Kuotet, Orchardhill Church, Giffnock, 15th July, 2000
Therese Sutherland, The Herald, Monday July 17th, 2000
"On the Glasgow leg of their summer tour of Scotland, Kuotet projected a musical persona that was remarkably self-possessed, belying the youthfulness of the group's members.
The sub-title 'music and beyond' suggested their intention to bring an extra dimension to the experience; a difficult thing to do, perhaps, but by combining an impressive standard of musicianship with an unstuffy approach, Kuotet went a long way towards it. Bars into Shostakovich's Piano Quintet they generated a high temperature, with a powerful and individualistic sound.
Having said that, this piece was by no means the strongest in the programme.
The main problem lay in the instrument being played by pianist Tiffany Kuo, which possessed a dead-in-the-water tone that was particularly unkind to the characteristics of Shostakovich's piano part.
It says a lot for Kuo's playing that she managed to bring out some subtle hues nevertheless. Accompanied by Kuo, the technically sure-footed viola player Fiona Winning played a romance by Bruch that was no flowery, fluttery affair, but rather confidently expressive.
The diversity of musical influences shaping Kuotet were never more evident that in Donald Grant's arrangements of traditional reels, which emerged as something of a cultural melting pot. It was a case of perpetual motion for the fiddler (nimble-fingered Grant himself) in these witty and imaginative arrangements.
In Schumann's Piano Quintet, Kuotet showed what they could do as a group, injecting the emotional drive underpinning the music with a wonderful flowing quality.
After performing a nicely expansive second movement, it was a pity that the group omitted the scherzo; they stormed on to the final movement, rounding off the Schumann Quintet with fistfuls of grit and animation."
Donald Grant, Fiddle 99, Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh, November 1999
Sue Wilson, The Scotsman
"First up was 19 year old Donald Grant, widely tipped as a rising star. His darting, bright-toned delivery in the dance tunes, and voluptuous handling of the Phil Cunningham Air, Lady Ramsay, strongly endorsed such predictions."
Kenneth Walton, the Scotsman
"As you would expect, Theatre Cryptic keeps you guessing.
Cathie Boyd's latest production for the Glasgow-based performance group she founded in 1994, which opened last night, is yet another sensational fusion of art forms. You keep asking yourself: is it music or is it theatre; is it dance or is it cinema?
The magic of Journeys and Memories is its instinctive ability to let whatever genre can best articulate a sentiment take centre stage without obscuring or dominating the other. In this particular presentation - centred around the uniquely mobile string players of the quartet, Kuotet, and three gripping musical scores by Steve Reich, Istvan Marta and Gregorio Allegri - the music is essentially the driving force.
It could hardly be anything else in Reich's Different Trains, with its haunting recollections of the holocaust. But the superimposition of fast-moving video footage of a train journey, viewed from the driver's cab and projected onto the vast rear screen, offers a thoughtful dimension.
Kuotet's ability to play Marta's complex score from memory is astonishing. But nothing prepares you for the exquisite performance by the four string players, joined by dancer and choreographer Claire Pencak, of Allegri's famous Holy Week choral setting of the Miserere. This is sheer beauty.
Spurred on by the shadowy lighting, Kuotet's instrumental setting, unlike the pure-toned choral version we are used to, is driven by heated passion and a wretched humility. Nothing short of sensational, Journeys and Memories is well worth a look at."