Borromeo String Quartet : Recordings

Speak Like the People, Write Like the King

Bridge Records, Inc. — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Music by Steve Mackey

The three pieces on this disc are for string quartet and double string quartet and performed by the Borromeo and Brentano String Quartets. Ars Moriendi, Latin for 'the art of dying well', in 9 sections, is an extremely personal written by Steve Mackey, virtually a diary describing the demise of his father. Lude was written as a companion piece to J.S. Bach's Contrapunctis XI from "The Art of the Fugue", and Gaggle and Flock was composed to celebrate collegial bonds between the two quartets that share this recording.

Soul Garden: The Chamber Music of Derek Bermel

Composers Recordings — Sat, 01 Jun 2002 00:00:00 -0400

"Derek Bermel can make instruments sing. He can make them talk. Laugh. Scream. Sigh. Bermel has an exquisite ability to capture the spirit of the human voice in his music. Performed by the Borromeo String Quartet, violist Paul Neubauer and cellist Fred Sherry and elegantly recorded by producer Judy Sherman, these works present, for the first time, an overview of Bermel's small-ensemble writing. Soul Garden is an album of consistently engaging chamber works - clean, smart and unique music. Bermel's is a garden in which to linger. "
- Mic Holwin

Living Archive Recorded Performance Series

The Living Archive — Sat, 02 Feb 2002 00:00:00 -0500

The Living Archive Recorded Performance Series is a historical audio-visual archive of over 200 performances of the Borromeo Quartet that have been recorded around the world since its inception in 2002. All of these concerts are available to listeners on CD and many on DVD as well. To learn more about the collection and to order a recorded archival performance please visit:
www.livingarchive.org

Beethoven: Serioso

Image Recordings — Tue, 01 Jan 2002 00:00:00 -0500

Beethoven

Two Quartets:
Op. 59, No. 3, and Op. 95 ("Serioso")

"Their four voices, each blessed with breathtaking technical skill and plasticity of phrasing, create a seamless flow of energy that projects a uniquely wholesome Beethovenian vision...It is an extraordinary experience, from their command of enharmonic complexities to the ravishing fury with which they play the concluding flurries of each quartet's final movement..."
- Laurence Vittes Gramophone Magazine
Gramophone Complete Review
American Record Guide Review

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Two of Beethoven's most dramatic and exciting works, played by the premiere young string quartet in America. Following the wild success of their first CD for us, the Borromeo Quartet has gone back into the studio and produced another stunning CD. Their interpretations of these two Beethoven quartets are second to none: dramatic, profound, and polished. This recording is the first by the Borromeo Quartet with its two new members, and we're delighted to say that the excitement continues! REVIEWS: "The Borromeo String Quartet's second disc for Image Records features two quartets from the Beethoven cycle, Op. 59, No. 3, and Op. 95 ("Serioso"). The performances are on the exalted and eloquent level we have come to expect from this ensemble, and the recorded sound is superb."
- Richard Dyer, Boston Globe

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"These performances are astonishing, not just for their technical accuracy, perfection of ensemble and attack, and beauty of tone, but they are interpretively revealing of details I thought I knew, but had never really heard brought out before...These four musicians bring a whole new dimension to the meaning of "team work".... "...I don't know what your engineers have done, but these CDs make my speakers disappear. It's as if the musicians are in the room with me...I don't think I've heard another recording that captures the sound of a string quartet as naturally, as realistically, and as sumptuously as this one does. Bravo to all concerned!"
- J. Dubins Vancouver, Washington

Ravel: String Quartet and Sonata for Violin & Cello

Image Recordings — Fri, 01 Jan 1999 00:00:00 -0500

Ravel

String Quartet and Sonata for Violin & Cello

"This is an excellent example of all the elements of the recording working together to outstanding effect. The Ravel Quartet is an ideal vehicle for the Borromeo's shimmering sonorities and sensitive ensemble playing. As important, the production elements of the recording enhance the quartet's performance. The result is an engaging sound world that draws the listener into the experience of the music both viscerally and intellectually."
- Tom Bartunek, Chamber Music Magazine

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"This disc won the prestigious WQXR/CHAMBER MUSIC AMERICA 2001 Record Award. Ravel's colorful music is represented in all its dark, swirling passion. Recorded at the historic Methuen Memorial Music Hall outside Boston, MA, the Borromeo String Quartet's first recording project for Image Recordings, featuring the Quartet and String Duo of Maurice Ravel, was honored with the Chamber Music America/WQXR Award for Recording Excellence in 2001. The group has a busy performing schedule at major concert halls throughout the world, and audiences invariably rise to their feet spontaneously at their concerts. This disc will give you an idea why! WHAT THE CRITICS SAY...QUOTES "So rich in detail and variety one might have thought an entire orchestra was playing." The Washington Post "It is impossible to imagine a better performance. This quartet combines every 20th-century virtuoso ensemble virtue with an old-world sense of color, character, and style."
- The Boston Globe