On Saturday evening, the quartet, which was founded in 1969, gave a passionate and emotionally charged performance here at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival that the ensemble says will be its last. Read More...— Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim,
The New York Times
|
They were always bound to be a class act, this world-renowned group of instrumentalists with forty-four years to their collective name, but they took nothing for granted, not even the famous King’s acoustic. Read More...— The Agent Apsley,
Unofficial Cambridge Film Festival
|
Tokyo String Quartet's final Auckland concert drew a large, loyal audience to the Town Hall. The reward was superlative chamber music of a quality rarely savoured in our part of the world. Read More...— William Dart,
The New Zealand Herald
|
..for those in the audience who were experiencing the ensemble's artistry for the first time and wondering how its playing compares with its performances of years ago, I can say that the Tokyo Quartet sounds untouched by the passage of time. Its ability to pierce to the heart of whatever work it happens to be essaying is still as authoritative and meaningful as when I first listened to the ensemble in the 1970s. Read More...— Neville Cohn,
The West Australian
|
Immaculate in textural clarity and musical thought, the Tokyo Quartet displayed superb economy of expressive utterance, with no inessential emphasis, and no subtlety of nuance omitted. Read More...— Peter McCallum,
WAtoday.com
|
Since its formation in 1969 the ensemble has worked to consolidate a distinctive sound, which despite the change of personnel, has retained at its heart the influence of Hideo Saito of the Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo.
Professor Saito's focus on crystal-clear communication through gesture resonates through the signature sound quality of the ensemble's perfectly timed chords and the subtly emphasised placing of the cello voice in the ensemble. Read More...— Jennifer Gall,
Brisbane Times
|
...the music was as fresh as ever, as though on a never-ending quest of discovery. The shimmering main theme of the first movement emerged like light through mist, and the dialogue...was a profound conversation stripped of all pretence to its essence. Read More...— Peter McCallum,
The Sydney Morning Herald
|
As the Tokyo String Quartet played Monday night at Portland State University's Lincoln Hall, you had to wonder: Was it the players' awareness that this was one of their final concerts that made for such an intense experience, or was it heightened attention on the part of a listener who knew this was likely a final live encounter with one of the great quartets of our time? Read More...— James McQuillen,
The Oregonian
|
All farewells are sad, especially saying adieu to a group so obviously at the peak of their powers, but this one had a feeling of work completed, and completed well and – in the end, perhaps the greatest gift the Tokyo Quartet has lavished on us – the sense that such a satisfying farewell is possible. Read More...
— Robert Harris,
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
|
Saturday’s Fontana Chamber Arts concert was bittersweet. On stage, before a full house at Dalton Center Recital Hall, was the legendary Tokyo String Quartet, poised for another sublime performance in its storied career. Read More...— C.J. Gianakaris,
The Kalamazoo Gazette
|
In the midst of an extensive farewell tour, the Tokyo presented a superb program of works by Mozart, Bartok and Mendelssohn Tuesday night for Friends of Chamber Music. A large and supportive audience filled the University of Miami’s Gusman Concert Hall for an evening of great music-making that transcended the sentimentality and nostalgia that inevitably pervade such occasions. Read More...— Lawrence Budman,
Miami Herald
|
But the real reason to mourn the impending end of the Tokyo is the quality of its musicmaking. Violinists Martin Beaver and Kikuei Ikeda, violist Kazuhide Isomura (a founding member of the quartet) and cellist Clive Greensmith bring an exceptional level of finesse to what they perform. Read More...— John Terauds,
Musical Toronto
|
The hallmarks of the Tokyo style were on welcome display throughout the night. The playing was sophisticated in phrasing and interaction, scrupulous in detail and keenly alert to atmosphere. Read More...— Donald Rosenberg,
The Plain Dealer
|
Think you have heard the Ravel Quartet? Think again. The Tokyo players’ performance was like a journey, with exquisite shaping, myriad detail and an almost orchestral sonority at times. Read More...— Mary Ellyn Hutton,
Music in Cincinnati
|
This was truly a great and memorable performance. It also helped explain why the TSQ has decided to disband at the end of the current season. Its members want to go out while they are still on top of their game, and so they will. Read More...
