PRESS QUOTES
Goldner String Quartet
“ The playing, which showcased their dexterity, clarity and pinpoint accuracy, was quite frankly astounding... The Goldners went to the absolute heart of the matter... The sense of communion was palpable. This was truly great playing.”
Limelight
“ a thrilling sense of dialogue... between four very close companions, who can evoke a whole mood, an entire argument with a gesture.”
SMH
“ The individual and collective musical intelligence of these players gives all their interpretations an eloquence that is consistently assured, exhilarating and intriguingly flexible.”
Adelaide Advertiser
“ ...the Goldner Quartet is the country’s indisputably preeminent chamber music ensemble.”
SMH
“ Real international class was shown by the Goldner Quartet... appearing at Wigmore Hall ”
Strad Magazine
“ Quartet playing of the rarest quality.”
The Guardian, UK
2021 MUSICA VIVA
INTERNATIONAL CONCERT SERIES
Steve Moffatt, Limelight Magazine
This concert was an unmissable hour to honour our finest chamber group, featuring two family favourites as belated anniversaries were celebrated with a live audience.
When pianist Bernadette Harvey came to the stage for the second of two favourite works on the program she told the Musica Viva audience she was privileged to perform with one of the best in the world – Australia’s own Goldner String Quartet.
2019 UKARIA RECITAL
Rodney Smith, The Advertiser
As usual, the Goldners played with immense concentration and focus bringing the white heat of Vierne’s fiercely emotional canvass into stark relief, ensuring listeners were completely immersed from start to finish. This work certainly deserves more hearings than it has currently received. Earlier the Goldners gave Beethoven’s equally expansive Razumovsky Quartet in F Op 59 No. 1 with the experience of years and a nuanced perspective born of long understanding. This was a performance that resonated with conviction and a sense of space.
2019 MUSICA VIVA FESTIVAL
CONCERT 6: FINALE
Angus McPherson, Limelight Magazine
The concert shifted gears at the end of its first half, departing the established world of 20th-century French solo work, and arriving in the 21st-century post-minimalist sound-world of Australian composer Nicole Murphy. Her newly commissioned Anamnesis saw the Dover Quartet join the Goldner String Quartet on stage.
Bringing the Festival to a close was double bassist Edgar Meyer, the Goldner String Quartet and three quarters of the Dover Quartet. Here Dene Olding’s refined, penetrating violin tone and Meyer’s powerful bass gilded each edge of the deeply romantic music. If Bruch believed he was dying from his final illness, he didn’t let that knowledge enter this music… which the musicians delivered with tight ensemble playing in a vibrant finale to what has been a satisfying weekend of high-quality music-making.
2019 MUSICA VIVA FESTIVAL
CONCERT 4: ESSENCE
Shirley Zhu, Limelight Magazine
The Musica Viva Festival’s fourth concert, named Essence — and rightly so — was like a four-course degustation with two packed mains. It was an evening bursting with colours and playful sensations and by the end, left the mouth hanging open for more.
Hindson himself provided a brief background of his creation, where he revealed the nickname “Starburst”... He described his work as “scientists discussing ideas and postulating what forms the universe” and “the thrill of discovery.” The work began with the sound of a meteorite falling, rapid glissandos and descending runs, straight away setting the space atmosphere… the Goldner String Quartet answered all of these with the poise of a veteran quartet.
2015 MUSICA VIVA
INTERNATIONAL CONCERT SERIES
Clive Paget, Limelight Magazine
Lest we forget, the Goldner String Quartet is one of the ornaments of the Australian classical music scene. In a climate that seemingly throws up a new latest hot young chamber ensemble every week (and don’t get me wrong – some of them are excellent), we occasionally need reminding of what 20 years of playing together can do for a group of musicians. The Goldners are celebrating that particular milestone this year and their anniversary tour for Musica Viva shows those qualities to perfection – ensemble, communication, intonation and, the rarest of them all, apparent musical effortlessness.