“The quartet manages to combine a robust,
cohesive ensemble tone with a lively sense of color and a deep,
unshakable
poise. It was a performance in which the care that went into their
preparation
was completely subsumed in the conviction of the living moment.
One
could only agree with Yehudi Menuhin’s unrestrained assessment:
‘It
was unbelievably good Beethoven-in conception, musicality, balance of
voices,
respect for the score, humor, pathos, emotional projection. There was
absolutely
nothing that was missing.’ ”
MUSICAL AMERICA
“The musicians’ controlled exuberance was
unflagging and consequently produced superlative accounts of Beethoven.”
THE WASHINGTON POST
“The Alexander String Quartet, born in
the 1980s, has developed a distinctive musical profile and bold
performing
style. In its concert Tuesday at Richardson Auditorium, the ensemble
played
an Old World program with a balance of nuance, intensity and style that
some senior quartets could envy. Beethoven’s Quartet in C major (Op.
59,
No. 3) asked the riskiest comparisons with senior quartets, yet this
performance
needed no explanation. The second movement and the minuetto that
follows
were played to emphasize the almost hypnotic inner intensity of the
music.
The hush in the hall attested to the almost perfectly executed floating
passage and its expressive strength.”
THE PHILADELPHIA
INQUIRER
“Stunning Ensemble
On the evidence of their Beethoven Op.
59, No. 2, this is a group whose synthesis of strongly characterized
individual
voices is resilient enough to take inspiring risks, and sophisticated
enough
to see them through with imaginative sensitivity.”
THE TIMES (London)
“The Alexanders chose Opus 59, No. 1 in
E minor. They attained a rare sense of mystery and expectation in the
elliptical
moderations and silent bars of the first movement, summoned warmth and
severity for the slow movement and a compelling gusto for the finale.
Every
change of tempo was geared perfectly to the dramatic implications of
the
music. The Alexander Quartet is destined for greatness.”
THE GUARDIAN (London)
“The Alexander demonstrated a remarkable
ability to sustain a long, slow line. … ‘Must it be?’ was played
with the necessary sense of inevitability that Beethoven’s ringing,
affirmative
answer, both to the question, and to the contradictions of the human
condition,
‘It must be!’ demands.
THE BUFFALO NEWS
“They played as a tight group, carefully
responding to each other, balancing lines, mirroring attacks. At
times, they were as ferociously impressive as a small group of
precision
fighter pilots going through aerial maneuvers at breakneck speeds.”
LOS ANGELES TIMES
“I continue to be impressed by the Beethoven
cycle by the Alexander String Quartet, founded in New York in
1981.
[The Quartet No. 13 and Grosse Fuge] are played with impressive power
and
lyricism.”
THE DENVER POST
“Every phrase and line, every textural
and coloristic effect, every structural element, every sforzando, every
legato, every hairpin dynamic shading, every articulation-in short,
every
musical detail—was performed so precisely, in so shapely a fashion, and
in such perfect balance with every other detail, that I felt my mind
irresistibly
and uninterruptedly held deep inside the world of Beethoven’s
imagination,
which was immensely enlarged-so to speak-from within.”
THE SAN DIEGO READER
“Alexander is a Great Quartet
The landslide winner: Beethoven.
But for that, credit the Alexander Quartet as much as Beethoven
himself.
Here the group launched into the kind of passionate, hold-your-hats
playing
that invited comparisons to the great Budapest String Quartet, a
Russian-émigré
group which reigned for more that three decades till the
mid-1960s.
I haven’t heard comparable electricity from anybody else in the
intervening
years, in a style where finesse is secondary to unbridled fury, force
and
velocity. It was the most exciting quartet experience sponsored
by
the San Jose Chamber Music Society for years. Their rhythm and
speed
were dazzling.”
SAN JOSE MERCURY
NEWS
“These musicians have a sophisticated grasp
of quartet-playing. They perform with an in-built awareness of each
colleague’s
line, in terms of both phrasing and colouring. Tones are blended, there
is a delicate facility to the bowing and a unanimous ebb and flow to
the
delivery. They also have a sensitive ear for balance, gradating
their
sound-levels tactfully. Such general urbanity was much in
evidence
for Beethoven’s overblown A major Quartet from his Opus 18. Most
memorable for compositional quality was the Andante’s charming Viennese
mix of inwardness and self-confidence, but the Alexander’s committed
integrity
of approach was a joy.”
THE BIRMINGHAM POST
(U.K.)
“The first ‘Razoumovsky’ Quartet by Beethoven
had to show whether the standard in playing was accompanied by a highly
developed standard in interpretation. Then: the unpretentious emergence
of the instruments in the execution that illuminates the wonderful
vocal
texture; the extraordinarily played fugato; the anthem enhanced second
theme in the exposition and even stronger, the repeat. How striking was
the combination of the bizarre, almost expressionistic second movement
with the melodic content! The powerful climax of the slow movement as
well
as the transition of the ‘Russian’ theme of the finale were very
accurately
constructed. Only very few groups play these classical highlights in
such
a rich and differentiated way.”
TRIERISCHER VOLKSFREUND
(Germany)
“And it’s Beethoven who carries them to
their maximum-literature more solid, loaded with the past as well as
the
future, with violence as well as tenderness. This work allows them to
be
in the very center of their sensitivity. Splendid sonorities from
each player (the first violin with a marvelous purity of line responds
to a superb cello), perfect balance of purpose, perfect communication
in
the group, technical clarity, and unusual intensity; the golden rules
of
the quartet are brought together to perfection. And along
with
this, intelligence to bring forth the magic. Beethoven has rarely been
so cast with elegance, with density, and with fullness. An example of
interpretation
beyond what’s in fashion, beyond musical egocentricity, in the very
heart
of a truth which flows from the mother spring.”
LA TRIBUNE DE GENEVE
(Switzerland)