"With his characteristic refinement, he searched out the evanescent sighing of the music, its diffidence and its dream."

"For the Dvorak, the orchestra had the benefit of a world-class soloist, Ralph Kirshbaum, who made the cello line sing sweetly in the slow movement and played the outer movements with unrestrained intensity and drive."

"Kirshbaum's playing was both lean and urgent and, in the score's final pages, deployed a gorgeously nuanced range of shadings."

"Kirshbaum's performance seemed intended as an homage to that older generation of cellists; it was generous in vibrato and sentiment, and he played with exceptional finish of detail."

"Kirshbaum is a musician who knows what he wants, goes for it, and gives it to his listeners straight."

"To see cellist Ralph Kirshbaum perform is to witness a person approaching music most seriously. With that intense gaze, Kirshbaum is listening to the composition as a whole, to the composition as a structure, to try to gain insight into its totality."

"Kirshbaum's accuracy in the extensive double stops and his amazing facility were matched by his commitment to and involvement in the music; this is a cellist any music lover would want to hear regularly."

"Ralph Kirshbaum has taken ownership of Prokofiev's Cello Sonata..."

"Ralph Kirshbaum has wonderful tone, utter technical reliability and the imagination to make the music feel both spontaneous and well planned."