing is warm and very clear and add to this the budget price of Naxos , this is an unmissable treat." (Ra Gannon, Amazon.com, February 15, 2008) "The unanimous attack and the homogenous sound at once places this group among the elite of today's chamber music ensembles." (Göran Forsling , MusicWeb International, February 07, 2007) Full Review "The gently beguiling presentation of the music by the world-class Fine Arts Quartet is executed with the introspective nuance necessary for the performance of any Schumann composition. This is an animated, invigorating recording that will satisfy both the seasoned and amateur music enthusiast." (SceneMagazine.com, Feb.1, 2007) Full Review (page 27) "IT CAN HARDLY GET BETTER THAN THIS (headline)... The American 'Fine Arts Quartet' of course raises high expectations, but this new recording makes immediately clear that it can hardly get better than this. With close rapport, the musicians perform intensively with their instruments: one can only give oneself to the music." ("Amerikanska 'Fine Arts Quartet' väcker förstås skyhöga förväntningar, men denna nyinspelning klargör omedelbart att bättre än så här kan det knappast bli. De tätt sammanlänkade musikerna levandegör intensivt med sina instrument: det är bara att låta sig omslutas.") (Tidningen Kulturen, Sweden, January 30, 2007) Full Review "These lovingly prepared and perceptive readings from the Fine Arts Quartet, captured in lucid sound, have one re-thinking this particular body of Schumann's work with rejuvenated interest. Each work, no, each movement is a gem...Such soulful utterance is tenderly brought out by the Fine Arts Quartet, its members deft and buoyant...one hears, gratifyingly, many 'old-style' touches from the Fine Arts musicians...this is the sort of playing that makes one want to explore further the Fine Arts Quartet's projects...thoroughly recommendable...a release and an ensemble that is once messenger and champion of Schumann's quartet triptych." (Colin Anderson, ClassicalSource.com, January 2007) Full Review "Listening to the Fine Arts Quartet...it is impossible not to notice a certain ripeness in both their sound and approach...the voice of experience tells. They are always wise to this inventive music's ever-changing spirit, drawing the full emotional effect from the luscious expressivity of the slow movement of No. 3, yet rejoicing equally in the blatant mischief of the catchy ritornello that punctuates that work's exultant finale." (Stephen Pettitt, The Sunday Times [London], January 21, 2007) Full Review "The Fine Arts Quartet plays the works with sensitivity, apparent ease and a fine sense of give and take...The Quartet makes a strong case for all of them." (Infodad.com, Jan.18, 2007) Full Review "As one would expect from this distinguished Quartet, the quality of the performance is very fine, creating a highly enjoyable listening experience." (Kirsty Humphrey, Stringendo, vol. 29 no. 1, 2007) "CDs of the Year 2006: SCHUMANN The complete string quartets. Fine Arts Quartet, Naxos, 8570151. Just out! The Fine Arts Quartet was my big chamber-music revelation this year: it's that golden-age edge that I adore, the intense sweetness of first violin Ralph Evans' tone, the beauty of the close-knit sounds and the completeness of their involvement in the music - as superb as ever in Schumann's personal, subtle and sensitive quartets which, again, are never played as often as they should be." (Jessica Duchen's Classical Music Blog, Dec.23, 2006) Full review "It has been extremely unusual until very recently for all three Schumann Quartets, his Op. 41, to be recorded on one CD...This is, I believe, the best of the lot...The Fine Arts Quartet...is one of America's best quartets...This is an outstanding set." (J Scott Morrison, Amazon.com, December 22, 2006) Full review "These versions of the three Schumann string quartets certainly testify to the [Fine Arts] Quartet's genuine class and musical refinement." (Guardian Unlimited, December 15, 2006) "This is an excellent issue of the once neglected Schumann quartets" (Ying Chang, Musicalpointers, 2006) Full review "Long phrases are a characteristic of the playing, the four priceless instruments sounding exquisite in the quiet and pensive passages, the slow movement and opening to the finale of the second quartet never having emerged with greater beauty. The first and second quartet's scherzos bubble with pleasure." (David's Review Corner, December 2006) Full review "A great bargain." (Stephen Pettitt, musicandmusicians.com, 2007) Full review "Superbly clear, honest performances of these underrecorded works by the Fine Arts Quartet. Available at awesomely cheap prices to boot." (gnirob, rateyourmusic.com, 2006) Full Review  Glazunov: Five Novelettes and String Quintet - Naxos CD 8.570256 "Glazunov's warmly attractive lyricism, as well as his technical mastery come out winningly in both these works...The Fine Arts Quartet, plus Nathaniel Rosen on the second cello, give brilliant performances, warmly understanding as well as polished, and very well recorded in New York." (Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music 2010) "Memorable in every way...Glazunov proves, if proof were needed, that he is a minor master. Maybe not original (all rather of the previous generation perhaps - Tchaikovsky, even Dvorak is apparent) but liltingly graceful and memorable. Yes, memorable. The performances are superb: fresh, alert and deeply musical. Recorded sound is similarly impressive. Another Naxos triumph in fact. (Guy Whit, Amazon.co.uk, 9 May 2009) Full review "Fantastische Rarität...Insbesondere die hier vom Fine Arts Quartett eingespielten "Noveletten" sind ganz fantastische Beispiele der feinen, angenehmen und dennoch tiefgründigen Kompositionskunst Glasunows. Das Fine Arts Quartett interpretiert die Stücke hinreißend, mit Schwung und Empathie für das Werk." (Putti, Amazon.de, 9. März 2009) Full reviewMusicWeb International critic's choice: Recording Of The Year 2007 "I strongly believe that Glazunov’s substantial output of music is not as well known as it deserves to be. This admirable Naxos release of the Five Novelettes and the String Quintet will help to redress the balance and not just appeal to chamber music lovers. Recorded in New York the sonics are to demonstration standard. For my money the delightful and substantial Five Novelettes is a hidden gem worthy of discovery." (Michael Cookson, Music Web International, December 2007) Full review "The Fine Arts Quartet is a highly accomplished ensemble. On the evidence of these superb performances and other recent releases such as the Schumann String Quartets 1-3 they prove themselves to be in the same elevated league as ensembles such as the Emerson, Škampa, Talich, Takács...There are only a small number of alternative versions of Glazunov’s String Quintet and Five Novelettes and none that I consider an improvement over this superb Naxos release." (Michael Cookson, Music Web International, November 2007) Full Review "I cannot resist Glazunov's sweetly melodious String Quintet and the Five Novelettes on a new Naxos CD (8.570256), gorgeously performed by the Fine Art Quartet, with Nathaniel Rosen playing the second cello." (Robert R. Reilly, InsideCatholic.com, Nov 24, 2007) Full review "Die Noblesse und die distinguierte Spielkultur des Fine Arts Quartet lassen das Vorurteil, Glasunows Musik wäre zu seicht und ohne Tiefe, schnell vergessen und zeigen den russischen Komponisten schlicht und einfach als Meister von wunderbaren musikalischen Einfüllen." (Ensemble Magazin für Kammermusik 4/2007: August und September) "Phrasing is warm and affectionate; rhythms are moulded and not detonated; homogeneity of string tone ensures a capacious sound...the performances are sympathetic and accomplished and the recording allows plenty of detail to register without becoming clinical. Genial Glazunovians will enjoy the wares on offer." (Jonathan Woolf, Music Web International, June 2007) Full Review "Loving performances and spectacular sound...should qualify this release for some kind of 2007 music award. Don't pass it up!" -- Bob McQuiston, Classical Lost and Found (Crock's Newsletter, April 28, 2007) Full Review "The first time I heard Glazounov's String Quintet..., it served as kind of a "'gateway drug" to my ten-year-long obsession with his chamber music...This very fine recording has kick-started my habit once again...I like this performance of the Novelettes as much as the one by the Hollywood Quartet." (American Record Guide, July/August 2007) "Powerfully energetic and tenderly poetic...Anyone who knows and loves Glazunov and doesn't know these works should hear this disc." (James Leonard, Allmusic.com, March 2007) Full Review "Each movement underlines just how adept the Fine Arts players are at contrasting moods, both between and within sections...It is all profoundly rewarding." (The Strad, July 2007) "I was delighted to review this particular CD because I have been waiting almost 20 years for a recording of the Five Novelettes by Alexander Glazunov...I found the Novelettes to be totally charming, in fact delightful. The string quintet is a good piece without being great, but is absolutely well-made and pleasing, and the Fine Arts and Rosen play it superbly. The playing is “old school” in the best possible way, with beautiful portamenti, thick dark vibratos and luscious sound. The sonic equivalent of eating chocolate ice-cream in the bath—a total pleasure." (Christopher Latham, Limelight, November 2007) "   Five Novelettes opening this CD were written at the age of 16, and what a joy they are. Using Spanish, Hungarian and ‘Oriental’ melodies, the Novelettes are free spirited and highly enjoyable. The String Quintet was written ten years later and is equally competent, but less energetic. The Fine Arts Quartet and cellist Nathaniel Rosen obviously enjoy this music, as will anyone who takes the time to listen." (Andrew Fraser, Music Australia Guide, July 2007)"Die hervorragende Einspielung von A. Glasunows Streichquintett op.39, einem Meisterwerk der Gattung, mit dem Fine Arts Quartett und Nathaniel Rosen schliesst eine Lücke im so reichhaltigen Katalog von Naxos...das Fine Arts Quartett und der Cellist Nathaniel Rosen legen eine in allen Belangen überzeugende Interpretation dieses Meisterwerkes vor...Die orchestrale Anlage des Quintetts scheint wie geschaffen für das Fine Arts Quartett