The Music in the Round Series – Shrewsbury School, 2005
| "…To all these works, the Prazaks – which means citizens of Prague – brought a consummate musicianship which must be in part the result of playing together for thirty years… From the opening notes of the Haydn it was clear that these four players listened intently to each other…The cello and the viola were magnificent so the players gave us sounds ranging from the most profound gravitas to the lightness of whipped cream… This was a memorable concert." |
| Andrew Petch, November 2005 |
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| The Music in the Round Series – The Maidment Hall, 2005 |
| "The cello and the viola were magnificent so the players gave us sounds ranging from the most profound gravitas to the lightness of whipped cream… The opening of the Haydn showed us just how finely judged were their tempi and their tonal balance which worked brilliantly to showcase Haydn’s sparkling wit." |
| The Chronicle – 18 November 2005 |
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| Wigmore Hall, 2003 |
| "Excelling in Smetana’s Quartet no. 2, the ensemble became the best of storytellers, mixing urgency, reflection and poignancy. It was in the Mozart K575, though, that the group truly triumphed, demonstrating that it understands the harmonic essay of a movement in all its shades. Phrasing was exquisitely well pointed and shaped, with intuitive responses between the players. Quite simply a joy to hear." |
| The Strad – September 2003 |
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| USA Bi-annual Tour |
| "The rhythms were exactingly laid out, the synchronization, at often blinding speed, flawless. I can think of no players on earth who could have plumbed the soul of this piece more completely, nor risen to its ferocious technical demands so well. In the end, as the packed house exploded to its feet, I had the feeling that I had seen the birth of a truly important work destined to become an early benchmark among the enduring classics from the new millennium." |
| Tucson (Arizona) Citizen – 13 March 2003 |
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| "All of the qualities associated with the Eastern European approach to string playing were on display, especially a warm, mellow, burnished sound that never hinted at stridency even during the most intense passages….During passages of distinct individuality, it was uncanny how the musicians so utterly inhabited their characters, yet remained in perfect sync with each other, no matter how contradictory and conflicted the dialogue….Definitive may be the most overused adjective in the critic's vocabulary, but no other single word more aptly describes the achievement by this superb foursome." |
| Chicago Tribune – 25 November 2002 |
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| "Its jolting performance of Bedrich Smetana's First String Quartet….For all the differences and idiosyncratic departures from the current norm of chamber music playing, the Pražák's performance was authentic to the marrow." |
| Houston Chronicle – 06 November 2002 |
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| Opera du Rhin, Strasbourg |
| "The ensemble ranks among the best quartets in the world….There is within the quartet a clear distribution of the roles and a great individual focus and concentration which give the ensemble a perfect balance in the performance as well as a great complicity and unity. An individual virtuosity which perfectly melts in the ensemble, always at the service of the piece." |
| Dernieres Nouvelles d’Alsace – February 2002 |
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| Auditorium de Faculté de médecine, Paris |
| "…The ensemble has reached a degree of extreme perfection. Sumptuous sonority, radiant and dense… an incomparable art of musical communication while maintaining a perfect unity and a spirit…" |
| La Provence – January 2002 |
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| "A tone that was warm and shapely crystalline to allow the textures and individual lines to be savored. It was the kind of virtuosity that does not call attention to itself, but leaves a listener feeling secure that the music is in capable hands….A hot-blooded, richly textured reading…" |
| The New York Times – 6 February 2001 |
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| "Performed with mastery and the freedom that comes with deep identification with the music …the members perform rhapsodically and flamboyantly but in absolutely effortless synchronitcity with one another…Often the music took on a three-dimensional physicality…Clearly this is a quartet you can trust." |
| Philadelphia Inquirer – 8 February 2001 |
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| "An evening of absorbing music-making…The Pražák explored every expressive corner of the piece. Janá?ek’s explosive episodes rarely have sounded more vibrant or unsettling… The vehemence and poetry the Pražák brought to the score made this an engrossing experience…Bold, sweet and always imaginative, the Pražák honored the piece (Beethoven op 131) as the splendidly varied journey it is when inspired musicians put minds and hearts together." |
| The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) – 8 February 2001 |
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| "Outstanding…Extraordinary…A vivid and moving experience…An exceptional evening of music-making." |
| The Dallas Morning News – 20 February 2001 |
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| Wigmore Hall |
| "A warmth that recalled the proximity of coffee house and concert hall in the old Austro-Hungarian empire." |
| The Strad – August 1999 |
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| "The Pražák’s excellent sense of rhythm and meticulous attention to dynamics is allied to a high level of musical understanding…especially convincing…beautifully poised...splendid." |
| Gramophone – March 1999 |
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