String Quartet N.5, N.6 and the world premiere of N.7
The DSQ begins its collaboration with Grammy Award-winning American composer Richard Danielpour on May 18 2014 when they perform his String Quartet no. 5 ("In Search of la Vita Nuova") for the Mainly Mozart Festival in Coral Gables. In January 2015, the DSQ adds Danielpour's Quartet no. 6 ("Addio") for two subscription performances. In May 2015, the DSQ joins with internationally renowned soprano Hila Plitmann to record Danielpour's Quartet no.7 for soprano and string quartet, a work specially commissioned for the DSQ. Also on the disc will be Quartets nos. 5 and 6, all produced by Grammy Award winner Judith Sherman, who produced the last two recording projects of the DSQ.
“The BBC Music team’s current favourites”
BBC MAGAZINE, Niel McKim
“Everyone who plays these works should hear these exemplary performances...you will never hear these Telemann Fantasias played so well ”
American Record Guide
“I marvel at the technical skill which effortlessly encompasses these deeply contrasting styles....a technical as well as expressive master stroke”
CONTEMPORARY RECORD SOCIETY
“bemerkenswert, kunstvolle und expressive Interpretationen...auf hohem Niveau und den jeweiligen Stilen perfekt angepasst”
PIZZICATO
“I was immediately impressed by their virtuosity and also their understanding of Piazzolla’s music. I was anxious to see them perform in person”
Gary Burton
“outstanding from the very beginning”
Fanfare Magazine
“urgently recommended”
Fanfare Magazine
“excellent violin playing...extremely enjoyable interpretations of music that I love”
American Record Guide
“None of these pieces has ever sounded quite like this before....Cotik handles it beautifully, with tremendous clarity of line and evenness of tone”
INFODAD.COM
“Anche nell’interpretazione delle sonate di Mozart si evidenziano l’ottima cavata e la perfetta tecnica di Cotik negli staccati particolarmente brillanti.”
GBOPERA MAGAZINE
“Las versiones son óptimas por la compenetración estilística del dúo y la prestancia instrumental del admirable violinista”
REVISTA SCHERZO
“Cotik phrases this music with such feeling, making you wonder if it could possibly sound better in any other performance.”
Classical Net
“un violinista excelente... que recoge una forma rigurosa, natural y fuera de lo común de entender e interpretar la música”
Docenotas
“exceptional...Piazzolla can be played differently than this, but provably not better.”
DOWNBEAT MAGAZINE
“unusual depth and broad compass...absolutely brilliant... unmistakable vitality...optimally recorded”
Audio Video Club of Atlanta
“My first chamber choice for the year. ”
MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL Recordings Of The Year 2013
“un disco la cui qualità riesce a proporre la freschezza affascinante della cultura musicale germanica come nuova, come se non si fossero mai ascoltate prima”
GBOPERA MAGAZINE
“excellent style, which is not frequently found”
Daniel Binelli
“Supersonic Award winner. Tomas Cotik’s Piazzolla is carnal, passionate and nowhere easy-going. Together with his group he has produced a riveting CD.”
Pizzicato
“Evocative concert of Jewish classical music”
The Washington Post
“conviction, commitment, diplomacy, and character”
The Strad
“The Piazzolla album is not just Cotik as brilliant interpreter, but also as creative mind.”
Musical Toronto
“I highly commend Mr. Cotik for his innovative interpretations and I hope many future audiences will experience his musical excellence”
Gary Burton
“laudable level of technical accuracy…tenderness and warmth”
The Palm Beach Arts Paper
“a first-rate set of these of Mozart sonatas”
THE ARTS MUSIC LOUNGE
“Cotik makes Kreisler seem almost smarmy, Isabelle Faust almost mannered, and Julia Fischer as though she's filed down the detail”
Fanfare Magazine
“One imagines the Nuevo tango master would be as captivated as any listener by such exquisite performances.”
TEXTURA
“If you love the solo violin, you won't find a better recording to suit your tastes”
OBSERVER TODAY
“brilliant Argentinean violinist”
David Denton for David’s Review Corner
“an excellent violinist”
Michael Tilson Thomas
“this superbly produced Schubert disc…comes warmly commended”
MusicWeb International
“Editor's Picks”
DOWNBEAT MAGAZINE
“violinist Tomas Cotik is always up for a new challenge”
Julia Amacher – American Public Media
“there is no question that this disc is, by some distance, Naxos's best Piazzolla recording ”
MusicWeb International
“The technical qualities of the recording - which is on the NAXOS label, by the way - are excellent.”
Robert W. Plyer, THE OBSERVER
“absolutely impeccable, with intonation in the centre of every note, and his left hand flying around the fingerboard with remarkable agility”
David Denton for David’s Review Corner
“true treasure...one of the latest gems to emerge from the season”
John Terauds – Musical Toronto
“una nueva forma de mirar, entender y percibir la música de diferentes épocas”
SONOGRAMA MAGAZINE
“None of these pieces has ever sounded quite like this before.”
