"A top notch performance [of Mozart's String Quintet K.593] by the Fine Arts Quartet, in a stunning SACD recording of 2001, on the French Lyrinx."
(Parla, Gramophone Forum, Dec. 28 2012) Full review
"***** 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." (Donald R.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." (Julian Haylock, 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)
"***** 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
“The Fine Arts group + guest violist Gandelsman play these extraordinarily sophisticated and beautiful works as if they were singularly born to them. I think it takes a few moments at first to acquaint oneself with the spacious venue sonic of the stone Abbey of Fontevraud. But only a few.... I was caught off guard - at first listening casually while doing some research, only to blink after many minutes to realize I was engrossed to the point where I'd put down my book and become enchanted by the FAQ's fine playing (and Mozart's divine talent) all the while totally not realizing I was thus affected: pure sonic bliss at a limbic level." (Audioaficionado.org, 6/14/14)
Mozart civilizado, pero con tensión dramática
Las versions de Grumiaux y compañia (Philips) y del cuarteto Talich aumentado (La Dolce Volta) han sido siempre las referencias en este repertorio de los sublimes Quintetos de cuerda de Mozart. Ahora hay que añadir al venerable Fine Arts Quartet (pero, ahora, en una alineación joven) y Yuri Gandelsman (viola) en un espléndido cofre SACD híbrido multicanal de tres discos.
Las usuales cualidades de esta formación están presentes: elegancia clásica, enérgicos ritmos musculares y sobriedad estilística proyectada con realismo con un toque de romanticismo controlado. Son interpretaciones a amar por su calidez y humanidad, calidez que no está exenta ocasionalmente de un toque sombrío y dramático. El sonido es detallado y coloca a los músicos en una perspectiva natural. (Pyotr Petróvich, Amazon.es, el 5 junio de 2014)