"...Andrew Armstrong au piano et Robert deMaine au violoncelle m'ont paru égaux à Ehnes comme techniciens et comme musiciens et les trois coéquipiers forment certainement un ensemble de premier plan."
— Claude Gingras,
La Presse, Montréal
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"An American, deMaine communicated Dvorak’s idyllic yet heroic music with depth of feeling and instinctive understanding. His playing was beyond reproach, merging technical accomplishment with passion, tenderness, and sheer brilliance."
— William Furtwangler,
Charleston Today
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"The Kodály Duo for Violin and Cello was the highlight of the concert. Robert deMaine’s technical prowess was perfectly paired with Hilary Hahn’s clean, articulate style. There were no frills here. Both musicians let the piece speak for itself. "
— Leah Rankin,
The Newshouse (Syracuse, NY)
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"...DeMaine's art: a beautiful singing tone, lapidary technical precision, and a persuasive identification with the idiom of the music at hand...marvelous...in which every note had something lovely to say."
— Greg Stepanich,
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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"Richard Strauss' "Don Quixote" rounded out the program. Our principal cellist, Robert deMaine, was perfect, playing with great passion and persuasion."
— Leonard Slatkin,
www.leonardslatkin.com
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"Robert deMaine took center stage as the protagonist in Strauss' symphonic poem "Don Quixote." To the knight of sorrowful countenance, deMaine brought a tenderness and poignancy that can only be wrought through mastery of the highest order. Slatkin and the DSO backed their star with vivid, eloquent playing. It was music-making of genuine character, just the sort that Strauss -- and Slatkin -- had in mind."
— Lawrence B. Johnson,
The Detroit News
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"Cellist Robert deMaine brought a warm, rounded tone to Fauré's Sonata, and the constant sense of renegotiation gave the performance an unusual vibrancy."
— Allan Kozinn,
The New York Times
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"...The composer must have been associating with Casals, for whom he wrote this sonata. But here, Robert deMaine played it his own way, finely and eloquently...Mr. deMaine is an artist who makes one hang on every note."
— Paul Griffiths,
The New York Times
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Cello Challenges
"DeMaine delivered a focused, brilliant account of Kodály's fiendishly difficult Sonata for Solo Cello, Op. 8. With a rich, rounded tone and the finest intonation, deMaine showed an intelligent grasp of the Magyar folk-inspired score. He shaped phrases using a variety of expressive devices, and did not blanket everything with vibrato...the encore was a breezy intermezzo by Gaspar Cassadó."
— Pierre Ruhe,
The Washington Post
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"DeMaine played with virile tone and animated assurance, which brought great distinction to the event."
— Dennis Rooney,
The Strad
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"Robert deMaine essayed his solo with heart-stopping beauty...the night's most memorable encore came when Neeme Järvi generously turned the spotlight again on deMaine, who played Tchaikovsky's 'Andante Cantabile' with the robust beauty of a Cézanne still-life."
— Mark Stryker,
The Detroit Free Press
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Festival Serves a Treat With Cellist's Franck Sonata Performance
"DeMaine is an immensely gifted musician who has made substantive contributions to the festival this summer. None more so than in the Franck (Sonata), which gave him opportunity for full expression...A large, burnished sound is at his disposal, handsome in all registers. Along with that huge asset is a highly developed technique that never calls attention to itself because it is always in service to the music at hand. His musicality is a marvel of sensitivity, refinement, vigor and impressive penetration. With his highly developed lyrical sensibility he can carry the torch of a poet, but he can also supply muscle on a moment's notice."
— R.M. Campbell,
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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"One of the most profound talents I have ever encountered" — Leonard Rose
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"The full-bloodedly romantic performance, markedly moving and profound, was in the highly capable hands of cellist Robert deMaine and pianist Peter Orth. Fauré's solemnity and stately grandeur sounded made to order for them, and the performers gave it a moving breadth and dignity."
— Shirley Fleming,
New York Post
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"I have to say that it's hard to imagine another cellist fitting comfortably into Robert deMaine's shoes...a brilliant performer."
— Bernard Jacobson,
Music-Web International
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"The evening's greatest treat was the magnificent playing of Robert deMaine, whose technical brilliance is surpassed only by the beauty of tones he produces." — The Salt Lake Tribune
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"Robert deMaine's gripping performance covered the piece's vast stylistic spaces with elegance and ease, and his intonation was perfectly true."
