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January 11, 2004
Paul Griffiths, New York Times (CD review -- Quartet No. 6 by
Milton Babbitt)
The quartet performance is a joy. With impeccable tuning, timing, and
precision of color and phrasing, the Sherry Quartet, four young players
coached by the cellist Fred Sherry, shows the way through a labyrinth
in which one essential melodic and harmonic idea is endlessly
rediscovered in new forms. Near the start it sounds like Dvorak. More
often, as the slide into overt tonality seems just about to happen, the
work drifts into new textures (often with the violins in the glistening
high treble) and new gestures of almost operatic emphasis...a marvelous
performance.
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January, 2004
Dennis Rooney, The Strad
Cherbas was cellist in Sibelius's Voces intimae. Her warm, full
tone anchored the ensemble with distinction.
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February/March 2003
Daniel Felsenfeld, Strings Magazine
In the dark, cavernous recesses of Galapagos -- one of Brooklyn's most daring venues, set in a converted
mayonnaise factory -- serial music is being played and played well. A
November 5 concert by the newly formed Milton String Quartet proved to
be well rounded, passionately played, and did not -- as concerts
dedicated to atonal music can -- wear out its welcome...Elliot Carter's
1994 offering "Figment for Cello Alone" was well-attacked by
cellist Katherine Cherbas, who played with guts,...commitment and dedication.
The slower, smoother passages sounded fresh and full, and made for nice
contrast to the faster, more frantic portions...The piece de
resistance was Milton Babbitt's String Quartet No. 6. Not only is
this one of the only groups on the planet willing and able to play this
complex monster...but it is from this composer that the quartet draws
its very name...The quartet was on top of it, able to follow Babbitt's
demanding score with ease, but without depriving the audience of the
"thrill-of-victory" feeling that makes attending such an
event both musical and athletic.
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October 28, 2002
Anthony Tommasini, New
York Times
The evening's performers were the formidable five-member contemporary
music ensemble counter)induction.
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February 5, 2002
Paul Griffiths, New York Times
Quite remarkable...was the performance of Mr. Babbitt's Sixth
Quartet...The airy textures were beautifully realized, and there was a
nice feeling for the quick unravelings that happen inside many of the
work's small sections, as well as for the sustained unity of tone and
the distinctive utter calm with which Mr. Babbitt's music proceeds.
There was a striking coincidence in all these respects with his
"Ensembles for Synthesizer," an electrionic piece that had
been played earlier. In other words, these musicians understood Mr.
Babbitt's music very much as he did.
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September 4, 2000
Paul Griffiths, New York Times
A warm and electrically alive celebration...The light in the quartet
was remarkable, and how the musicians disported themselves in the open
and often high-lying counterpoint. Though by this point in his output
there is very little obvious regularity in how Mr. Babbitt's music
moves, the quartet seemed to dance.
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August 10, 1999
Allan Kozinn, New York Times
The Luna Quartet played...with expertise, energy, and consistent
polish.
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