Reviews

"Immediately apparent in this new recording is the warmth and sweetness of Eban's tone… Where the clarinet needs to soar over the strings, Eban accomplishes that, in an unforced and natural-sounding manner that preserves his instrument's integration with the strings. In other words, these performances never sound like the clarinet is an interloper that wandered by accident into a string quartet...the heartfelt singing phrases of Eban in alliance with the Alexander Quartet's uncommonly sensitive, responsive and sinuous shaping of the lines makes for the most meltingly beautiful readings of these works I can ever recall hearing.

Without hesitation, this will now be the first recording of these works I will reach for. Bravos all around!"

— Jerry Dubins, Fanfare Magazine

“The ASQ’s Mozart is sublime, Eban’s exceptionally warm and smooth sound blending with Paul Yarbrough’s viola and Sandy Wilson’s cello… ASQ and Eban’s rendition of the heavenly Larghetto, the wonderful Viennese lilt of their third movement, and the perfectly paced pullback to the surprise adagio toward the end of the finale make this a great modern performance. …this Brahms is seductive and…the sound is a joy.”

—Jason Victor Serinus, Stereophile

"The Alexander Quartet and Eban provide readings of lyric warmth predicated on scrupulous and nuanced musicianship. Seek no further than the lyricism of the first movement...focus especially on the tonal lustre of all the instruments. Then there is the lucid fluidity of the Larghetto, its eloquently phrased qualities held in just balance by the musicians, who are phrasally generous but never prepared to force the issue, emotively speaking.Throughout this disc the clarinetist maintains full body of tone across his range, and is always audible.

The many salient features of the Mozart relate equally to the Brahms. Here too is a warmly conceived reading that marries eloquence with structural integrity...one finds pathos of expression but never sentimentality. Both finales - here and in the Mozart - are charmingly inflected and characterized."

— Jonathan Woolf, MusicWeb International

"Eli Eban is a very expressive clarinetist....his clarinet playing has multiple shades and colors; even in his upper register he makes clear distinctions between forte and piano playing, and in his low register - wonder of wonders! - he gives us that delicious "woody" tone.... Eban's wonderfully nuanced clarinet playing brings a wealth of color to the proceedings, as does the Alexander Quartet's sense of rhythm. In fact the rhythmic elements ....are brought off better than in any other recording I've heard, as is their penchant for nuance. This is clearly one of the Alexander Quartet's finest releases".

— Lynn Rene Bayley, The Art Music Lounge

“A message of gratitude goes to Foghorn Classics, to the Alexander Quartet, and to clarinetist Eli Eban...there are times when music can provide healing, induce calm, soothe our troubled hearts. As I sat late one night and let this music, so exquisitely played and shared with us by five formidable artists, create its magic, time stopped and all that mattered in that moment was Mozart and Brahms and Alexander String Quartet and Eli Eban."

— Rafael de Acha, Music for All Seasons in Cincinnati

"Eli Eban in the title role of Mozart's Clarinet Quintet spun pure magic. This was class clarinet playing, a refined tone drawing out lines of heavenly length, with subtle phrasing and inflections."

— Robert Commanday, San Francisco Chronicle

“An incandescent, heartfelt reading of Messiaen's "Quartet for the End of Time", with Eban's clarinet particularly mesmeric in the long solo sections."

— Chicago Tribune

"A gloriously vivid account of Bartok's Contrasts, where the rhythmic inflection and strong vein of folk — related material was conveyed to perfection and the demanding virtuosity delivered with élan."

— "The Strad" magazine, London, England

"Eli Eban was the clarinet soloist in Weber's Concerto in F minor. I like his tone, it has a melancholy edge. It's not what you would call "silken"; it's too expressive for that. The Weber is not a great piece, but Eban is a great clarinetist."

— American Record Guide

"Playing with passion and doing justice to the creator of this work, clarinetist Eli Eban follows well in the footsteps of Benny Goodman, who premiered the work in Carnegie Hall with Leonard Bernstein at the piano, shortly after the death of Poulenc"

— Anaclase.com, France

"The Poulenc Sonata for Clarinet and Piano is magnificently served by Eli Eban and Emile Naoumoff. This may be considered chamber music playing of the highest order."

— "La Monde de la Musique", Paris, France

"The subtle, pessimistic tones of Moredecai Seter's "Elegy for Clarinet and Orchestra", played with great sensitivity by Eli Eban, wafted through the hall and left the audience with a sense of brooding melancholy."

— "Israel Today"

"Clarinetist Eli Eban gave the Seter "Elegy" a rich and intimate interpretation."

— Israel Radio

“This was one of the most serene and deeply felt performances of Brahms' Clarinet Quintet this critic has ever heard. Eli Eban produced a velvet-like sound of great depth which blended amazingly well with the strings. Some of his pianissimi, his slowly-swelling crescendi within a single phrase, and the flawless high and low registers, were sheer bliss. The whole performance was devout, rapt, and a deeply-absorbing musical experience."