INFODAD.COM
“Overall, these two discs featuring Cotik must be regarded as among the finest performances for their consistent artistry and idiomatic grasp”
Classical Net
“perfectly conceived”
Fanfare Magazine
“intelligent and sensitive...glories in...colorations and shared emphasis”
Fanfare Magazine
“phenomenal technique”
Musical Toronto
“I find the Cotik and Lin performances most interesting and the sound on their disc is excellent”
Maria Nockin – Fanfare Magazine
“this is one of the great Piazzolla discs, and in perfect sound quality, I urge you to buy it.”
David Denton for David’s Review Corner
“Un disco ideal”
SONOGRAMA MAGAZINE
“this is clearly a team to watch. I am sure we will be hearing good things from them in the future”
MusicWeb International
“The joyful virtuosity and stylish musicianship that Tomas Cotik and Tao Lin brought to their superb cycle of Schubert’s violin-and-piano works for the Centaur label happily permeate their cycle of Mozart’s sonatas”
Gramophone Magazine
“Hace muy poco descubrí esta maravilla...dos extraordinarios instrumentalistas que uniendo su talento logran...algo genial.”
Luis Andarcia, VENUE MAGAZINE
“a musician who prepares thoroughly and has great respect for the music he performs”
The Palm Beach Arts Paper
“Cotik and the orchestra provided impressive advocacy for a multifaceted work that deserves to be heard more often. Cotik seamlessly handled the frequent changes in mood and adroitly traversed the work’s myriad technical challenges while always keeping the focus on the music.”
SOUTH FLORIDA CLASSICAL REVIEW
“NOMINATED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL CLASSICAL MUSIC AWARDS 2018”
ICMA
“uplifting quality”
MusicWeb International
“wonderful album…impressive for the elegance and sensitivity of the interpretations”
John Terauds – Musical Toronto
“Cotik and Tao Lin have…honored not only their professions as musicians, but the memory and work of Franz Schubert”
The Palm Beach Arts Paper
““Legacy” es, sin dudas, un álbum para emocionarse y escuchar continuamente. Excelencia pura. Imprescindible!”
CULTURALMENTE INCORRECTO
“among the very best Piazzolla albums”
David Denton for David’s Review Corner
“Un disco revelador de la maestría de los jóvenes intérpretes que lo firman: Tomas Cotik y Tao Lin.”
REVISTA DOCENOTAS
“Some of the music is sultry while other works are fast, rhythmic, and ornamented to show the exquisite virtuosity of Cotik”
FANFARE MAGAZINE
“clarity and tonal opulence rare in recordings of violin music”
Fanfare Magazine
“a treat from start to finish”
Musical Toronto
“A neglected stash of unrecorded Schubert”
NORMAN LEBRECHT
“recreating the visceral charge of Piazzolla’s legendary quintet concerts and recordings”
South Florida Classical Review
“Cotik transcends even the profoundly meditative”
FANFARE MAGAZINE
“un trabajo de mucha calidad, por la originalidad de los arreglos y especialmente porque se trata de un excelente instrumentista”
REVISTA RITMO
“short this is a great recording if you value warmth and sweetness in Mendelssohn. Here, though, nothing is forced, and, as I say, the world seems a better place.”
AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE
“I’ve had a listen to a few alternatives…including Isaac Stern with Daniel Baremboim and Lydia Mordkovitch, but this duo pretty much ticks all the boxes”
MusicWeb International
“Cotik vanta un violinismo costantemente brillante e un colore di suono caldo e avvolgente”
GBOPERA MAGAZINE
“an exemplary presentation of some marvelous music”
The Palm Beach Arts Paper
“their lofty musicianship dwarfs their profound scholarship”
Fanfare Magazine
“should leave listeners almost breathless…a vibrancy and attention to detail...strong individuality and… vitality”
Fanfare Magazine
“ There are so many delightful details to savour that one hardly knows where to begin...a most rewarding Mozart cycle”
Gramophone Magazine
“This is an excellent recital. I enjoy the Piazzolla Tango Etudes more as played by Cotik than by anyone else. ”
American Record Guide
“conviction, commitment, diplomacy and character”
The Strad
“Cotik Kicks Butt in Piazzolla! A wild and wonderful CD.”
THE ART MUSIC LOUNGE
Reviews
Ritmo, June 2018
Compuestos entre 2004 y 2014, los Cuartetos para cuerda ns. 5 a 7 de Richard Danielpour (n. 1956) trascienden con sus inquietantes subtítulos las ideas que se hace el oyente de estas evocadoras músicas.
Fanfare Magazine, May 2018
I found Quartet No. 5 the best of the three, with strong echoes of Barber, Hindemith, and Britten woven into the musical fabric. Danielpour likes to focus on a single rhythmic idea and work it through. The Delray String Quartet is a fine ensemble
Robert Markow
Scene Magazine, Apr. 2018
The steady, spectacular performance of the Delray String Quartet is a revelation throughout this recording, whether in the moody, delicate Moderato e triste of No. 6—subtitled ‘Addio’—or the metaphysical peril implied by the cascading strings heard in the second movement of No. 7, AKA ‘Psalms of Solace’. …Is this an original concept? No, not particularly. But when you sound as good as Plitmann does, even angels begin to take notice.