und Nathaniel Rosen, die das Werk stets in vollen Zügen auskosten und technische oder intonatorische Probleme nicht zu kennen scheinen." (magazin.klassik.com, 22.11.2007) "The members of Fine Arts Quartet, one of America's finest and long resident at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, are joined by Tchaikovsky Competition cello gold medalist Nathaniel Rosen for this fine disc." (J Scott Morrison, Amazon.co.uk, 14 April 2007) Full review "Seldom heard or recorded, the disc makes a welcome addition to the catalogue." (David Denton, David's Review Corner, March 2007)  Beethoven: Complete String Quartets Op.18 [Box set] - Lyrinx LYR 2254 SACD (released 2008) ***** A fantastic new reading of these oh-so-familiar pieces. It is wonderful to have so many new recordings by the historically great Fine Arts Quartet...This one sports the usual Fine Arts virtues: classical elegance, muscular rhythmic prowess, and sober, realistically projected stylistic congruence...What you will find is sumptuous sound in a superb recorded setting that displays these six magnificent works in about as fine a recording as you are likely to hear. Couple the sound with real inspiration and a studied presentation of these pieces, and this is likely to take first place among almost any collection, even those well worn and dotingly familiar. A great job all around. (Steven Ritter, Audiophile Audition, February 27, 2009) Full review "***** Das Fine Arts Quartet [hat] den Opus-18-Zyklus taufrisch zur Kenntnis genommen, als ob die Musiker gar nicht von früheren Interpretationen beeinflusst wären...und zwar so ausgeführt, dass die Eleganz der Phrasierungen, inbesondere beim exzellenten Primarius Ralph Evans, die selbstbewussten Attitüden dieser Musik betont. Deshalb ist dieses Set unbedingt als hervorragende Referenzaufnahme zu empfehlen." (Hans-Dieter Grünefeld, Ensemble Magazin für Kammermusik, 1/09) Performance:  Sonics (S/MC): / "Illuminated by elegance, this remarkable pure DSD recording provides an ideal audiophile medium for the Bonn master’s opus 18. First off, elegance of style wherein the Fine Arts Quartet’s mastery gives the music an élan of rare pertinence. Elegance of discourse too, wherein each phrase seems weightless, floating above the notes. Finally, elegance of expression, wherein we rediscover with clarity the interrogations of the composer racked with doubt but aware of the historic task he was accomplishing. Here then is a top-ranking triple SACD that is one of the great musical and audiophile experiences."(Jean-Jacques Millo/Lawrence Schulman, SA-CD.net, November 15, 2008) Full review "Classique: BEST of 2008" (Arte.tv, 12/2008) Full review "Das US-amerikanische Fine Arts Quartet scheint diese Widmung bei seiner Interpretation tief verinnerlicht zu haben. Mit verspielter Eleganz und gleichzeitig nobler Zurückhaltung spielen sie diesen frühen Beethoven mehr als andere Ensembles so, als ob er in unmittelbarer Nähe zu Mozart und Haydn stünde, was ja für dieses Werk auch alles andere als unzutreffend ist...Das Ergebnis ist ein ungewohnt zurückhaltender, leichter, fast tänzerischer Beethoven und allemal hörens- und entdeckenswert." (Sal Pichireddu, Der Schallplattenmann sagt, Ausgabe #608 vom 24.11.2008) Full review "Placé sous le signe de l’élégance, ce remarquable enregistrement à la prise de son en pur DSD offre à l’opus 18 du maître de Bonn un support idéal. Elégance du style tout d’abord, où la maîtrise du Fine Arts Quartet offre à la musique un élan d’une rare pertinence. Elégance du discours musical ensuite, au cœur duquel chaque phrasé semble comme en apesanteur, flotter au-dessus des notes. Elégance de l’expressivité enfin où l’on retrouve, avec limpidité, les interrogations du compositeur en proie au doute mais aussi conscient de la tâche historique qu’il accomplissait. Voici donc un triple album SACD de tout premier plan, pour une des plus belles expériences musicales et audiophiles qui soient." (Jean-Jacques Millo, Opus Haute Définition e-magazine, numéro 48, 15-11-2008) Full review "Le Fine Arts Quartet nous livre une lecture inspirée de l’opus 18 de Beethoven : une interprétation magnifiquement captée par René Gambini pour la firme Lyrinx" (Mathias Heizmann, arte.tv, 21/10/2008 ) Full review "Beethovens op.18 in einer genialen Interpretation des Fine Arts Quartet, meisterhaft aufgenommen von René Gambini für Lyrinx." (arte.tv, 21/10/2008 ) Full review "Le résultat est tout simplement magnifique. Car si le répertoire pour quatuor à cordes est souvent à juste titre réputé plutôt difficile d’accès, il faut souligner ici la magnifique interprétation qui nous est donnée de ce corpus juvénile, le rendant non seulement très accessible par la limpidité de la lecture mais encore tout à fait plaisant par l’incroyable jeunesse qui s’en dégage. Nous sommes à des années-lumière des enregistrements grinçants que nous avons un peu tous subis et avec lesquels nous avions pensé avoir découvert ces œuvres. Bravo donc pour ces Américains." (Frédéric Platzer, ResMusica, 11/11/2008) Full review "  Beautifully performed, superb sound quality, as good as any performance I have heard or owned. Highly recommended."(customer review, Acoustic Sounds, 1/20/2009) Full review  Mozart: String Quintets 1 - 6 [Box set] - Lyrinx LYR 2214 SACD " If you love Mozart and collect SACD recordings, this is: Indispensable! Having recently purchased an SACD player, I set about searching for "essential" recordings. This collection of 6 quintets on three SACDs is indeed such a one. The sound and playing are superb. The copyright dates on the back of the jacket are 2001 and 2002, so get this now while get is still available."(David Walcutt, Amazon.co.uk, 19 Mar 2010) Full Review " Lovely playing and recording - a possible Rosette record! The Grumiaux's performances of these six masterpieces...have deservedly held Rosette status for many years now in the Penguin Guide. Now here comes a set from French audiophile house Lyrinx which has been given no pubicity or press at all but whch, to my ears and mind, challenges the Grumiaux's...for a share in that Rosette. The Fine Arts/Gandelsman approach to these wonderful pieces is slightly more romantic, warm and genial than the intense but spare Grumiaux set...I loved [the Fine Arts Quartet's] warmth and humanity, - but a warmth which is not without darkness and drama where appropriate...And the sound? Well, its absolutely splendid...The Fine Arts (pure DSD) sound on Lyrinx matches the performances, - intimate but open, detailed but warm. All in all, this is a splendidly performed and recorded set of great music which is by turns eminently civilised and intensely dramatic. Easily 5/5 and the first real challengers to that Grumiaux Rosette." (P. Simpson, Amazon.com, Jan 26, 2005) Full review Performance: Sonics: "What a fine set of recorded music these three discs represent!!!! The playing is top notch, as is the recording...This set should be in every Mozart and chamber music lover's collection. This is an expensive set, but worth it." (Steven Harrison, SA-CD.net, May 30, 2004) Full review "I queued up the Fine Arts Quartet & Yuri Gandlesman's triple SACD of the Mozart String Quintets and reveled in the newfound soundstage that separated each musician from his fellow in the recording acoustic in a way that I'd never quite experienced before. And the tone of the two violins, the violas, and the single cello was utterly pure." (Soundstage, December 2003) Full review "Here are brand new recordings in the best possible sound on SACD. In fact, the sound is thrilling - warm and airy, yet detailed - and makes you appreciate the playing all the more...[The Fine Arts Quartet's interpretations] are more dramatic, more colorful, more emphatic than the Grumiaux's...There is a lot of warmth and beautiful tone as well. In fact, they make K.614 more beautiful than I have ever heard it." (Vroon, American Record Guide, Sept/Oct 2003) Performance: Sonics: "This a a great release, and should be in the collection of every lover of Mozart and of chamber music." (Thomas Ream, SA-CD.net, August 24, 2003) Full review"Gloriously rounded in tone and beautifully captured in the atmospheric acoustics of Fontevraud Abbey (those readers with a surround-sound decoder can access the Super Audio track to spellbinding effect), these interpretations come as a revelation...The performers catch the dark patina to perfection - the warmth behind the chill and the tears behind the laughter... When the music dances merrily in the major, the change of mood is like an electric shock, so uncontainable is this ensemble's infectiously communicated joy... Highly recommended." (The Strad, January 2003) "...a new recording from my long time favorite string quartet...The playing is just superb, and...the spatial separation is almost holographic, adding dimensional interest to the rapid-fire musical exchanges going on between the instruments." (Hi-Res Audio Reviews, January 2003) Full Review "One of the few SACD boxed sets to have appeared until today, a complete recording of the Mozart String Quintets, played by the Fine Arts Quartet...which comes in stereo and multi-channel, is extraordinary in instrumental color and precision." (Videohifi 2003) Full review " 5 Stars. Polished and enthusiatic performance...This music is for living with and for living from, being recharged by it." (Acousticsound.com, 02/16/2005) Full review "It's a fantastic set, one of the most pleasurable SACD (set)s I've heard so far" (SA-CD.net, April 15, 2004) Full review  (Diapason, Novembre, 2002)"The Fine Arts Quartet with Yuri Gandelsman playing Mozart String Quartets [Lyrinx LYR 2214] sounded superb. The openness, clarity, and clear demarcation between musicians were beautifully rendered." (Soundstage, June 2004) Full review Selected as one of "My 10 Rosette Classical SACDs" (amazon.com) Full review  Dohnányi: Die Streichquartette - Aulos AUL 66145 "Das seit mehr als 60 Jahren existierende Fine Arts Quartet aus den USA hat sich diese Werke - wie man es gewohnt ist - mit Lebendigkeit, Ernst und frischem Musikantentum angenommen, ganz im Sinne und Geiste der Ideen des Komponisten und mit faszinierenden Aspekten für den jeweils anders gearteten Klang der jeweiligen Entstehungszeit. Ein doppelt grandioses Zeugnis: von der Musikalität dieses nimmermüden Quartetts und von der zu wenig beachteten Besonderheit Dohnányis als Komponist." (Ensemble - Magazin für Kammermusik, August/September 2005) "Das Fine Arts Quartet kann wieder rundum überzeugen, die hohe Klangqualität unterstützt den positiven Gesamteindruck. Als Dokument einer ins 20. Jahrhundert hinein ‚verlängerten‘ Romantik besitzt diese Interpretation von Dohnányis Streichquartetten bleibenden Wert. Das Fine Arts Quartet erweist sich als engagierter Fürsprecher dieser Werke." (Michael Loos, klassik.com, 15.06.2005) Full review "...die vorliegende CD des Fine Arts Quartet überrascht... und fesselt ... Dohnányi-Quartette werden geradezu aufregend." (Deutschlandfunk, 29.05.2005) Full review "... drei klassisch geformte und äußerst reizvolle, weil harmonischen ungemein farbenreiche Werke mit dezentem folkloristischen Einschlag vom amerikanischen Fine Arts Quartet ... mit großer Verve und vibratosatter Klanglichkeit ..." (Fono Forum)  Dohnányi: Die Klavierquintette - Aulos AUL 66146 "Le meilleur enregistrement disponible à ce jour des deux quintettes avec piano de Dohnányi" (Théo Bélaud, classiqueinfo.com, 6 février 2009) Full review "rundum empfehlenswert" (KLASSIK.COM) "Mit großem und prägnantem Elan gespielt." (NMZ)  Wolf: Quartet/Italian Serenade - Hänssler Classic CD 93.024 "Warm, full sound...this Hänssler Fine Arts Quartet performance...is well played by this long established American group in the pleasing acoustics of the Sudwestfunk Studios in Baden-Baden." (Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music 2010) "A silver-toned, scampering rendition of Wolf's witty and concise Italian Serenade makes a delightful encore. Warmly recommended." (Classics Today, January 10, 2002) "In this recording, the Fine Arts Quartet is well on top of the music's technical demands and plays with enthusiastic energy." (The Strad, January 2002) "True to their name, the musicians of the Fine Arts Quartet exhibit a high degree of artistry, and they have a beautiful sound, which is but one of their many means of artistic expression." (Frankfurter Allgemeine, November 9, 2001) "The Fine Arts's blend, precision of ensemble, dynamic range, and sheer interpretative heft proclaim them among the finest of today's string quartets." (Music Web International, September 2001) Full review "Die Interpretation springt einen beim Hören förmlich an: Das Fine Arts Quartet legt hier eine Referenz-Einspielung des ohnehin sträflich vernachlässigten, meisterhaften Quartetts von Hugo Wolf vor...Das Fine Arts Quartet entwickelt einen 'Ich lasse dich nicht'-Sog, dem sich kein Hörer entziehen kann - eine Studio-Produktion mit allen Meriten einer Live-Einspielung." (Klassik Heute, 01.07.2001) Full review "Eine atemberaubende Aufnahme eines immer noch unterschätzten Werkes." (RONDO - Klassik- & Jazz-Magazin, 10.05.2001) Full review "The Wolf D Minor Quartet is a work that makes severe demands on the players, and few are those willing to risk programming it in public. The Fine Arts Quartet makes as strong a case for it as one could wish, in a performance that carries real conviction; and the Italian Serenade...is also most attractively done." (BBC Music Magazine, October 2001) Full review "The CD is to be highly recommended." (Crescendo, das KlassikMagazin, Oct/Nov 2001) "The String Quartet in D minor...is well-worth careful audition, especially if you are emotionally touched by the late Beethoven String Quartets." (Classical Net, August 11, 2008) Full review "This CD by the 10 star Fine Arts Quartet is a tour de force...the Fine Arts Quartet is absolutely into it with extraordinary skill and a grand capacity to put us into the heart of this gifted and troubled composer." (Amazon.com, June 9, 2005) Full review Haydn Quartets Op.77, No.1 & 2 - Lyrinx CD 196 "These are warm and characterful accounts of Haydn's last two completed quartets." (International Record Review, December 2000) "Das amerikanische Fine Arts Quartett, das eine über fünfzigjährige Aufführungstradition verkörpert und seit achtzehn Jahren in der gleichen Besetzung spielt, präsentiert die Quartette mit großem Ton und großer Geste, von einer ausgezeichneten Aufnahmetechnik wirkungsvoll in Szene gesetzt, als "Klassiker". Unangekränkelt von historisierenden Bestrebungen und frei von selbstherrlichen Manieriertheiten bieten die vier Herren Quartettspiel auf höchstem Niveau, ausgewogen in der Darstellung, sorgfältig in der Artikulation, homogen im Klang." (Peter T. Köster, Klassik Heute, 01.10.2000) Full review "The artists of the Fine Arts Quartet display an eloquence with artistry and sensitivity, while emphasizing the dynamics of the contrasts and the paroxysmal tensions which underlie the entire work." (Le Vif/L'Express, August 25, 2000)  Mozart Quartet K.465/Schubert Death and the Maiden - Lodia CD 7700 "When listening to the Fine Arts Quartet, I was not so much aware of an interpretation but more that the playing seemed an inevitable and natural extension of the music itself...I could only surrender to their music-making with total enjoyment...Each player has a fine technique and produces a rich, unforced quality of tone; and the quartet as a whole is a remarkably flexible and subtle instrument...Their playing is warm and expressive within an elegant classical style." (A.S., Gramophone, June 1987) Full review "Recommendations? The Fine Arts goes on my short list of performances I cherish, along with the Budapest, Busch, and Lindsay." (Rawson, American Record Guide, January/February 1991) "A more genial, equally accomplished approach is that of the Fine Arts Quartet on Lodia 7700 [Schubert] coupled with "just as wise and winning (American Record Guide) an account of the Mozart "Dissonant" Quartet." (The CD Guide to Classical Music by Douglas C. Brown, 1993 edition) "Strong, detailed readings of both these masterpieces." (Hi-Fi News) "The Fine Arts Quartet ... has released cherishable performances of Mozart and Schubert." (American Record Guide, September/October 1990) "Rares sont les quatuors américains qui ont su trouver dans Mozart un style aussi dépouillé, une diction aussi limpide et un esprit aussi pur...Le son des violons est une véritable caresse, la respiration des phrases, reste bienfaisante et l'articulation sobre et délicate. Mais le raffinement de leur lecture n'enlève rien à la profondeur de leur discours qui ne cède à aucune mièvrerie. Leur palette de nuances et leur richesses de timbres éclairent l'oeuvre tout entière d'un lumineux rayonnement de bonheur et de sensibilité qui place leur interprétation au rang des plus illustres (Amadeus 1966, Berg 1985). Dans la Jeunne Fille et la Mort, tout y est: la parfaite technique de quatuor, l'excellente intonation, l'émotion de l'Andante, la dynamique du Scherzo, et l'ardeur incisive du Presto final. Le plaisir est total même si le sommet des Dissonances reste unique." (Jean-Michel Molkhou, Diapason, Février 1990) "Cet enregistrement du Fine Arts qui nous parvient aujourd'hui est exceptionnel...Les interprétations sont d'une splendeur à couper le souffle. La maîtrise et l'équilibre les plus parfaits, les sonorités à la fois les plus pures, et les plus riches, s'y allient avec une intensité ardemment romantique. S'y ajoute une souveraine intelligence de la forme et de la construction...Les plus belles ne surpassent pas la nouvelle venue... A tous égards, ce nouveau disque du Fine Arts Quartet ressuscité est donc à recommander chaudement...Il s'impose comme élément de base de toute bonne collection CD!...Conclusion: au sommet de la discographie." (Harry Halbreich, Compact, Février 1987) "Le Fine Arts Quartet joue ces oeuvres brûlantes en acceptant de se laisser embrasser. A leur tour, ils nous communiquent sans peine leur violence, leur tendresse, leur chaleur. Ce qu'on appelle le feu sacré." (Gilles Macassar, Télérama, 12 Juin 1987)  Shostakovich Quartets No. 3, 7, 11 - Adés CD 14.161-2 "The Fine Arts Quartet offers one of the best performances available." (Fanfare, July/August 1990) "The Fine Arts Quartet's disc: impeccably played, powerfully recorded." (American Record Guide) "What we might think of as the Fine Arts Quartet Mk II sounds in this excellently clean recording audibly like a close relative of its former self. It's recognizably American in sound, by which I mean athletically virtuoso, very slightly lean of timbre and with an almost soloistic expressiveness from each of its members...A poignant or cantabile line is apt to be phrased by these players as though it were by Borodin, with great beauty and refinement, indeed with, if anything, too much of both qualities. Their attack is vital, their line firm and their responsiveness always admirably alert" (Gramophone, October 1990) Full Review "Le Fine Arts Quartet nous en livre aujourd'hui trois [quatuors] qui constituent tout à la fois une excellente introduction à cet univers intense et si personnel ainsi qu'un disque superbe, d'une rigueur et d'une justesse de ton qui montrent avec éclat la maîtrise de ce quatuor...Le Fine Arts Quartet se trouve à la hauteur, mettant en évidence tout ce qu'a de poignant cette musique." (L'école Libératrice, 27 Janvier 1990) "Les quatuors à cordes représentent probablement l'une des meilleures clefs d'accès à l'univers déroutant de Chostakovitch. Le Fine Arts Quartet restitue ici à la perfection l'âpreté, les violents contrastes, la désolation de ces partitions tout autant qu'un profond lyrisme qui les inscrit dans la lignée de Moussorgsky. Un fleuron de la discographie du Fine Arts; le couronnement de 43 années de travail en commun! (Le Télégramme de Brest, 1990)  Mozart String Quintets K.515 & 516 - Lodia CD 7703 "These performances came as delightful, provocative surprises...I learned to love these works all over again which is worth much more than the price of admission. I am afraid to ask for more, because I fear they cannot do it again; their readings sounded that good." (Rawson, American Record Guide, November/December, 1990) "Seldom have artists offered performances of such quality and consistency in a multiple issue. The Mozart Quintets and Debussy/Ravel pairing are as good as any in the catalogue...K515 and K516 are splendid readings, alert, elegantly played, volatile but not rushed.." (The Strad, November 1989) "Ici encore, le Fine Arts Quartet - auquel s'intègre parfaitement l'alto chaleureux de Jean Dupouy - fait montre de sa maîtrise technique, de sa musicalité, de sa rigueur." (Odile Martin, Compact, mars 1988)  Dvorak Quartet Op.96, Shostakovich Quartet No.1, Turina