"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."
(David Denton, Yorkshire Post, 19th October 2008) Full review
"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)
"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)
"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)
"LE QUATUOR FINE ARTS TOUJOURS AU ZENITH (titres)...Considéré comme l'une des meilleures formations de musique de chambre au monde, le Quatuor américain FINE ARTS ne manque jamais de faire une halte dans le Luberon, lors de ses tournées européennes. On ne pouvait que s'en réjouir en admirant à Silvacane la superbe maîtrise qu'il affiche d'abord dans le Quatuor n° 1 de Haydn. On changeait de tonalités à l'écoute des deux seuls mouvements du 1er Quatuor de Rachmaninov. Sa Romance qui privilégie l'expressivité du chant teinté d'une tendre nostalgie avant que la grâce et la fraîcheur qui imprègnent le Scherzo ne trouvent leurs plus belles formes."
(Claude Taelman, La Provence, 19 Août 2008)
"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
"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)
"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)
"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)
"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
"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)
"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
"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)
"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)
"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)
"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
"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
"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)
"GLORIOUS QUARTET PLAYING! (headline)...brilliant individual playing and amazingly dramatic climaxes. This was quartet playing at its best."
(Peninsula Reviews, December 1, 2006)
"The Fine Arts [Quartet] musicians play together all the time and have a deeply ingrained mutual artistic vision."
(SanDiego.com, August 5, 2006)