— Leslie Gerber,
The Boston Music Intelligencer
|
Because of a long professional relationship with co-artistic director Jon Nakamatsu, Tokyo has opened Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival for the past four seasons, and Monday's sold-out hall and general enthusiasm showed that it will be missed. Read More...— Keith Powers,
Cape Cod Times
|
If the intention was to quit while strong, and not after fading, as its contemporary the Guarneri did before retiring in 2009, the timing was right: they've still got it. Read More...— James McQuillen,
OregonLive.com
|
These days the Tokyo sound is big-boned, rich, with an almost glossy sheen. Read More...— Richard Fairman,
The Financial Times
|
The Tokyo String Quartet proved once again on Thursday-night at a Jane Mallett Theatre recital why it is considered to be one of the finest chamber ensembles in the world. Read More...— Musical Toronto
|
Each player was a master at manipulating his sound: Notes were variously finished off with vibrato, abruptly stopped, or, in the case of open notes, left to ring. What was most impressive was their lean tone and single-minded approach, the sensation that all four players were somehow one instrument being led by a single artistic hand. Read More...— Peter Dobrin,
The Philadelphia Inquirer
|
As the Tokyo quartet nears the end of a major chapter in its history, it shows no sign of weariness. Read More...— Vivien Schweitzer,
The New York Times
|
Over the past 40 years, the Tokyo String Quartet has built a well-deserved reputation for rock-solid ensemble playing and immaculate, razor-edged precision. Those enviable qualities were often in evidence Wednesday night at the Kennedy Center's Terrace Theater, where the Tokyos opened the 31st season of the Fortas Chamber Music series. Read More...— Stephen Brookes,
The Washington Post
|
It's always a special occasion when the Tokyo String Quartet, one of the world's premier chamber music ensembles, comes to town. A moderately sized yet fervent audience at the Folly Theater Friday night seemed to agree as the ensemble, presented by the Friends of Chamber Music, displayed an elegant and finely wrought sound. Read More...— Timothy L. McDonald,
The Kansas City Star
|
Tokyo, first formed in 1969, still ranks at the top of existing quartets, despite personnel changes through the years. This particular incarnation - Martin Beaver and Kikuei Ikeda (violins), Kazuhide Isomura (viola) and the impressive Clive Greensmith (cello) - has worked together almost a decade now, and the members respond to each other's skill with profound facility. Read More...— Keith Powerrs,
Cape Cod Times
|
There are hundreds of fine string quartets in the world, but the Tokyo is the cream, and the Bathfest was very lucky to catch them on their latest tour. Read More...— Helen Reid,
Bristol Evening Post
|
Fit, classy, seasoned, impeccable, the Tokyo scaled the dizzying heights of that Mount Everest of the repertoire - the Quartet in B-flat, Op. 130, with its original finale in place, the nearly insurmountable, bow-shredding Great Fugue - and never put a foot wrong. Read More...— Ken Winters,
Globe and Mail (Toronto)
|
Given the high profile of the performers, it was no surprise that this BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert was a sell-out. The performances were simply sublime. This was music making of the very highest calibre, a pleasure to hear from first to last. Read More...— Colin Clarke,
MusicWeb International- SEEN AND HEARD Concert Review
|
It was hard not to be carried away by the amazing virtuosity of the playing that never seemed to falter in the smallest detail.
The balance and blend were, for all intents and purposes, perfect
All four movements (of the Debussy) were superb, but even at that the slow movement, the third, was outstanding, probably the most beautiful rendition that this listener has heard.
Read More...
— Richard Todd,
The Ottawa Citizen
|
Unlike so many young (and not-so-young) performers who aim to reinforce their contact with audiences with the help of visually ostentatious display, the Tokyo Quartet is refreshingly loath to grandstand even during moments when the music takes a bombastic turn. Endowed with irreproachable technique and armed with four sumptuous Stradivariuses, they seize upon the attentive listener with the sheer force and integrity of their gimmick-free musical vision. Read More...— Christopher Moore,
Globe and Mail
|
— Leslie Gerber,
Boston Musical Intelligencer
|
"From the opening notes of Franz Josef Haydn's Quartet in D Major (Op. 76, No. 5) a few things were very obvious: The Tokyo String Quartet has no fear of a fast tempo, their ensemble work has never been better, their musical insight more true or their technique polished to a higher gloss. From the start this had the makings of one of those rare evenings when music can turn into something approaching magic or, if you will, the song of angels."
"....to the extent that a concert can be perfect, this one was. I have never experienced a concert quite like this."