La Oracion del Torero - Gasparo Records LP GS-223 "Here is an ensemble that plays 'from the inside'. This is to say the listerner doesn't hear four voices...but one voice at once possessing a range from the high soprano down to the bass. (Some of the greatest quartet playing of this kind came from the old Curtis Quartet). The Fine Arts quartet performs Dvorak's American Quartet with the right combination of humor and sentiment, and the more intricate, serious Shostakovich with appropriate sensitivity and thought. This is really a great record." (Adrienne Kingsley, The New Records, v.53, no.4 - March, 1986) "This quartet has played everywhere and is one of the busiest and most in demand...They are excellent, their style and presentation is perfect. They impress you, not as a quartet, not as virtuosi, but simply with the impact of the music and their understanding of it." (Audio Magazine, October, 1986)   Debussy & Ravel Quartets/ Mozart String Quintets/ Beethoven, Wolf, Haydn - Lodia CD's 7700, 7701, 7702, 7703, 7704 LP "I felt as though they had pulled a dove from under a great silk handkerchief...a performance [Ravel] full of dramatic events." (American Record Guide, September/October 1990) "Seldom have artists offered performances of such quality and consistency in a multiple issue. The Mozart Quintets and Debussy/Ravel pairing are as good as any in the catalogue...K515 and K516 are splendid readings, alert, elegantly played, volatile but not rushed...The playing...is elegant...This is a disc I much enjoy on repeated listening and recommend highly." (James Forrest, The Strad, November 1989) "Theirs is an enjoyable reading of the Debussy...their account of the [Debussy Quartet] Andantino (taking over a minute longer than the Emerson) is one to cherish; every note and phrase is expressively felt and eloquent, and they also know how to use silence, e.g. before the Un peu plus vite middle section; there is a real climax here, and the hushed final solo by Ralph Evans is exquisitely moving." (Gramophone, April 1990) Full Review "Les membres du Fine Arts Quartet proclament leur amour pour la musique française. On les croit volontiers. Ils s'y plongent avec un délice évident. Ils y évoluent sans la moindre gêne. Ils la ressentent, la restituent dans toute son authenticité. Leur interprétation du Quatuor de Ravel est chaude, lumineuse à souhait. Ils mettent en évidence tour à tour le lyrisme, la tendresse, la fougue. Un Ravel jeune, ardent, sensible. Plus abstrait, plus rigoureux, plus superficiel peut-être, le Quatuor de Debussy se trouve souligné dans son architecture et son extraordinaire richesses sonore. Et quelles sonorités ont ces Américains! Quelle sûreté, quel sens des nuances et de l'unité. Pas de vedette dans cette formation mais une parfaite compréhension mutuelle. Une sorte de fusion de chaque instant. Et le plaisir évident de faire de la musique ensemble. Un mélange original: la rigueur du travail américain teintée de la chaleur slave." (Odile Martin, Compact, mars 1988) "Le Fine Arts Quartet...propose une vision vibrante, colorée et virtuose." (Pierre-E. Barbier, Diapason, 1987) "The Haydn is large in scale, emphatic and robustly conceived. No Dresden China Classical miniature here! The Wolf Serenade...scampers intriguingly: a deliciously witty, animated reading. The Beethoven is very fine...Highly recommended." (Harris Goldsmith, The Strad, October 1988) |
Rouffach: Festival Musicalta "La 15e édition du festival Musicalta...s’est ouverte par une exceptionnelle prestation du quatuor américain « The fine arts quartet » et du pianiste Jean-Frédéric Neuburger. Le premier concert d’un festival donne souvent le ton de l’ensemble. Musicalta 2010 devrait donc être un excellent cru, sinon un cru exceptionnel...Le « Fine arts quartet »...nous a gratifiés d’une excellente entrée en matière avec le premier quatuor de l’opus 77 en sol majeur de Joseph Haydn...D’entrée, on a été séduit par la finesse de l’exécution, un phrasé exceptionnel dans cette œuvre très mélodique, et la grande homogénéité de la formation." (Jean-Marie Schreiber, L'Alsace.fr, 25/07/2010) Full Review Capri "Sul palco figuravano i magnifici archi del Quartetto «Fine Arts», più la viola di Danilo Rossi, intervenuta per il Quintetto di Mozart in re maggiore K. 593... Nella seconda parte è apparso, a sorpresa...dell' intenso Sestetto d' archi in si bemolle maggiore di Brahms.Una interpretazione indimenticabile, vissuta ancor più che suonata." (Mya Tannenbaum, Corriere della Sera, 20 luglio 2010) Full Review Lille: Festival Clef de Soleil "Le Fine Arts Quartet ouvre le festival Clef de soleil...Le très beau quatuor à cordes en la mineur opus 41 n°1 de Robert Schumann, magistralement interprêté par les musiciens du Fine Arts Quartet...Ce concert de prestige, offert par la ville de Lille, a reçu un accueil enthousiaste." (La Voix du Nord, 06.07.2010) Full Review Schloss Bühlerhöhe (Bühl) "Fine Arts Quartett unterstreicht mit einem faszinierenden Konzert auf der Bühlerhöhe seinen Weltruf...Kammermusik auf Weltklasseniveau gab es beim Schlosskonzert...Schon gleich nach den ersten Takten...war man fasziniert von dem Klangerlebnis, das hier geboten wurde...Jede einzelne Stimme war in einem kaum für möglich zu haltenden Maß präsent und fügte sich dennoch in ein klangliches Gesamtbild ein, das homogener nicht sein könnte. Mit haarfein austarierter Dynamik und Phrasierung verstanden es die Musiker, heftige, tiefe Gefühlswallungen auszulösen...Davor bewahrte sie ihr transparentes Spiel, das strenges Form- und Strukturbewusstsein offenbart." (Karl-Heinz Fischer, Badische Neueste Nachrichten, 5.09.2010) Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines "Pour nous, le Fine Arts Quartet, c'est comme si Roger Federer venait jouer au tennis à Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines...Le retour du Fine Arts: Superbe préouverture pour le Festival aux chandelles, avec un invité de marque qui est aussi un habitué." (Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace, 17 et 18 mai 2010) Full Review Toronto "It was...a delight to rediscover this wise and polished ensemble...What is remarkable, and what was immediately evident in its opening Haydn, is...its level of vitality and its musical commitment...The performance was elegantly contained and sophisticated, but never effete. The opening movement, with its beautiful design, was absolutely clear, fresh and balanced. The andante was at once modest and rich, in the authentic Haydn way. The minuet was vigorous and humorous...The Shostakovich Seventh Quartet is a sparkling little piece...Its sheer élan, as the Fine Arts played it, made it the perfect astringent before the sumptuous feast of the Schumann Piano Quintet. Kuerti was at his marvellous best in this opulent Schumann, absolutely at one with the four strings who, in turn, luxuriated in having such a collaborator. The result was a performance utterly alive, perfect in its integrity, with each of its four movements fully characterized and luminous in the delicacy of its dynamic shadings and lyrical inspiration...This was an experience to file in the memory as a new standard for performances of this great piece." (Ken Winters, The Globe and Mail, November 24, 2009) Full Review La Côte-Saint-André (Festival Berlioz) "Les Américains du Fine Arts Quartet, qui se produisent toute l’année dans les grandes salles du monde entier...livraient une interprétation passionnée et ardente" (La-Croix.com, 24/08/2009) Lille "RENCONTRE AU SOMMET...Le Fine Arts Quartet et Sonia Wieder-Atherton...ont offert un concert d'une rare qualité...Les nombreux fidèles du festival Clef de soleil ont pu applaudir, jeudi soir, le célèbre Fine Arts Quartet et la grande violoncelliste Sonia Wieder-Atherton, à l'auditorium du conservatoire. C'est une rencontre à marquer d'une pierre blanche..Les premières notes du Quintette D 956 en ut majeur à deux violoncelles de Schubert s'élèvent. L'auditoire retient son souffle...Cette composition mettait fin à un programme par ailleurs consacré à Haydn et Chostakovitch, brillamment interprété par le fameux quartet." (La Voix du Nord , 27.07.2009) Full review Sorrento "...Di ciò chiaramente si coglieva talora qualche spunto nelle esecuzioni dell’insigne quartetto americano che ha eseguito i quartetti op.13 ed op.44 n.2, seguiti da un graditissimo fatato bis. Sonorità screziate e plastiche al contempo, nel dialogo fortemente serrato e coeso tra i singoli strumentisti, hanno dato al pubblico emozioni quasi sinfoniche." (Massimo Lo Iacono, ilroma.net, 20 luglio 2009) Full Review Orford, Canada "L’une des rares visites du Quatuor Fine Arts au pays nous a donné droit à un excellent concert, vendredi soir dernier, à Orford. Le quatuor existe depuis cinquante ans et reste un des rares quatuors qui parcourt le monde entier depuis aussi longtemps...Tout était merveilleusement en place, des phrasés explosifs, des diminuendi à en couper le souffle, du grand raffinement." (Pier Carlo Liva, côtéblogue.ca, 30 juin 2009) Full Review Naantalin musiikkijuhlat (Naantali Music Festival - Finland) "Amerikkalainen Fine Arts Quartet soitti, kuin unelma." (rannikkoseutu.fi, 4.6.2009) Palm Beach, FL "The Fine Arts String Quartet received a standing ovation Sunday at The Society of the Four Arts, not because it played a program of guaranteed crowd pleasers, but because the carefully chosen lesser known works were played with elegance and style...The group plays with tight ensemble, razor-sharp rhythm and flawless balance...The Fine Arts String Quartet gave it [Shostakovich Quartet No.7] a spectacular performance...The Fine Arts String Quartet gave it [Grieg Quartet] a magnificent performance. The audience reaction was immediate and enthusiastic." (Joseph Youngblood, Palm Beach Daily News, March 10, 2009) Full Review Palm Beach, FL "The auditorium at Palm Beach’s Society of the Four Arts, was the perfect acoustical venue for Sunday’s concert by these superb players...The Fine Arts ensemble drew forth a silky sound that was never forced, classically restrained, and perfectly blended together... It was a bold move to schedule Grieg’s only completed, but infrequently heard, String Quartet...The Fine Arts embraced all of its best qualities with full conviction...This ensemble...continues to rank among the best chamber groups performing today." (Alan Becker, South Florida Classical Review, March 09, 2009) Full Review Schloss