***** Das Fine Arts Quartet - unterstützt durch den Bratschisten Gil Sharon - bietet die vorliegenden Werke technisch brillant dar, was gewiss nicht einfach ist. Ihr Spiel wird den majestätischen Stücken voll und ganz gerecht. Die innere Harmonie zwischen den Interpreten wirkt wie von der Sonne erhellt - die herausragende Aufnahmequalität kommt dem entgegen. Durch ihre saubere Nuancierung und ihre punktgenaue Betonung wird die Einspielung zu einem wahren Genuss und beweist, warum Anton Bruckners Streichquintett nicht umsonst zu den besten seiner Zunft zählt." (Andre Arnold "Lateingott", Amazon.de, 23. August 2010) Full review
"The Fine Arts Quartet and violist Gil Sharon have recorded fully sympathetic and technically exquisite performances, and their reading of the string quintet is clearly the most engaging and revelatory of this disc. Naxos provides warm and resonant sound, with reasonably close microphone placement." (Blair Sanderson, All Music Guide, July 2010)Full review
"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
"CD del mese" (Angelo Foletto, Suonare.it, Luglio/Agosto 2009 - n° 152) 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 )
"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
"A Fine Arts Kvartettnek teljesen mindegy, hogy Bruckner korai, vagy érett alkotásait szólaltatják meg. Mindkét esetben fantasztikus előadást produkálnak. Tökéletes kamarazene, mely nélkülöz minden előadói túlzást, mégis kifejező, érzelemgazdag, és rendkívül intenzív."
(BaCi, Café Momus, May 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)
***** "NOBLER BRUCKNER...Das Fine Arts Quartet...spielen ihren Bruckner höchst empfindsam und dringen tief in die spirituelle, mystische Dimension des c-Moll-Quartetts vor. Das Streichquintett in F-Dur wächst trotz der hineinkomponierten Brüche zu einem organischen Ganzen zusammen. Schon im ersten Satz ist deutlich hörbar, wie die fünf Musiker immer wieder den Bogen zum Hauptthema schlagen. Das amerikanische Ensemble...präsentiert uns einen altersweisen Bruckner. In ihrem noblen, eleganten Spiel spiegelt sich die lange Lebenserfahrung, das fruchtbare leben mit der Musik. Ihr Bruckner ist nicht jugendlich stürmisch, die inhaltlichen Kontraste werden nie bis zur Spitze getrieben. Zurückhaltung und Ausgewogenheit sind angesagt, womit sie dem Bachschen Ideal des Komponisten sehr nahe kommen." (GE, Pizzicato, March 2009) Full review
"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)
"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)
"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
***** 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
***** "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