Acclaim
Feature
Nicholas Kitchen’s “astounding” discoveries and Beethoven Cycle kickoff
What, precisely, did Beethoven tell his future performers? The Boston Globe’s Jeremy Eichler sat down with Borromeo Quartet’s first violinist Nicholas Kitchen in advance of the kickoff to the BSQ’s first concert in its Beethoven cycle in Boston to chat about the discoveries he made in the German master’s manscripts.
Jeremy EichlerThe Boston Globe
06 March 2020
Listen to Bach Transformed for String Quartet
"Listen to Bach Transformed for String Quartet...On its most recent album, the Borromeo String Quartet goes back to the source with a transcription of the first book of Bach’s “The Well-Tempered Clavier,” originally for keyboard solo, by one of the ensemble’s violinists, Nicholas Kitchen."
Corinna da Fonseca-WollheimThe New York Times
18 October 2017
The Borromeo Quartet: championing US composer Russell Platt
"Opening the evening was Mozart’s String Quartet No.18 K465, deftly done with delightful assurance and lithe textures. But the night’s apex came with Platt’s gritty ode – to Beethoven, to Frost, and to the superb Borromeo players."
Bruce HodgesThe Strad
01 April 2017
Borromeo Quartet gives impressive, wide-ranging chamber music concert
"The Borromeo Quartet plays with great finesse. Intonation in its ensemble was as close to perfect as you can get. The dynamic range went from a whisper to full-out playing. But the best aspect of the performance was the sensitivity to the differences in style among the composers."
Gregory Sullivan IsaacsStar-Telegram / DFW.com
09 January 2017
Superlative Shostakovich at SummerFest
"This is a quartet with an unusual dynamic range and an unfailing commitment to a unified, ensemble sound and approach ... softness with a surprising amount of intensity ... and in the loudest passages, you had the feeling [the Borromeo] were never forcing anything, but just allowing the music to emerge of its own accord."
By James ChuteSan Diego Union Tribune
22 August 2015
Playing Beethoven in the Computer Era
"It was nothing less than astonishing to note how different Borromeo made Op. 130 sound: instead of that driving force most ensembles bring to Beethoven, Borromeo released each movement’s buoyant internal propulsion. These players uncorked Beethoven’s champagne, and it proved a most worthy celebration."
By Ken HermanSanDiegoStory.com
18 August 2015
The Borromeo Quartet blows at least one mind
"I don’t think my ears are accustomed to the detailed musicianship that the Borromeos brought to the table. This performance could well fall under the discipline of eschatology — the metaphorical "end of ordinary reality and reunion with the Divine.”
San Diego Reader
17 August 2015
Bartók Marathon All In Day’s Work For Borromeo
"They’ve been presenting complete Bartók cycles for more than a decade, and their ingrained knowledge of these works could be heard in their polished performances. In such experienced hands, vivid colors and rich detail animated every movement. Interestingly, the quartet played from full scores, reading from laptops mounted on their music stands."
By Colin EatockClassical Voice North Carolina
12 August 2015
Borromeo knows the score: Using new technology, quartet delves into the secrets
"The beauty of classical music is a great composer makes music that’s both instinctive and simple, and ingenious and complicated, all at the same time,” Kitchen said. “When we study the works, we want to learn all the details, and that involves reading the complete score."
By James ChuteSan Diego Union Tribune
12 August 2015
Marathon performance of Bartok's string quartets
"Though not the first Bartok marathon in my experience, it was the most intense, performed at a high standard that brought you so deeply into the music's inner workings that you wondered if your brain could take it all in ... The music's mystery, violence, and sorrow become absolutely inescapable."
David Patrick StearnsPHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
13 November 2012
Borromeo Quartet conclude their Traversal of the Beethoven Quartets
"There really is something different about the Borromeo’s ensemble. They are always cohesive and focused as a group, but there is a remarkable freedom in their musical interaction... This was in fact the first time I have heard a really successful traversal of the three last quartets, either in the concert hall or on a recording."
By Michael MillerTHE BERKSHIRE REVIEW
16 June 2012
Borromeo Quartet sensational, educational
"The four movements of Schubert's quartet had everything a listener could want: drama, intensity, passion, delicacy, exceptional lyricism and interesting lines. The Borromeo played with a controlled abandon that was not only immaculate but left the audience wanting more."