Bühlerhöhe (Bühl) "INTERPRETATION IS BIS IN DIE FEINSTEN NUANCEN STIMMIG. DAS FINE ARTS QUARTETT GEHORT ZUR ABSOLUTEN WELTSPITZE DER KAMMERMUSIK (Überschrift)...Selbstverständlich verfügen alle fünf Streicher über eine perfekte Spieltechnik und eine ganz mühelos wirkende Virtuosität. Das Faszinierende an ihrem Musizieren ist aber die schier unglaubliche klangliche und dynamische Homogenität, die ihre Interpretationen aufweisen." (Karl-Heinz Fischer, Badische Neueste Nachrichten, 20. März 2009) Schloss Bühlerhöhe (Bühl) "ENSEMBLE GLÄNZT MIT GENAU AUSBALANCIERTEM KLANGBILD/ GROSSE INTERNATIONALE KONZERTERFAHRUNG (Überschrift)...Das Fine Arts Quartett aus den USA, exzellent aufeinander abgestimmter Klangkörper seit nunmehr 60 Jahren, erfreute mit seinem Konzert...die zahlreichen Besucher." (Badisches Tagblatt, 20. März 2009) Columbus, OH "Chamber Music Columbus presented an impressive example of artistic mastery last night with the Fine Arts Quartet at the Southern Theatre...The players' technical skills are first-rate, their performance flawless and well-balanced...They played with richness and drama, drawing the beauty out of every melodic line and balancing it with the underlying counterpoint. They ventured boldly into Romantic intensity with a sound full of soaring harmonics." (Columbus Dispatch, February 1, 2009) Full review Washington, D.C. "On Sunday evening at the National Gallery of Art as part of the "Mendelssohn on the Mall" festival, the estimable Fine Arts Quartet put some of the early advanced explorations in high relief...Due to its long history, the Fine Arts Quartet is one of the gold-plated names in chamber music. In its suave and elegant account, Mendelssohn's String Quartet Op. 12 emerged as a direct successor to the late string quartets of Beethoven." (Daniel Ginsberg, Washington Post, January 27, 2009) Full review Washington, D.C. "Last weekend, the latter venue [the National Gallery of Art]...hosted an exquisite concert by the Fine Arts Quartet in front of a full house...The Fine Arts Quartet’s gentle use of vibrato and carefully synchronized bow control was well suited to the wet acoustic of the West Garden Court. Furthermore, their statuesque demeanor allowed the music to flow through the performers as vessels. The people listening most intently in the room last Sunday were indeed the performers, whose intonation, tempos (fast notes never seemed fast) and ensemble were on par with the about-to-retire Guarneri Quartet...We hope to see the Fine Arts Quartet in the Washington area more frequently." (Michael Lodico, Ionarts, January 27, 2009) Full review Festival de San Miguel de Allende (Mexico) "El virtuosismo y el talento indiscutible del Fine Arts Quartet, de Estados Unidos, se volvió a vivir en el Teatro Angela Peralta de esta localidad, donde ejecutaron piezas de Felix Mendelssohn y Camille St. Saens. En el marco del Festival de San Miguel de Allende, que se realiza aquí del 19 al 31 de diciembre y que reúne a destacados artistas de la música de cámara, el ensamble estadounidense cautivó de nueva cuenta al público asistente....Obra en la que los integrantes del ensamble, nuevamente conquistaron al respetable, no sólo por su magnífica ejecución, sino por la selección del repertorio, que le valió varias ovaciones durante la velada." (vanguardia.com, 22-diciembre-2008) Full review Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival "GRANDIOSER AUFTAKT ZUM SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN MUSIK FESTIVAL (SHMF); FINE ARTS QUARTET SETZTE MAßSTÄBE (Überschrift)...Hochkarätiger geht nicht: Ralph Evans und Efim Boico, Chauncey Patterson und Wolfgang Laufer, bilden derzeit das Fine Arts Quartet, das bereits 1946 gegründet wurde und bis heute unverändert weltweit als eines der besten Streichquartetts und somit als Maßstab gilt. Dem diesjährigen SHMF-Länderschwerpunkt getreu, servierten die „Weltmeister“ ihres Genres Streichquartette von Rachmaninoff, Schostakowitsch und Tschaikowsky...Hier sind wahre Meister am Werk." (RZ Kultur, 15.07.2008) Full review Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival "Sie sehen aus wie Gentlemen, und auch ihre Spielkultur trägt alle Züge feinster Noblesse: Stil, Eleganz, Klasse, Ausstrahlung. Die vier Herren des Fine Arts Quartet sind die Meister der hohen Kunst des Quartettspiels." (Partout, das Kulturmagazin Online, 07.2008) Full review Cremona "Saturday evening we listened to a great concert...The Fine Arts Quartet played impeccably, with a pure and smooth sound, a real delight for the listener! Brilliant individual playing, long partnership, humilty, devotion to music: without question they are all ingredients that can be found in the Fine Arts Quartet. At the end of the concert they also played two encores, precious gifts of their art." (Classicconcerts.blogspot, 29 settembre 2008) Full review Cremona "The highlight of the initiative was the involvement of the Fine Arts Quartet, one of the world's longest-standing and most renowned chamber-music groups. The American ensemble fascinated the audience with its sheer class, presenting a programme that ranged from Haydn...to Tchakovsky...and included Shostakovich. This wonderful evening marked the start of the long series of events organised by the Fondazione Stradivari." "Fiore all'occhiello dell'iniiziativa è stata la presenza a Cremona del Fine Arts Quartet, uno dei complessi cameristici più longevi e blasonati a livello mondiale. L'ensemble statunitense ha affascinato il pubblico con la sua immensa classe interpretativa..." (Cremona Liutaria, anno 9 - 2008 No. 2) Leeds "Review: Fine Arts Quartet **** Rachmaninov's rarely performed First String Quartet...was performed by the legendary Fine Arts Quartet...Shostakovich's Eighth Quartet, composed to "the victims of fascism and war", found them tearing into the frenetic second movement with total abandonment, but it was their creation of the work's chilling feeling of desolation that was the memorable aspect." (Yorkshire Post, 19th October 2008) Full review Cannes (Nuits musicales du Suquet) "Sans parler des qualités personnelles de chacun d'entre eux [Fine Arts Quartet]: technique magnifique, son riche et jamais forcé, justesse irréprochable, c'est l'évident naturel et la précision avec lesquels la musique coule, l'empathie avec les oeuvres qui subjuguent." (La Lettre du Musicien, première quinzaine d'octobre 2008, no 362) Lille "STANDING OVATION POUR LE FINE ARTS QUARTETT ET JEAN-LUC VOTANO, À L'AUDITORIUM (titres)...Le temps s'est arrêté, jeudi soir, à l'auditorium du conservatoire, l'espace d'un merveilleux moment offert au public de Clef de soleil par le Fine Arts Quartett, Jean-Luc Votano... et le divin Mozart !...une très nombreuse assistance était présente pour écouter le prestigieux quatuor à cordes américain..." (La Voix du Nord, 03.08.2008) Full review Luberon Festival de Quatuors à cordes "LE QUATUOR FINE ARTS TOUJOURS AU ZENITH (titres)...On ne pouvait que s’en réjouir en admirant à Silvacane la superbe maîtrise" (La Provence, 19 Août 2008) Festival aux Chandelles "Fondé en 1946, le Fine Arts Quartet...est riche d'une histoire prestigieuse et d'une tradition héritée du légendaire Quatuor de Budapest...Les quatre musiciens atteignent des sommets d'émotion..." (Les Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace, 19 Août 2008) Full review Milwaukee "SPARKLE AND SPIRIT (headline)...The Fine Arts Quartet finished their spring season in fine form last Sunday, proving that well-known works can sound fresh and exciting when performed by master musicians...This performance showed the Fine Arts at their best, with a rich sound and effortless musicality." (Charles Grosz, ExpressMilwaukee.com, April 16, 2008) Full review Washington "This ensemble exudes mature, seasoned musicianship. Together for many years, its members do not try to showboat or emote; they focus on the music...And they have the sine qua non of every great string quartet, which is a strong second violinist. Efim Boico brings first-violin chops and presence, but willingly subsumes himself into the quartet fabric." (Washington Post, March 10, 2008) New Haven (Yale University) "FINE ARTS QUARTET SUCCEEDS WITH PRECISION, SUBTLETY (headline)...The Fine Arts Quartet is an American institution. They have a presence in the world of recorded music that makes the opportunity to hear them live irresistible...The quartet has a product that is extremely well-sanded with a core of interpretive values that impressed repeatedly throughout the evening. Simple things, often: the release of a chord, resonance created through matched vibrato, octave playing balanced perfectly across registers, tempi adjusted in subtle, effortless ways...The ecstatic atmosphere set the stage for an effervescent finale...The precision was emblematic of the evening; four players in a state of motion shaping a series of core interpretive values." (The Hartford Courant, November 29, 2007) Full review Jerusalem "We were in the company of four of today`s greatest chamber music players...The Fine Arts Quartet placed the work under a magnifying glass, picking up on the smallest and most delicate of details, presenting not a showy interpretation but rather one of fine detail and humility... The Fine Arts Quartet was using its large palette of colors to remind us that music is a form of entertainment, a play of layers and textures, a feast of the senses." (gojerusalem.com, October 25, 2007) Full review Menton "MAGIQUE - FINE ARTS QUARTET (titres)...Avec la venue, hier, du Fine Arts Quartet, le Festival de Menton a vécu hier une de ses grandes soirées...Leur interprétation eut une douceur magique; elle fut modèle de souplesse, de cohérence, de musicalité." (Nice Matin, 18 August 2007) Prades "Avec le Fine Arts Quartet on entrait dans une autre dimension. Ralph Evans (1 er violon), Efim Boico (2 nd violon), Yuri Gandelsman (alto) et Wolfgang Laufer (violoncelle) forment le plus beau des équipages qu'aurait pu rêver d'avoir Franz Schubert afin de jouer son fameux quatuor "Rosamunde". Tout en grâce et en délicatesse, le Fine Arts Quartet nous restituait le charme de cette partition...Toute la spontanéité et la clarté de sa musique, toute la dimension émotive de son écriture étaient là, sous les archets subtils du Fine Arts Quartet." (L'Independant, 03 Aout 2007) Aachen "Das Fine Arts Quartet gehört zu den traditionereichsten wie berühmtesten Quartettformationen der Gegenwart. Den vier amerikanischen Musikern im Rahmen der Quintseence-Konzerte in Aachen zu begegnen, wurde denn auch zu einem Erlebnis besonderer Art. Nicht oft präsentiert sich im Krönungssaaal ein Kammermusikensemble dieses Ranges." (Aachener Zeitung, March 26, 2007) Full review Toronto "Their tone is warm, rich, colourful...Without question, the Fine Arts Quartet has something that touches the imagination, as if they were possessed of a Keatsian 'Negative Capability' that allows them to put off who they are and to give expression to the music as it is." (Showtimemagazine.ca, February 8, 2007) Full review Phoenix "The Fine Arts Quartet played like angels for their appearance at the Phoenix Chamber Music Society. Every phrase was thoughtful, every thought was musical." (Arizona Republic, December 8, 2006) Caramel, CA "GLORIOUS QUARTET PLAYING! (headline)...brilliant individual playing and amazingly dramatic climaxes. This was quartet playing at its best." (Peninsula Reviews, December 1, 2006) Full review San Diego "The Fine Arts [Quartet] musicians play together all the time and have a deeply ingrained mutual artistic vision." (SanDiego.com, August 5, 2006) Full review Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival "So verhalten zu beginnen, dazu gehören Mut und Können. Für die vier eleganten Herren ist das kein Thema. Seit Jahrzehnten spielen sie zusammen. 