Rare sense of a studio performance living in the moment of its creation.
The Strad, August 2023
The round, sensual, silky sound of the Bennewitz recalls the great tradition of twentieth-century Czech ensembles. Their interpretations are distinguished by a perfect mastery of style and real experience of this repertoire.
Diapason, September 2023
Historically informed [interpretation] meets virtuosically mastered modern instruments. It's smart, it's fun […]. Definitely recommended!
Klassik-heute, September 2023
Perfect stylistic mastery, vivacity never rushed, fine musicality and wide range of nuances.
Crescendo Magazine, July 2023
The whole title seems to signify the philosophy of the Bennewitz Quartet - not to follow the beaten path, to break interpretive dogmas, to surprise the listener and themselves, to seek new perspectives, to break clichés, to discover, not to be epigones, and at the same time to be humble and to serve.
Harmonie, October 2023
The Bennewitz Quartet […] are a wonderfully balanced ensemble with superb intonation and internal harmony. Their accounts of all of these works are exemplary […]. A splendid disc.
Gramophone, June 2019
The four Czechs not only capture the very spirit of this great music, they literally make the works speak, giving the once ostracized artists a voice that lingers in the ear and resonates for a long time.
Fono Forum, February 2020
The Czech quartet demonstrate terrific rapport with one another and with the four composers […] throwing the music’s extremes of light and shade into stark relief – there’s bleak beauty in abundance, but the wit and audacity of the works […] are never short-changed either.
Presto Editor's Choice, April 2019
The Bennewitz Quartet owes nothing to the complexity, the rich textures and nuances of this music. With flawless intonation and clear tone, they create an impressive sonic picture before the listener.
Fono Forum, December 2015
The [Op. 51] is strongly influenced by bohemian traditions, and the Bennewitz Quartet tackles it almost with velvet gloves. It emphasizes the lyrical, slightly melancholic touch of the folk music, which is both charming and introspective.
Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung, January 2016
The recording of the composer’s final quartet is magnificent, with its luscious sound and very finely nuanced dynamics, covered with a melancholy veil in the colors of Indian summer. In particular, the second movement and the second theme of the first movement, which are almost caressed by the musicians, testify to the maturity of this quartet ensemble.
Harmonie, March 2016, Choice of the Harmonie magazine and the editor’s choice
What keeps this set from being a mere academic exercise is the quality of the performances. […] The Bennewitz Quartet is downright wonderful, with a perfect balance of warmth and objective clarity, using expressive rubatos so effectively that the group seems to love the music 100 per cent.
Gramophone, 2012
The new recording of Ludmila Peterková and the members of the Bennewitz Quartet is a significant achievement and not an ordinary production. […] They impress us with their commitment, sound culture and above all expressive compactness from the very first bars of Mozart.
Harmonie, May 2012
The Bennewitz Quartet’s homage to that famous Viennese evening culminates in a superb performance of the Dissonance: rhythmically strong and supple, always sensitive to harmonic colour (as in their timing and shading of the finale’s sly key shifts) and alive to every subtlety of Mozart’s complex part-writing.
Gramophone, November 2024
The Bennewitz Quartet’s captivating performances are well projected, sensitively phrased and abundant in contrasts of dynamic and mood… the quartet plays with commendable freedom and unanimity… Vaňhal and Dittersdorf’s quartets particularly showcase leader Jakub Fišer’s neat, unfettered and often bravura contributions, but his colleagues also gain prominence, especially in the episodes of both works’ energetic rondo finales.
The Strad, November 2024
If those four composers played with quite the same flare and energy as the Bennewitz Quartet, it must have been quite some occasion!
BBC Music Magazine, December 2024
The Bennewitz Quartet consciously places itself in the tradition of Bohemian music-making, the powerful, juicy sound, the joy of music-making. The quartet's sound is very dense, very lively and yet very transparent, with all four instruments playing in complete equality - and yet the sunny, bright first violin stands out somewhat as a leader. All four strings play with loving devotion, tenderness, absolute purity of intonation and floating lightness.
Klassik-Heute, October 2024