Reviews

A magnificent performance [of the Franck Quartet], superbly triumphing over the technical challenge with totally dedicated, passionately convincing playing; one of the finest chamber music records of the 1980s.

...The Fitzwilliam Quartet, whom I admire very much. Thank you for a superlative performance of the thirteenth quartet.

This was the best performance of the Delius Quartet I have ever heard.

The Fitzwilliam in its reincarnated state, with Lucy Russell as leader, captured the soul of the music [Shostakovich No.4] in their absorption with every gesture and shading. Borodin's Quartet No.2 was played with similar passion and an effortlessly rich collective tone.

The enthralling rendition, with Moray Welsh, of Schubert's Quintet in C was one of the highlights of the 1998 festival.

The Fitzwilliam is a world class quartet, and recently graced the Museum with playing of breathtaking precision, outstanding concentration, marvelous style and authority. They afforded astonishing variety of mood and period covering 300 years - do we have a more versatile quartet? A gorgeous musical experience.

The playing of the music was absolutely immaculate, with its subtle feeling of style and deep penetration into its content. The intensity with which they played shone through, and musicians and audience alike were caught up in a common extravaganza. The culmination of this evening [Tchaikovsky No.3], in the former flat of Modest Tchaikovsky, was performed so faithfully, "in Russian", by the British musicians. I very much hope that the Fitzwilliam Quartet will be a permanent guest of our city [St. Petersburg].

Touches like these are what give the Fitzwilliam, for whom bold programming and superb playing are equal music, the edge over most other quartets in the world. The standing ovation which a packed house gave them was not only for the integrated sound and fine ensemble, it was clearly also for the revelation of new worlds in old works.

A chaste, inward reading [of the Seven Last Words], deeply musical and thoughtfully articulated......I'll stick with this beautifully balanced new recording.

Careful attention to dynamics, with outstanding playing by all members, also contributed to one of the most joyful and spiritually uplifting CDs that I have ever heard: moving profundity and sublime jollity through Haydn's glorious music [Opp.1/6, 71/2, 77/2].

A powerful and emotionally committed performance of Rubbra's Quartet No.2...a sublime stream of thought beautifully laid to rest by the Fitzwilliam in the tranquil Adagio coda.

In this new recording [of The Seven Last Words] the members [of the FSQ] succeed fabulously well. This disc is an unmitigated delight...one of unrelenting beauty.

…a triumph: the most revelatory version of the [Brahms Clarinet Quintet] I’ve heard in years; animated, dynamic, passionate…. I have no hesitation in naming this the new benchmark