200 Werke haben sie im Repertoire, die sie mal so eben aus der Tasche ziehen können. Da herrscht Sicherheit und Selbstvertrauen. Sie spielen auf den Punkt genau zusammen. Phrasierungen, Pausen, Dynamik - alles, als wenn es eine Person wäre... Was das Fine Arts Quartet...vorführte, war atemberaubend." (Hamburger Abendblatt, 4. August 2006) Full review Full review in English San Diego "The Fine Arts Quartet played with the expected flawless expertise they've been showing off for years... Schubert's sensational masterpiece...received an emotionally riveting performance" (SanDiego.com, June 15, 2006) San Diego "The Fine Arts Quartet has a big and full sound, reminiscent of the Guarnieri during their heyday, but which they could turn off to fit the occasion. Playing the Lento, their tone was eerily dry. They used this big group tone throughout Mozart's Quartet, an old-school approach, but musically validated by their excellent performance. They brought similar emotion, precision, and beauty of tone to Beethoven's Quartet...The Fine Arts Quartet is an ensemble belonging to the first tier of string quartets" (Christian Hertzog, SanDiego.com, June 11, 2006) Full review Miami "The quality of the ensemble work, ravishing sound and interpretive abilities continue to make Fine Arts Quartet one of the most impressive groups playing today." (Alan Becker, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, May 13, 2006) Cleveland "These musicians play together with mature artistry, strong technique, rhythmic freedom and good rapport." (The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, May 10, 2006) Washington, D.C "The group gave...a tight and skilled performance, demonstrating an excellent sense of ensemble" (Washington Post, May 6, 2006) Aachen "Das Fine Arts Quartet demonstrierte erneut seine herausragende Klangkultur, Spielperfektion und sein märchenhaft vertrautes Zusammenspiel." (Aachener Zeitung, Feb. 14, 2006) Rolandseck "MEISTER IM QUARTETTSPIEL (Überschrift)...Das braucht Meister im Quartettspiel. Also solche, die dann auch im langsamen Satz von Schumanns F-Dur-Quartett op.41,2 diese raffinierten harmonischen Einfälle so verführerisch spielen können, dass man glaubt, sie zum ersten Mal zu hören. Die Fine-Arts-Leute legen da den Finger auf Klangfarben und Modulationen, die, so eingekleidet, bei Schumann eher überraschen." (Kölnische Rundschau, Feb. 11, 2006) Full review London (with Philip Dukes at the Wigmore Hall) "Ten hands, five hearts, one mind. Gorgeous." (Maureen Lipman, The Guardian, February 10, 2006) Bielefeld "WO DIE SEELE WOHNT (Überschrift)...Fine Arts Quartet im kleinen Saal der Oetkerhalle ...eines der renommiertesten und kunstfertigsten Streichquartette unserer Zeit...Das Fine Arts Quartet...erschafft fur den Augenblick aus der Synergie des Vierklangs musikalische Impressionen von gewaltiger Tiefe und Brillianz, Strahlkraft und sogartiger Hörfreude. Die Gleichung aus den vier gleichwertigen Instrumenten-Variablen geht auf - egal welches musikalische Genre den fabelhaften Zugriff erfahren darf...Das Publikum machte aus seiner Bewunderung keinen Hehl. Zwei Zugaben...bestarkten noch den Eindruck eines Ausnahme-Konzertes." (Neue Westfälische, Jan. 31, 2006) Milwaukee "ELEGANT QUARTET (headline)...The four members of the Fine Arts are master musicians, with unquestionable technique and almost psychic communicative abilities." (Shepherd-Express - Milwaukee, Jan. 12, 2006) Norfolk "STRING QUARTET DELIGHTS WITH TECHNICAL MASTERY (headline)...The Fine Arts Quartet played with a refined elegance, using tones that were perfectly balanced, allowing each instrument to remain individual while blending into the ensemble...With sensitivity to every musical nuance, the group was able to draw the audience into the distinct personal worlds of the three different composers." (The Virginia Pilot - Norfolk, Oct. 19, 2005) Prades "C'est le génialissime Fine Arts Quartet qui présente le Quatuor No.1 en Fa M op. 18 de L. V. Beethoven et le Quatuor No.4 en Ré M op. 44 No.1 de F. Mendelssohn. Peut-on espérer entendre meilleure interprétation? Authenticité du discours musical, homogénéité des timbres et des caractères, il n'y a que l'essentiel, ils flottent, au dessus, comme réunis en une égrégore musicienne. Cet orfèvre des quatuors offre en bis le Final du Quatuor No.1 de Chostakovitch et la Valse ridicule de A. Casela. Un moment extraordinaire." (ResMusica.com, 04 Aout, 2005) Full review Prades "Una sesión que comenzó nada menos que con el Fine Arts Quartet, un grupo de sonido transparente en el repertorio mozartiano, con independencia y a la vez feliz conjunción de sus voces en esos puntos de encuentro que son la esencia del género camerístico. La versión del Cuarteto en re menor K. 421 de Mozart que realizó el Fine Arts Quartet fue romántica, con vibrato bien compensado en la suavidad del sonido, y con gracia, elegancia y profundidad en la expresión, propia de un grupo acendrado y de la gran calidad de sus integrantes." (La Vanguardia.es, 10 August, 2005) Prades: Abbaye Saint-Michel de Cuxà "Dans le Quinzième quatuor (1783) de Mozart, le Quatuor Fine Arts déploie une palette sonore et expressive remarquablement large, conjuguant rondeur et aspérités, retenue et grands gestes dramatiques, transparence et rythmes bien marqués..." (ConcertoNet.com, 08 August, 2005) Full review Prades: Abbaye Saint-Michel de Cuxà "En seconde partie, le Troisième quatuor (1838) de Mendelssohn, premier de l'opus 44, bénéficie d'une interprétation tout aussi complète et équilibrée, délicate mais sans mièvrerie, tour à tour charmeuse et tranchante, onctueuse et incisive." (ConcertoNet.com, 02 August, 2005) Full review Montpellier "Autrement plus familier, le Premier quatuor (1799) de Beethoven bénéficie ici d'une approche souriante et délicieusement surannée, avec ses sonorités moelleuses et ses portamenti d'un charme un rien langoureux. Allante et transparente, davantage en légèreté qu'en puissance, cette vision est mue par un souci d'équilibre classique plutôt que de fougue romantique, même dans le fameux Adagio affettuoso ed appassionato, tandis que l'Allegro final préserve souplesse et articulation malgré un tempo très enlevé." (ConcertoNet.com, 26 July, 2005) Full review Prades "La délicatesse de l'écriture de Mozart a été magnifiquement rendue par les virtuoses du Fine Arts Quartet à la maestria irréprochable." (l'Indépendant, 10 August, 2005) San Diego "The Fine Arts Quartet excelled at the fine art of quartet playing ..." (San Diego Union-Tribune, June 6, 2005) Full review New York: Carnegie/Weill Hall "The maturity and incisiveness of the Fine Arts Quartet's ensemble was a pleasure to hear, as were its subtle dynamics." (The Strad, May 2005) Ségry, France "Netteté des attaques, précision, justesse, les Fine Arts ne se contentent pas d'en livrer une version techniquement parfaite, ils s'investissent dans cette ouvre ou chaque voix de cette polyphonie à quatre s'entend sans être pour autant individuelle. Leur son ne se fait jamais grinçant ni agressif, ils peuvent se montrer véhéments ou enragés sans ruer dans les brancards, réservant le meilleur d'eux-mêmes pour un public qui n'a pas perdu une note de cette interprétation de haute volée." (ResMusica.com, 07 Mai 2005) Paris "Le Fine Arts Quartet est en parfaite empathie avec cette musique [Herrmann] qui ne s'adresse ni à notre cerveau, ni à nos émotions mais directement - par un miracle que je n'ai pas encore percé, mais je cherche - à notre système nerveux...Leur interprétation du Lento [Dvorak], subtil enchaînement de thèmes mélancoliques, est parfaitement inoubliable... Les rappels se sont poursuivis par le splendide Andante de Mendelssohn, que le Fine Arts Quartet a rendu avec une émotion remarquable et dans une atmosphère d'adieux... Un très, très beau moment." (Anaclase.com, Paris, Janvier, 2005) Full review Roma "Ralph Evans e Efim Boico violini, Yuri Gandelsman viola e Wolgang Laufer violoncello hanno strappato già qui i primi plausi tenendosi dapprima in punta d'arco, ma sempre con ritmo unanime e con gusto, poi scaldando progressivamente il fraseggio. Nella seconda parte, sull'altrettanto notissimo Quartetto di Schubert in re minore «La morte e la fanciulla» (1826) hanno giocato carte ancora più speciose, sfoderando la gamma degli effetti, facendo perno sulla complessa e ripetuta elaborazione tematica, sull'arditezza delle modulazioni, l'adesione alla tensione psicologica, al dramma pessimistico del Lied, senza dare tuttavia minor prova nei tre numeri successivi fuori programma (Sostakovich, Glazunove Mendelssohn) di apertura a un vastissimo repertorio, che ci auguriamo di godere in altri concerti, constatata la raffinatezza e versatilità del quartetto, la sua tecnica e amalgama squisiti." (Il Tempo, Roma, Sabato 5 Marzo 2005) Gijon "La excelente técnica y compenetración, así como su belleza sonora, fueron los puntos fuertes de las lecturas de unos instrumentistas que demostraron ser unos excelentes solistas - dotados de un modélico virtuosismo individual- y un magnífico conjunto