|
The Philadelphia Inquirer
"...The women of the Moscow String Quartet play as if they
had all the time in the world: Their music pours forth with such
focus. It moves patiently ... And the devotees were rewarded by
an ensemble of uncommon musicality."
"...Their
playing makes its points through graceful phrasing, sonic beauty
and some rhythmic wit. Borodin was their natural home. The songful
writing, the sonorities, the joyous lyricism were reflected in their
every phrase."
"...The
members of the quartet used wide dynamic contrast, masterly articulation,
and clearly defined phrasing to rich an emotionally engaging performance."
"...Their
playing found the beauty and glow of the writing. Their playing
is smooth, finely tuned and based on inward subtleties."
"...A
regular in the Chamber Music series, the Moscow Quartet, all women,
plays with distinctive personality and color and an earnestness
and freedom that give the performances a feeling of idiomatic truthfulness.
American
Record Guide
"...The Lyric Chamber Music Series ...presenting the Moscow
String Quartet in two back-to-back concerts of works by Sofia Gubaidulina,
with the composer present to discuss – through an interpreter –
her life and music. Vintage Gubaidulina, you could safely say, and
vigorously expounded by the Moscow players, who have lived with
these works many years."
Stereophile
"...The Moscow's reading of Shostakovich's String Quartet 3
is a triumph. The group plays with lithe athleticism and wry wit,
digging into the composer’s architecture and Slavic touchstones
with idiomatic power."
The
Dallas Morning News
"...The Moscow, which presented an all-Russian program at Southern
Methodist University’s Caruth Auditorium, proved a pleasant surprise.
This was deft, elegant playing, passionate where called for, but
never hysterical. It was a welcome reprieve from the turbocharged
assaults of so many American quartets – and of more and more Europeans
who imitate them."
The
Denver Post
"...they are players of the highest caliber, intonation, strength,
ensemble, dynamics, tonal sheen- the ladies from Moscow possess
all the things a world- class string quartet should have."
Jackson
Hole Guide
"...And the fact of their appearance at Festival Hall was overshadowed
by the elegance, precision, power, and musicality of their playing.
My memory, which is long, cannot recall a more satisfying Mozart
quartet, and I look forward to all the music-making this group can
give us."
Northern
Echo, England
"...These four ladies make up a superb quartet. Quite often
in string quartets the parts are better than the whole. Here there
was a tangible glow of empathy, which engendered a supreme ensemble."
La
Nouvelle Gazette, Belgium
"...The perfection of the beautiful sonorities in solemn as
well as in exciting passages, the musicality, and the expressive
intensity of these four exceptional artists rendered marvelously
well all the facets of this rich composition. With imperious discipline,
they gave the first movement (Beethoven's “Serioso” Op. 95) an atmosphere
of profound and gripping spontaneity. What fiery musicality during
the impulsiveness of the second Allegro, what vibrant vitality in
the beautiful and energetic theme of the third Allegro!"
Review
Belgique, Belgium
"...What a pleasure to hear musicians such as these giving
themselves totally, freely, without false modesty or bad taste to
the passion of a powerful composer such as Tchaikovsky (Quartet
No. 1)."
Volkskrant,
Holland
"...The four "stringsters" achieve without apparent
exertion a full, classical ensemble sound which stands like a house.
Also their interpretation, at first whirling, then heartfelt of
tone, are clearly derived from the Conservatory of Russian string
quartet art, although the heartbeat is justifiably rather Viennese
then Slavic."
Algemeen
Dagblad, Holland
"...Tchaikovsky was… made very attractive by the four ladies.
In this third quartet the four showed themselves a perfect team.
How compelling and beautiful the four movements were, not only because
one could feel the constant passion, but especially because of the
well-considered approach with which a musical phrase or a simple
motif was formed. For this the Moscow Quartet used all gradations
between musical joy and serious drama."
"...Already
during the performance of Shostakovich’s string quartet, the Moscow
String Quartet used all the pastels of the color spectrum with almost
unlikely perfection."
|