Chris Morgan
Gramophone, Apr. 2018
the Delray Quartet, whose advocacy is totally committed
Guy Rickards
The Whole Note, March 2018
There’s also American string quartet music from the current century on Richard Danielpour String Quartets Nos.5-7, performed by the Delray String Quartet in the Naxos American Classics Series (8.559845 naxos.com).
String Quartet No.5, “In Search of La vita nuova” (2004) deals with the composer’s longstanding relationship with Italy. String Quartet No.6, “Addio” (2009) deals with the string quartet as a metaphor for family, and how families are eventually broken apart through distance, time and loss. Both works were written in Northern Italy, and are about what Danielpour calls “letting go.”
String Quartet No.7, “Psalms of Solace” (2014) is about a “search for the Divine.” The last movement features a soprano part written specifically for Hila Plitman, the excellent soloist here.
All three works are very much in a late-20th-century style, strongly tonal and very accessible, and with some truly beautiful writing and lovely textures.
MusicWebInternational, March 2018
The Delray String Quartet are wonderful advocates for Richard Danielpour’s music. Their performance is excellent throughout. The soprano Hila Pitmann is in excellent voice and a perfect foil for the quartet. She makes Danielpour latest quartet my favourite work presented here. Hopefully he will go on to compose further quartets.
Pizzicato, Febr. 2018
Meisterwerke zeitgenössischer Kammermusik...Es ist eine sehr atmosphärische und gefühlvolle Musik, die genau wie jene des Fünften Quartetts vom ‘Delray Quartet’ spannend und rhetorisch gespielt wird...Hila Plitman singt ganz bezaubernd, und das ‘Delray String Quartet’ überzeugt hier wie das ganze Programm hindurch mit einem engagierten und hoch sensiblen Musizieren. Großartige Kammermusik, großartig gespielt!
Richard Danielpour’s String Quartets Nos. 5 – 7 are masterworks. Written in a contemporary neo-romantic style the music is immediately appealing in these outstanding performances by the Delray String Quartet.
Remy Franck
Palm Beach Arts Paper, June 2015
The Quartet No. 7, which Danielpour has subtitled Psalms of Solace, gets its world premiere Sunday when the Delray String Quartet debuts it at the Mainly Mozart Festival in Coral Gables. The Cuban-born soprano Maria Aleida will be the soloist in the fourth and final movement. Although this will be the premiere, the Delray recorded the work last week at Miami’s Hit Factory with Grammy-winning producer Judith Sherman for a disc on Naxos of Danielpour’s Fifth, Sixth and Seventh quartets; the soloist on the recording is the Israeli soprano Hila Plitmann.
The composer has said in the past that he wanted the Seventh to be his last string quartet... and his entire quartet output, has a special meaning for him.
Greg Stepanich
Miami Clasica, June 2015
Sunday solace from the summer heat
The world premiere of Richard Danielpour’s String Quartet No. 7 (Psalms of Solace), performed by the Delray String Quartet and soprano Maria Aleida, was the evening’s pièce de resistance. One of the most prolific of American composers in all musical genres, Danielpour is specially known for his chamber pieces, which grant preeminence to the human voice as an expressive vehicle... The work enables the various string instruments to show off in succession and ends with the inclusion of voice as the fifth string. Maria Aleida’s voice came through clear and sparkling, differentiating itself from the framework created by the violins, viola and cello. It should be noted that the Delray ensemble is currently recording the a series of Danielpour quartets.
Sebastian Spreng
Palm Beach Arts Paper, June 2015
Delray SQ, Aleida deliver impressive Danielpour at Mainly Mozart
For two centuries or more, the string quartet has been the favored medium for a composer’s most intimate, profound thoughts. In his series of quartets, the American composer Richard Danielpour has explored themes of the Holocaust (No. 3, Psalms of Sorrow) and farewell (No. 6, Addio), and for his Quartet No. 7, which received its world premiere May 31 in Coral Gables at the Mainly Mozart Festival, he has turned to a more hopeful message of human potential.The Delray quartet, which had the recorded the piece the week before with producer Judith Sherman, played with precision and care, keeping the half-light of the music steady. incantatory lines, in a cannily scored accompaniment that has texture but still lets the singer have the spotlight. Danielpour’s Seventh Quartet is a well-constructed, deeply felt piece that would make a good addition for a string quartet ensemble looking for some programming variety and some easy-to-grasp contemporary composition. It seems to me that the fourth movement is actually too short to make the best impact it could, even given whole slow movement before it. It has a Mahlerian pace from the beginning of the Adagietto, and it’s a pace that calls for serious breadth.
Greg Stepanich