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Süddeutsche Zeitung, 30.10.02

"... (Carsten Radtke)... Überzeugte...."

Südkurier, 8.11.99

"(Carsten Radtke)...gehört zu den führenden und erstklassigen Gitarristen unserer Zeit."

Münchner Merkur, 5.1.99

"Wenn Jazz gute Musik ist, dann ist das ( a contrast music / carte blanche) Jazz... In der Faszination des Publikums keimt Begeisterung, die sich in tobendem Beilfall entlädt...
Die Eigenwilligkeit des Trios macht neugierig, ohne das Publikum in der dünnen Luft artifizieller Klangakrobatik allein zu lassen."

Münchner Merkur, 29.10.98

"Jenseits des Mainstreams
( a contrast music / Carmen Cano )...setzte sich deutlich vom Mainstream der internationalen Jazz - Szene ab.
... ( Carsten Radtke ) stellte sein Können eindrucksvoll unter Beweis."

Laudatio, 7.11.99 zur Verleihung des Förderpreises der Stadt Konstanz, Michael Schwering

"... Souverän schöpft er alle Möglichkeiten des Instrumentes aus und bewegt sich dabei immer wieder an der Grenze zum gerade noch machbaren...
... ein Grossteil der Arbeit besteht darin, neue Techniken zu entwickeln und sie zu beherrschen, um dieses Werk ( Berio Sequenza X) überhaupt realisieren zu können. Dies ist Carsten Radtke meisterhaft gelungen."

WNYC Radio, New York 1/10/2000

"Carsten Radtke is a talented guitarist whose music has appeared on WNYC's music programming several times in the past. His recent performances include some of the most challenging works in all guitar literature, most notably the Sequenza for guitar by Luciano Berio and recent works from the long-established American avant-garde composer Mario Davidovsky.

His recordings show him to be a technically first-rate performer and an insightful and creative programmer and interpreter.

John Schaefer , Executive Producer , Music Programming

a contrast music 7/15/99

I find Carsten Radtke's musical works to be on the verge of a hallucinating traveling escapade into familiar yet foreign territory with a touch of counter point shifts. In collaboration and solo, Radtke has a exemplary command of his instrument and prose without killing the playful intuition that many artists appear to lose by adolescence. One of my favorite pieces which takes the same risk on the "A Contrast Music" CD, is called "Jungle & Song." One might find at listening to Carsten Radtke's guitar works the sense of a high flu fever without the deadly symptoms associated with the virus. The 'A Contrast Music' CD includes works in collaboration with Andreas Bauer and Gunther Basmann. In several solos Radtke expresses a broad range of skills and genre with just the right balance between confidence and fragility performed on the edge of chance. He possesses athletic musical muscle with the grace of a highly skilled archer. I can only imagine the energy field a live performance by Radtke would create.

steve bradley, artistic director; art@radio WMBC Baltimore