Read More...— Ivan Katz,
Huffingtonpost.com
|
This was a near faultless performance....Musical integrity, rather than theatricality, lies at the heart of the Tokyo String Quartet's approach and it is more than worthy of its status as one of the world's great quartets. Read More...— Eamonn Kelly,
The Australian
|
You can count on not much more than one hand the string quartets that are considered capable of creating magical and soul-moving experiences. The Tokyo Quartet is certainly one. Read More...— Lindis Taylor,
The Dominion Post (New Zealand)
|
This was an evening of music that kept the audience on the edge of their seats, mesmerized by an established ensemble playing as one living, breathing organism. Read More...— John Terauds,
The Star
|
The near-stasis of the Adagio and the strange, emotionally fraught third-movement Trio were highlights of an interpretation both impassioned and burnished to a fine sheen. Read More...— Mark J. Estren,
The Washington Post
|
The things the Tokyo does better than most are its almost symbiotic level of togetherness that produces such uniformity of interpretation; its control of dynamic levels that are so sensitive that they ranged from barely there to a loudness that was only for effect and not to overwhelm; and the ability to change the sound of the quartet depending on whose music they played. Read More...— Geraldine Freedman,
Daily Gazette
|
The musicians made short work of the first two movements (of the Beethoven string quartet op. 135), engaging in frolicsome conversations and partnering at times for stinging jabs. The final Allegro, too, was full of surprises, as the musicians repeatedly came roaring out of seductive hushes. But the most engaging journey took place in the Lento, in which the players pivoted on a single note from light to dark and then proceeded on a slow, reluctant crawl back to life. Ravel's String Quartet, also in F-major, afforded the Tokyo musicians opportunity to display their lighter, more delicate side. The opening Allegro, for instance, sounded as if it might melt into air, while in the slow movement, the players discovered warmth through consonance at fragile volumes. Read More...— Zachary Lewis,
Cleveland Plain Dealer
|
Classical style almost never seems as secure in the hands of other quartets; the Tokyo's Beethoven is both grounded and weightless, carved in granite and floating on air. Read More...— Jeremy Eichler,
The Boston Globe
|
The ensemble's balance, intelligence and style were beyond exemplary. Read More...— David Gordon Duke,
The Vancouver Sun
|
...the beauty of the Tokyo Quartet's performance was its expression of Beethoven's warm humor, rhythmic daring and harmonic surprises within a plausible classical framework of elegance and poise. Here was sunny playing with a distinctive edge of wit, perfectly integrated ensemble that still allowed room for four individual voices. Read More...— Lawrence B. Johnson,
The Detroit News
|
At times, the music was close to magical. The entire performance was a model of focus and moderation, and gripping from the first measure to the last. Read More...— Richard Todd,
The Ottawa Citizen
|
The performance was vivid and colourful, showing the quartet’s intimacy with the score, their sense of rhythm and their intense musicality, all perfectly measured and integrated in an unforgettable interpretation with great impact. This was deservedly greeted with an electrifying roar of admiration by the audience. Undoubtedly, one of the best performances of Beethoven’s quartet that I have ever heard. Read More...— Margarida Mota-Bull,
MusicWeb International: SEEN AND HEARD Concert Review
|
The Tokyo String Quartet stands above its contemporaries as a truly "great chamber ensemble," said Jeff Simon in The Buffalo News. Moreover, unlike many classical acts, it still sells albums and draws avid audiences. Practically from the moment this quartet initially formed, at the Juilliard School in 1969. . . Read More...— The Week
|
These players come as a well-honed package. The purity of the ensemble is paramount. Individual showmanship is not in their repertoire. Read More...— Kenneth Walton,
The Scotsman
|
Tokyo String Quartet, Queen's Hall
The Tokyo quartet's playing has rare beauty of tone. It all sounds gorgeous; every single radiant last note of it...
— Rowena Smith,
The Herald
|
The players gave a perfectly persuasive performance, and the final lyrical postlude (of Lera Auerbach's "Primordial Light") was transcendentally beautiful. Read More...— James Hennerty,
The Times Union
|
"In the quartet's performance at the 92nd Street Y...it was a passionate, richly toned discussion among intelligent, charismatic equals...This was exemplary chamber music." Read More...— Vivien Schweitzer,
The New York Times
|
"It is easy to see why the Tokyo Quartet has built such an excellent reputation. They play with startling vivacity and subtle reserve...their fervor for the music is contagious; the audience can't help but be swept away with them." Read More...— Chicago Maroon
|
"The musicians displayed such finesse, such careful shaping of each melodic line as it was passed from one instrument to the next, that it left one almost breathless."
— The Toronto Star
|
"The ensemble delivers it all, with an elegance and maturity rarely encountered. One of those musical experiences in which everything is right, everything played so perfectly that no other experience could be imagined." Read More...— The Palm Beach Daily News
|
"The Tokyo String Quartet boasted not only staggering dynamic control but a complete mastery of the piece's [Dvorak] emotional pacing. Climaxes were unforced but intense, the quartet's clean, burnished tone never seemed thick or overluxurious, ensemble was flawless, and rough edges were not to be heard."
— The Orange County Register
|
"The Tokyo String Quartet lays down truly glistening interpretations."
— CNN.COM
|
"The tone was perfectly balanced, with every phrase exquisitely weighted and structured."
— The Australian
|
"It was all there: grace, consummate phrasing and that rare ability to produce a sound at once soft and luscious."
— State of the Arts.com (AU)
|
"Playing of infinite finesse and extraordinary subtlety...." Read More...— The Sydney Morning Herald
|