***** Schumann's chamber works delight me for their unsentimental pathos which is carried off with excellence and verve by this excellent ensemble. Highly recommended pairing, well played, excellent sound, very satisfying.(Charles F. O'Connell, Amazon.com, May 11, 2014)
***** Estamos bastante familiarizados con las lecturas del excelente cuarteto Fine Arts... que nos ha deparado numerosas experiencias sonoras de alto nivel: Fauré, Franck, Schumann, Beethoven y un largo etcétera...Una actuación la suya de enorme calado. Musicalmente de una expresividad contenida, elegante y totalmente acoplada al conjunto camerístico, sin destacarse en demasía, pero imponiendo su rol que, tratándose del piano, en Schumann pesa lo suyo." (Pedro Sancho de la Jordana Dezcallar, Ritmo, January 2013)
"The Fine Arts Quartet offers an all-Schumann disc, a generous playing time and excellent performances throughout. The new disc is full of life...The opening movement of the Quintet is superb...The Scherzo and final Allegro are despatched with vigour and abandon but also crucially with great care and attention to detail...There are some memorable moments [in the Piano Quartet], especially the heavenly opening of the first movement and the meltingly lovely slow movement. This wonderful Andante is presented very simply and touchingly by each individual player in a seamless, flowing performance. This is chamber music playing at its finest...The concluding finale is a stunner, bringing together as it does the different elements of the Scherzo and Andante movements. It culminates in a fabulous flourish that would bring the house down in a live concert. This is another fine performance...This is a really excellent release. (John Whitmore, MusicWeb International, November 2013). Full Review
"[A] sophisticated and perceptive reading, largely because of the artistry of the Fine Arts Quartet, whose attentive, nuanced playing sets the performance apart from so many merely adequate readings...It is [that] artistry that generates vibrant readings of all these Schumann works. The performances reveal the huge variety of musical expression in these works, the shifts in character, the often surprising interplay of parts, and the wealth of instrumental color."
(JD Moore, American Record Guide, January/February 2013)
"This is a suitably vivacious performance, well balanced and deeply considered…the contribution of the Fine Arts is suitably sweet and supportive. For a recommendation in Schumann’s two piano-chamber works of 1842, Wang/Fine Arts is eminently worthwhile and occasionally far more than that. This music thrives in performances of individuality and character."
(David Threasher, Gramophone, December 2012) Full Review
***** "The sensitive performances on this Naxos CD are all well-proportioned and a pleasure to hear."
(Infodad, October 18, 2012) Full Review
"I have much enjoyed the Fine Arts Quartet’s discs with the pianist, Cristina Ortiz...Here they combine with the outstanding Chinese-American, Xiayin Wang...They perform with warmth, relishing the long flowing passages."
(David Denton, David's Review Corner, October 2012) Full Review