camerístico - unánime en las entradas, ataques y remates-, donde prevalece el buen entendimiento. No pudieron ser, pues, más estimulantes ni técnicamente mejores... Los músicos desmenuzaron las páginas de manera intensa y audaz con las inclinaciones pentatónicas que la caracterizan. El apasionado «Lento» fue contenido, lírico e intenso, donde las intensidades instrumentales alcanzaron cotas que no son habituales. Fue un concierto sobresaliente que gozó de la aprobación del respetable, que fue obsequiado, además, con dos bises: Glazunov y Haydn. Inmejorable." (La Nueva Espana, Gijon, 21 de enero, 2005) Bonn "FINE ARTS QUARTET BEGEISTERT IM BONNER BEETHOVEN-HAUS (Überschrift)...Durch die feinsinnige Wiedergabe bestätigte das Fine Arts Quartet seinen Ruf als ein Ensemble von beeindruckender Klanghomogenität und nobler Spielkultur... Mit großem Ernst und intensiven Klang- und Ausdrucksgesten wurden die geschilderten Leidenschaften durch das Fine Arts Quartet nachgezeichnet." (General Anzeiger - Bonn, 12 März 2005) Full review Luxembourg "UNE VISION MUSICALE RéFLéCHIE, UNE PALETTE SONORE RAYONNANTE - MAGNIFIQUES INTERPRéTATIONS PAR LE FINE ARTS QUARTET (headline)...D'une précision et d'une vigueur imaginative irrésistibles, voici un quatuor au sommet de son expression artistique, en pleine maturité, qui nous vient d'Amerique. Servi par une technique transcendante et un sens musical exigeant, le Fine Arts Quartet nous a donné de magnifiques interprétations qui témoignaient d'une recherche personnelle. Leur jeu souple mais rigoureux, la diversité nuancée de leur palette sonore, étaient au service d'une conception vaste, ou l'unité profonde de chaque composition était mise en valeur. On y ressentit une clarté presque intemporelle, qui n'excluait d'ailleurs pas certaines approches originales, comme celle qui nous surprit dans une interprétation de Grieg assez inattendue." (Luxemburger Wort, 29 Oktober 2004) St. Augustine "THE FINE ARTS QUARTET PROVES IT'S THE FINEST IN CHAMBER MUSIC (headline) ...And so the concert began with Beethoven's "Opus 18, No. 5," the audience stone-still in rapt attention. In a matter of moments, the auditorium became an intimate chamber and the tight group of four at center stage closer and larger. The notes wrought from their intruments were pure and perfect, particularly in the quiet passages. One had only to close one's eyes to be enveloped." ( St. Augustine Record, Jan 14, 2005) Oxford, England "First guests in the Oxford Chamber Music Society's series, the Fine Arts opened with [a performance]...as hallowed as polished oak - not surprisingly, [considering] the quartet's maturity and long partnership...There was a courtly grace...[which] heralded, indeed, a performance where the lucidity of structure, and the salt and pepper of the detail were perfectly merged." (Oxford Times, November 5, 2004) Newcastle "The Fine Arts Quartet were a picture of pure refinement. And their immaculate silver hair was matched with experienced flair as they proceeded to deliver one of the most dazzling concerts in the Newcastle International Chamber Music Series." (Northern Echo, November 5, 2004) Full review Epinal "LA FINE FLEUR DU QUATUOR D’ARCHETS...Rare privilège consenti aux mélomanes vosgiens abonnés des « Concerts Classiques » spinaliens, la venue du célébrissime quatuor américain Fine Arts Quartet a ouvert la saison de musique de chambre devant un auditoire de connaisseurs. Soirée exceptionnelle de par la qualité de la formation; assurément la fine fleur du quatuor d’archets au niveau mondial... Technique éblouissante, musicalité contrôlée, concentration optimale: c’est le grand professionnalisme qui domine une telle démonstration d’osmose musicale...Un monument de virtuosité instrumentale où les quatre amis font des merveilles. Les coups d’archets sont réglés au millimètre, les piz’ acrobatiques claquent comme des gifles, le jeu en sourdine est en pianissimi ténus de l’andantino est suspendu dans l’éther, la fougue passionnelle de la coda vous coupe le souffle. De plus, tout est merveilleusement analysé, fouillé, compris et rendu avec une suprême intelligence. C’était le grand moment, attendu, de cette soirée riche en découvertes." (concerts-classiques-epinal.com, Octobre, 2004) Full review Schleswig Holstein Musik Festival "FINE ARTS QUARTET: STOFF UND GEIST IM GLEICHGEWICHT" (Überschrift) (Welt Online, 9. August, 2004) Full review "FINE ARTS QUARTET: GREAT ARTISTRY (headline)...The classical program was one of absolute perfection." (Le Monde de la Musique, January 2004) Hannover "The gentlemen from the USA leave the chamber music public no doubts as to what they stand for: cultivated, refined playing." (Allgemeine Zeitung, Hannover, January 30, 2004) Siegburg "ÜBERWÄLTIGENDE INTERPRETATIONSKUNST (Überschrift)...Das Kammerkonzert in der Aula des Stadtmuseums Siegburg in der immer hochkarätig besetzten Reihe Resonanzen, das vom WDR aufgezeichnet wurde, war ein solches Erlebnis, wo jedes geschriebene Wort über die Musik nur eine Annäherung an gelebter Musik sein kann, ein musikalisches Ereignis von außerordentlichem Rang, bei dem man sich dem Genusse hingeben und der Sprache der Seele horchen konnte...Höchste Inspiration, Homogenität im Klang, ein besonderes Gefühl für die Feinheiten der jeweiligen Werke und der Musiksprachen der Komponisten waren die Vorzeichen dieses Kammermusikabends." "FINE ARTS QUARTET: OVERWHELMING ARTISTRY (headline)...This chamber music concert...recorded by WDR, was such an experience that written words describing the music can scarcely do justice to what was heard live. This was an extraordinary musical event where one could indulge in pleasure and hearken to the voice of the soul ...Highest inspiration, homogeneity of tone, and a special feel for the subtle details of each work and the musical language of the composers - all these were hallmarks of this chamber music evening." (General Anzeiger, Bonn, February 8, 2004) Full review Aachen "MUSICAL NOBILITY THAT CAN'T BE SURPASSED" (headline) (Aachener Zeitung, February 12, 2004) London: Wigmore Hall and Purcell Room "The Fine Arts Quartet makes a beautiful sound..The glowing tone, warm but never slushy vibrato and opulent phrasing was just right." (The Strad, June 2003) Harrisburg "It is frivolous to imagine the ideal string quartet. But if any ensemble approaches that quixotic level, surely it is the Fine Arts Quartet...Mozart combined with musicians of this caliber was nothing short of transcendant." (Harrisburg Patriot-News, November 10, 2002) Split (Croatia) "FESTIVALI . Amerièki ansambl opravdao visoki ugled. U ÈAROBNOM OZRAÈJU/ Nastup amerièkoga Fine Arts Quarteta odu.evio posjetitelje" (headlines) (Vjesnik. Utorak, 7. kolovoza 2001) Full review San Francisco "Few ensembles can reach the level of the Fine Arts Quartet for the closely matched intensity of playing, to say nothing of the lyric gleam of the tone. There was not one hint of the gangbusters aggressiveness that has become popular with some ensembles. It was just beautiful playing through and through... As for the Ravel, its destiny could have been to have been placed in the hands of the Fine Arts Quartet, who played it with the exuberance as well as the gracefulness that are inherent in this ardent work...An ensemble of lyric purity, the Fine Arts Quartet takes a back seat to none." (San Francisco Chronicle) Chicago "My thoughts went back to the old long vanished Budapest Quartet...Here was the same richness of sound, the well-remembered warmth, the typical Central European mixture of lyricism and wit. This was an uncommonly fine example of chamber music." (Chicago Sun-Times) Detroit "The Fine Arts Quartet is like the most comfortable of friends, one who allows you to kick off your shoes, let down your pretenses and wallow in the great warmth of its personality." (Detroit Free Press) St. Louis "They form an ensemble whose surface polish is as impressive as its interpretive depth, whose approach to music-making is remarkably unified, whose energy and panache seem limitless." (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) Los Angeles "There was an emphasis on passion - a compelling, unexaggerated, often seemingly impetuous involvement in the music - throughout the program...The Fine Arts' combination of direct emotional connections and seemingly spontaneous--yet unanimous--interpretive inspirations make it a convincing Haydn proponent" (John Henken, Los Angeles Times, October 10, 1988) Full review San Francisco "As fine a string quartet sound as can be heard from an American group today." (Robert Commanday, San Francisco Chronicle, March 30, 1989) Pittsburgh "They maintained a distinctive collective profile, and generated a vitality that brought the music to life...The players achieved a conversational quality, probing the emotional content of this compelling score in a personal, yet always collaborative way." (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) Oklahoma City "Rarely has such an elegant, rich and stylish ensemble been heard here." (Daily Oklahoman ) Jerusalem "An exciting ... program was performed with brilliance in all aspects, proving the Fine Arts Quartet to be at the top of its field. One runs out of superlatives to describe its technical flawlessness and often-breathtaking precision. There were beautiful sonorities in every mood and attention to minute detail without any loss of large lines or continuity. It was one of those rare evenings when the critic succumbs to unreserved enjoyment of the music." (Jerusalem Post) Liverpool "It was symptomatic of their approach throughout - seamless, elegant, sometimes gentle music - making...and the apparent effortlessness that comes only with total mastery." (Liverpool Daily Post) London: Wigmore Hall "The Fine Arts Quartet...an ensemble notable for its mature musicianship." (The London Daily Telegraph) Milwaukee "The Fine Arts Quartet is clearly one of America's treasures." (Milwaukee Sentinel) Phoenix "TRULY FINE ARTISTRY GRACES ENSEMBLE'S CONCERT (headline)...The ensemble swept the capacity audience off its feet with some of the finest chamber-music making in years." (Arizona Republic) Toronto "FINE ARTS QUARTET LIVES UP TO ITS NAME (headline)...It takes refined artists to explore the subterranean passions of composers from Russia, Spain and Bohemia -- fortunately, the Fine Arts Quartet has those skills in abundance... The historically informed Fine