Tetzlaff Quartett

“As recordings of these works go, there is none finer, which is also true of this disc judged purely as quartet playing.” (International Records, February 2011)

“The fast movements have bite and rythmic crispness, and the players keep the long slow movement taut with emotion while never descending into mawkishness…The player’s familiarity with Schönberg’s demands springs from every bar.” (The Strad, February 2011)

“The success of this performance (Sibelius's ‘Voces intimae’) lay in the conviction with which the musicians brought out its unlikely yet undeniable symmetry – the first movement unfolding spaciously yet provisionally to a point from which a brief Vivace seems to reprise its motivic essentials in 'fast-time'; a process balanced by the way that the Allegretto's trenchant, even fractious progress is released in the finale's ever-increasing momentum towards its fateful close. Coming between these ostensible pairs of movements, the Adagio took on a gravitas equal to that of any symphonic slow movement from the period – unfolding eloquently over paragraphs of weighted intensity to eventual repose; the 'intimate voices' denoted by a rapt chordal motif that punctuates its progress with effortless poise. This was a masterful account of a significant work…A deservedly enthusiastic reception saw the ensemble return for a pertinent encore in the guise of the Intermezzo from Mendelssohn's A minor String Quartet.” (Classicalsource.com, October 2010)

“They produce a dazzling palette of sounds, roaring like a full symphony or whispering at near-inaudibility.” (The Washington Post, Nov 2008)

"...But when the "Lyric Suite" is performed as brilliantly as the Tetzlaff Quartet played it on Saturday night at Zankel Hall, the work's ardor requires no footnotes. Here supremely lyrical, exactingly detailed playing combined with impeccable balance and unanimity, resulting in an overwhelming performance" (Steve Smith, The New York Times)