— Justin Davidson,
New York Newsday
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"To hear this virtuoso cellist once is to anticipate repeating the experience."
— Lawrence B. Johnson,
The Detroit News
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"DeMaine’s gorgeous, substantial tone conveyed great feeling...Every phrase, every note is crafted to perfection, nuanced with a deep understanding of the music and where it’s going. There were no loose ends, no "off" notes." — Gwenda Nemerofsky,
Winnipeg Free Press
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"The performance amply demonstrated the young cellist's full range of technical skills and virtuosity. The atmosphere became electric as deMaine infused each work with an enormous amount of energy and intensity. The capacity audience was thrilled." — Dr. Elwood Bear,
Atencion San Miguel (San Miguel de Allende, Mexico)
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"...the strength of deMaine's cello playing and musical expression is so outstanding, with intense concentration in the character. It was so clearly distinctive, brilliant, opulent, and momentous. His performance made the listener hungry for more."
— Rhein-Neckar Zeitung (Germany)
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"DeMaine plays with an intensity so fierce and lyricism so delirious that it sounds as if his life depends on it...Musically, DeMaine is all business. A musician's individuality begins with his tone, and he produces an exquisite and personal sound rich with expression, modulated color, and tasteful vibrato. It hovers gracefully between tender sweetness and robust passion, reminiscent of the great mid-century Swedish operatic tenor Jussi Björling." — Mark Stryker,
The Detroit Free Press
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"DeMaine's playing is rapturous and outgoing...He made the two cadenzas - one in the opening movement and one at the end of the third - look easy. He's a dynamo, expressing soft and loud parts with seemingly effortless grace."
— Ted Shaw,
Windsor Star
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"deMaine’s high melody was exquisitely delivered. Tuning and timing were coordinated with uncanny precision." — Scott Cantrell,
Dallas Morning News
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"For a completely different (and much more romantic) take on folk materials, Mimir presented Antonín Dvorák's gorgeous Piano Quintet in A Major. Violinists Curt Thompson (who is also the executive director of Mimir) and Mills joined Chen, DeMaine and Chung. From the stunning cello solo that opened the piece to the final hustle and bustle of a country dance, the players perfectly caught the composer's intention. The nostalgic ending took on an added poignancy because the audience in the sold-out house knew that as the piece drew to a conclusion, so did Mimir 2011."
— Gregory Sullivan Isaacs,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
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Frankly Music gets help from its friends
"Almond, deMaine and Armstrong played with tremendous expressive freedom and ensemble cohesion, giving each other room for graceful rubatos, relishing the piece's elegant melodies and matching each other's phrasings throughout."
— Elaine Schmidt,
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
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Frankly Music makes big music
"This big-scale drama should ebb and flow, but always build. It should top itself again and again, though it seems for all the world as if all possible limits have been exceeded. Almond, deMaine and Armstrong, in complete technical and aesthetic command, built to climax after climax over four movements and reached the ultimate peak at the end. If you want more catharsis in your life, Brahms, Almond, Armstrong and deMaine have something for you."
— Tom Strini,
Thirdcoast Digest
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"The young renowned American cellist Robert deMaine's musical and sonic projection was so intense that there was a convincing and magical illusion of there being two soloists during many passages. His technique and command were marvelous, and the interpretation compelling." — The New Zealand Herald (Auckland)
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Symphonic Splendor, and a Choice Cello, to Boot
"After hearing super-cellist Robert deMaine in the Charleston Music Fest, I was doubly determined to make it to Saturday evening's Charleston Symphony Concert...Then came the cello magic, courtesy of Mr. deMaine and Joseph Haydn, whose D-Major Cello Concerto provides ample opportunity for virtuosic display. Our soloist brought the sunny score to vibrant life, with amazing dexterity and gobs of lush tone. The noisy standing ovation led to a glittering encore. I found out during my mad backstage dash during intermission that deMaine had written his own remarkable cadenzas." — Lindsay Koob,
The Charleston City Paper (South Carolina)
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"Cellist Robert deMaine tackled a wide repertoire in which attention was called to numerous interpreted contemporary pieces. He demonstrated an unexpected knowledge of contemporary Argentine music. In addition, Mr. deMaine displayed a level of equality in both technical mastery and knowledge of the enormously complex pieces...as well as delicate and poetic phrasing...his sound was executed with rare perfection. The performance was impeccable from a technical point of view and was spiritually harmonic."
— La Nacion (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
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