Arts four can handle a vast repertoire with urgency, astute balance, fluid declamations and extreme eloquence." (The Toronto Star, April 30, 1999) Albuquerque "The Fine Arts Quartet returned to the June Music Festival in triumph...The players won a small, collective gasp of pleasure from the audience...We must hear more from these players." (The Albuquerque Journal) Kitchener "MAGICAL MOZART (headline)...This Quartet is made up of four extraordinary individuals. The level of finesse, joined with impeccable taste, intelligence, diligence and intimate knowledge of their repertory results in an ensemble sound of incredible variety and control ... This concert is among the half-dozen finest musical events within memory." (Kitchener-Waterloo Record) Milwaukee "The loyal fans on hand must have recognized that they had just experienced something extraordinary...Here, one was able to reach that rare state of consciousness in which awareness of the music eclipses that of the performance, where the performers' egos are subsumed into the composers' intention." (Milwaukee Sentinel) Indianapolis "The players' grasp of...style seemed uncanny...The brittle energy, the veiled but lurid colors, the clash of aggressive and introspective impulses - all these qualities were faithfully brought out by the Fine Arts Quartet." (The Indianapolis Star) London: Wigmore Hall "It's rare to hear a string quartet of such manifest maturity and distinctness of personality." (Max Loppert, Financial Times, March 10, 1989) Toronto "AN EVENING OF FIRST-RATE MUSIC-MAKING (headline)...Mature, dynamic performances of works by Wolf, Schoenberg, and Mendelssohn." (Toronto Globe and Mail) Milwaukee "There are concerts and there are great musical events. Sunday's performance by the Fine Arts Quartet...was one of those great events." (Milwaukee Sentinel) Carmel, CA "BRILLIANT FINE ARTS QUARTET LEAVES AUDIENCE ALMOST IN SHOCK" (headline)... The performance was all that this critic could possibly have wished for. The virtuoso concerto-like passagework for all four players was done with breathtaking ease and assurance. Chamber music amateurs in the audience (including me) were almost in a state of shock at the end." (The Carmel Pine Cone) Birmingham "The Fine Arts Quartet is one of those groups that have earned its position among the top in chamber music." (Birmingham Observer-Eccentric) Milwaukee "JOY OF MUSIC SHINES IN QUARTET'S OFFERING" (headline) (The Milwaukee Journal) Ft. Lauderdale "The ensemble offered an elegantly phrased, rich-toned...beautifully shaded performance." (Sun-Sentinel, Ft. Lauderdale) Lexington "The Fine Arts Quartet gave a performance last night that was a veritable feast of rich tone color and drama...The Quartet played with exquisite sensitivity." (Lexington Herald Leader) Greenville "The Fine Arts Quartet's performance in the International Chamber Music Series Thursday night goes on my short list of the richest, most elegant and provocative chamber music events in Greenville in recent years." (The Greenville News, January 29, 1999) New Haven "An excellent concert by the Fine Arts Quartet...These four musicians played as a seasoned quartet. Blend was excellent...The Fine Arts Quartet showed the range of their warmly sympathetic treatment of the literature. "(New Haven Journal-Courier) Austin "The Fine Arts Quartet (received) a standing ovation for an impeccably tailored recital...This ensemble's sound has the smooth, mature patina of well-worn kid leather...The end effect was one of comfortable beauty. "(Austin American-Statesman) Kalamazoo "FINE ARTS QUARTET EXCELS AT THE CIVIC (headline)...A musical golden glow suffuses all that the ensemble plays so that a masked, or burnished quality cushions each note...This group performs all kinds of music so beautifully... that few ultimately can resist. Thursday's concert proved an exciting and glorious evening of music on its own terms." (Kalamazoo Gazette) Edmonton "QUARTET SHOWS BRILLIANCE (headline)...Consummate artistry by the Fine Arts Quartet." (The Edmonton Journal) Providence "FINE ARTS QUARTET SHOWS SILKY REFINEMENT (headline)...This is a fine-honed ensemble, up there with the very best...There was a kind of unhurried ease about their playing, a mellowness that allowed one to savor the music...For all its grandeur, this was also a remarkably refined performance." (The Providence Journal-Bulletin) Lexington "With its highly polished ensemble technique, its refined and understated interpretations, its finely regulated tonal balance, the Fine Arts Quartet showed what fine chamber playing is all about." (Lexington Herald-Leader) Portland, OR "The Fine Arts Quartet opened the 50th season of Friends of Chamber Music with a concert that was fresh and invigorating...illustrating the strengths of quartet playing: cohesiveness, technical aplomb and unity of sound and musical style... The Fine Arts Quartet played with enormous refinement, creating sound textures that were so vivid, they seemed almost tactile." (The Oregonian, Portland) Corpus Christi "These remarkable musicians...played Schubert, Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky as though these composers and their extremely challenging music were old friends. And were the composers to hear this captivating ensemble, these friendships would, no doubt, have deepened." (Corpus Christi Caller-Times) Waterloo "FINE ARTS QUARTET CONCERT IS MARVELOUS EXPERIENCE (headline)...The Quartet gave the scores their own interpretive signature." (Waterloo Courier, Iowa) Columbus, OH "The Fine Arts Quartet is carrying on a tradition of superior music-making. Saturday's performance satisfied even the pickiest chamber music fanatic." (Columbus Dispatch, Ohio) Worcester "The Fine Arts Quartet presented a beautiful program of chamber music... Worcester Art Museum was filled with an afternoon of stringed virtuosity." (Worcester Evening Gazette) Bloomington (Indiana University) "FINE ARTS QUARTET TRANSCENDS IN PERFORMANCE (headline)...Sitting down at the typewriter to summarize the impressions left after hearing the final two concerts by the Fine Arts Quartet in its 1999 summer series, one recalls, first of all, the total: a fabric of tonal luster and richness of weave... The just-completed set of Fine Arts Quartet concerts was outstanding, as rewarding a package as the group ever left behind...Most of all, I'll remember the nobility, the spirituality, the melodic beauties of those first two movements in Schubert's C Major Quintet. The reading by the Fine Arts was profoundly moving." (Herald-Times, Bloomington, Indiana) Bloomington (Indiana University) "The Fine Arts Quartet performed a spectacular program to an electrified full house...Next summer's Bloomington engagement of the Fine Arts Quartet can be anticipated as an event to be savored." (Bloomington Herald Telephone) Paris "In 50 years of existence, the Fine Arts Quartet still shows their traditionally silky sonority in fine, seamless and agile readings." (Le Monde, Paris) Geneva "Among today's excellent chamber music ensembles, the Fine Arts Quartet is in the first rank. The pleasure of listening is pure enchantment. "(La Suisse, Geneva) Berlin "A thrilling concert of chamber music was performed by the Fine Arts Quartet. The four musicians conveyed the highest level of performance and musical poetry." (Morgenpost, Berlin) Edinburgh "The Quartet No.2 of Borodin opened with such tenderness that one wondered if one had ever really listened to this piece properly before. What has always been considered a musical lollipop became in these hands, a highly sophisticated confection." (The Scotsman, Edinburgh) Chicago "Their style is elegant and polished...their intonation remarkably clean." (Chicago Tribune) Jerusalem "The highest level of performance...very musical playing and a great sense of style." (Jerusalem Post) Grenoble "DIVINE VIRTUOSITY"(headline) (Le Dauphine, Grenoble) Geneva "All repertoire seems to be suited to these musicians of the highest caliber, virtuosos without ostentation...The secret of the Fine Arts Quartet: it rests among the elite few able to display a spatial poetic conception." (La Tribune de Genève) "One can only be bewitched by their perfection...It is nearly too beautiful." (Journal de Gien, France) "LA PERLE RARE" (headline) (I.S., L'Express, 10 mars 1990) Grenoble "Fine Arts Quartet at the Alps Festival: Superb!" (headline) (Dauphine Libère, Grenoble) Geneva "Once more, we salute the warm and luminous qualities of the Fine Arts Quartet whose remarkably mellow and homogeneous playing succeeds in leaping over the threshold of jubilation." (Le Courrier , Geneva) Cologne "FINE CHAMBER MUSIC (headline)...Their secret: they were just superb (with) perfect intonation. All voices were equal, perfectly balanced and sensibly weighted." (Stadt Anzeiger, Cologne) Naantali "The Fine Arts Quartet fulfilled my highest expectations." (Turun Sanomat, Naantali, Finland) Wurzburg "FOUR FIRST-CLASS MUSICIANS FASCINATE" (headline) (Main-Post, Wurzburg) Zurich "Striking tonal homogeneity." (Neue Zuricher Zeitung) Saarbrucken "The proof that the Fine Arts Quartet may be consistently rated as the best of its kind was evident Friday evening at the first of the master concert series." (Saarbrucker Zeitung) Graz "The Fine Arts Quartet is regarded as an American institution...Superior virtuosity enhances carefully thought out, clear, well structured interpretations." (Kleine Zeitung, Graz, Austria) Ingolstadt "The Fine Arts Quartet belongs to the quartet formations of the elite class with the richest traditions. The wonderful nobility of tone, the sensational sound transparency, and the terrific balance of the ensemble playing is all there...The fantastic tone quality of the Quartet fascinated the public in the Konzertverein." (Donau Kurier, Ingolstadt) Palma de Mallorca "MEMORABLE SHOSTAKOVICH (headline)...The Fine Arts Quartet's performance was rapt, compelling and technically of the highest order. The Haydn and Dvorak quartets were each given immaculate performances. Apart from many incidental pleasures, the abiding impression was of the sympathy of the playing and the remarkable quality of the sound...Say what you like, and fiddle with your controls as you like, but no hi-fi equipment will ever reproduce instrumental richness and sonority of the kind we heard in the Santa Domingo Cloisters on Wednesday night." (Daily Bulletin, Palma de Mallorca) |