— The Jerusalem Post, Israel

"Eli Eban had the privilege to step forth in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's transcendent Clarinet Concerto, which emanates from some celestial domain and may be the perfect work to embrace the idyllic paradise that is the Chautauqua Institution. Eban stressed the score's tranquility, taking an intimate view of phrases and details as if he were performing chamber music. He molded lines into seamless statements and negotiated large leaps as if they were the easiest acrobatic feat. Eban's aristocratic artistry served the score especially well in the Adagio, a movement of almost incomparable and quiet splendor. The clarinetist played the opening theme as if determined to never let go, and on its return, he dropped to an exquisite hush. Time should stand still when this music is in motion, and Eban and his colleagues made sure that thoughts of nothing but Mozart filled the vast amphitheater.'

— Donald Rosenberg, Cleveland Plain Dealer

 "An atmosphere of heartwarming delicacy created by the excellent clarinetist Eli Eban in Ben Haim's "Pastorale Variee". This was Israeli classicism at its best"

— "Ha'aretz", Tel Aviv, Israel

"Eban showed superb control and a lovely delivery of the lyrical lines, fitting the strings so elegantly that I found myself unexpectedly buying a ticket for the following night, specifically to hear him again."

— Anchorage Daily News, Sitka Festival

"Eli Eban was the guest soloist in Mozart's Clarinet Concerto, K.622. Playing with laudable style and well-projected, creamy tone, he spun out phrase after phrase with ample breath and nuanced articulation. This may have been a standard concerto, but there was nothing generic about how Eban or the orchestra approached their challenging assignments."

— Louisville Courier-Journal

"Eban almost stole the show with his prominent playing of the fiery gypsy solo cadenzas. The second half of the concert was worth the wait."

— Indianapolis Star

"Vivacious, smoothly shaped reading of the Francaix Clarinet Quintet, with all sorts of leaps and excursions into the clarinet's high register. Eban proved a worthy and mellifluous protagonist."

— Donald Rosenberg, Cleveland Plain Dealer

"The Mozart Society of California presented the Ying Quartet with clarinetist Eli Eban in a concert at Sunset Center Theatre in Carmel. The Mozart Clarinet Quintet in A major, K.581, introduced the evening's soloist. Right from the first notes, Mr. Eban made us aware that he has a very special sound. Although this sound is tender and somewhat restrained, this restraint conceals a powerful, controlled intensity that lurks just below the surface. In addition to his skill as an instrumentalist, he provided us with many glimpses of his musicianship, which is of the highest order. His beautifully shaped phrases, almost seamless in their astonishing continuity (does he ever take a breath?), were a delight for the ear. His warm and soulful playing in the Larghetto was certainly one of the highlights of the evening's concert, and its quiet, hushed ending was simply magical. The musicians rose to the occasion for the Allegretto con Variazione, and gave us a stunning finale. After intermission we heard the final work on the program, the Clarinet Quintet in B Minor, Op. 115, by Brahms. Mr. Eban astonished us with the passion in his playing (once again, a very controlled passion that was never hysterical) and his ability to find new meanings in a very familiar work. His lovely sound, his fantastic control of dynamics, and his first class musical mind were very much in evidence. The beauty of the final movement was astonishing, and at its conclusion I observed a few members of the audience in our vicinity leaving the hall humming its melodies. This was symptomatic of the infectious charm of this performance. We could only wish that all concerts had this effect."

— Peninsula Reviews / Musical Events on the Monterey Peninsula

"There are not many things in life that are perfect, but Eli Eban's performance was just about as perfect as it gets. Mr. Eban produced a lovely rich sound, such as we rarely hear from the clarinet. Especially memorable in this performance was hearing Eban spinning out beautiful Brahmsian melodies. this was playing of a very high order indeed."

— Peninsula Reviews, Carmel, California

"Eban's clarinet is like the siren's song - breathtaking and hauntingly seductive. His playing of Eric Satie's 'Gymnopedies' brough tears to my eyes."

— Richmond Palladium-Item

“Eban was a delight to hear. At no point did he play with anything less than a sweet, full, tone; as rich in feeling as it was dulcet. To the outer movements he brought dramatic shading and variety of expression, but it was the Adagio, rendered with exquisite finesse, that probably earned Eban the ovation he received.”

— Donald Rosenberg, Cleveland Plain Dealer

“There could be no match for the depth of music to be found in Brahms’ quiet, yet mighty Clarinet Quintet in B minor. It fell on faculty artist Eli Eban to provide the delicious lines for clarinet and he was perfectly supported by his colleagues Martin Chalifour and Noah Bendix-Bagley, violins, Elizabeth Bielman, viola, and Desmond Hoebig, cello. Quite simply, this was an exquisite performance of a profound work.”

— Sarasota Herald-Tribune

“In Johannes Brahms׳ Clarinet Trio, richness was maximized by the mature artistry of Eli Eban, Steven Doane and Robert Levin. Souls collide and hearts open when it is played as well as it was in this performance”

— Sarasota Herald- Tribune

“I know Mr. Eban as a participant at the Marlboro Music Festival. He is an excellent musician, a very sensitive instrumentalist, in two words, an outstanding artist."

— Rudolf Serkin