"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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"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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"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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"Equally as brilliant as Cani's technique was the tone and intonation of deMaine. Principal cellist of the Detroit Symphony, he demonstrated both his playing skill and compositional prowess in three of his Etude-caprices. Employing a bagpipe tune in one, a Brazilian folk song in another and drawing upon pure fantasy in the third, each was filled with formidable technical challenges that deMaine negotiated almost effortlessly."
— Matt Steel,
The Kalamazoo Gazette
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"The Schumann Concerto again showcased deMaine's winning combination of big sound, refined technique, and thorough-going musicianship. Through the concerto's broadly lyrical first movement, deMaine filled the hall with rich, dark sound that I could only think of as chocolate. It was meltingly beautiful. But just as captivating were his precise and brightly humored slaloms through the technical obstacle course that forms the finale." — Lawrence B. Johnson,
The Detroit News
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Schumann D Minor Trio Review
and
Schubert B-flat Major Trio Review — Zach Carstensen,
The Gathering Note
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A Tale of Two Roberts
Schumann Cello Concerto Review — Nicole Rupersburg,
The Detroiter
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"Robert deMaine took the spotlight in Schumann's Cello Concerto in A Minor, a haunting work full of agitated yearning that suggests a paradise just out of reach. DeMaine, employing a radiant sound that glowed like a Vermeer interior, crafted an exquisitely proportioned interpretation that avoided sloppy emoting in favor of songful phrasing alive to the subtle emotional shifts in the score."
— Mark Stryker,
The Detroit Free Press
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"A formidable virtuoso...a superb performance...captured the music's heroic qualities...But it was the beauty of the musicianship that most lingered in the ear. Indeed, the interpretation of the slow movement was so rapturous, so intimate, as if reading love letters from the stage. Suffice it to say it won a deserved ovation."
— John Pitcher,
The Omaha World-Herald
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"Stunning cello star shines with symphony...Soloist deMaine left quite an impression on what will certainly rank as one of this year's most memorable concerts."
— The Santa Cruz Sentinel
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"Cellist Robert deMaine performed the works with elegance and authority. The Hindemith 'Trauermusik' proved deMaine a true master of his instrument as he elicited eloquent, haunting tones, and with sweeping bow, a plaintive melody...all accomplished with virtuosity, flair, and an uncommon intimacy." — The New Britain Herald
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"DeMaine, who has already become something of a legend, held the audience spellbound...mesmerizing."
— Matthew Erikson,
The Hartford Courant
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"Robert deMaine is one to watch. He plays with astonishing sensitivity and maturity. His playing is a dream: never overbearing, yet with an obvious focus of intensity and line. His musicality is a joy; he plays genuinely from the heart, without affectation."
— The Santa Barbara News-Press
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