This has to be Stile Antico’s best album to date: it’s certainly their most gripping and, as ever with this ensemble, the vocal sound is sumptuous throughout… It’s rather thrilling therefore to hear Stile Antico… tap in to the dramatic excitement and atmospheric intensity now associated with these works.
Ed Breen, Gramophone (May 2018)
Also from Harmonia Mundi this month is a new recording of a much more familiar set of Tenebrae Responsories, by Tomás Luis de Victoria, composed in Rome more than 70 years before Lambert’s collection. These are transcendently beautiful choral settings, a sequence of 18 unaccompanied, four-part motets that are both profoundly restrained and dramatically compelling at... continued
A performance with breathtaking control, precise execution, and astonishing text and structural clarity. I haven’t heard choral singing of this quality in years…
James C.S. Liu, Boston Musical Intelligencer (11 April, 2018)
Stile Antico’s arresting readings never felt imposed upon Victoria’s writing. Often, I couldn’t help feeling that these singers had unleashed rhetorical power that was always there, albeit under the surface.
David Patrick Stearns, The Arts Journal (13 April, 2018)
Yesterday’s concert in the wonderful Sala de Conciertos at the Biblioteca Luis Ángel Arango in Bogotá rounded off a memorable two week tour in North and South America. We took a few minutes to look back over our favourite moments of the trip.
Tom K: Savannah. It’s hard not say that name with a deep southern drawl (in my head, of course). But I absolutely... continued
Tom Kelly has this account of an unforgettable stay on the Caribbean island of San Andrés.
“Our little Caribbean adventure kicked off a touch nervously. As we landed, an unexplained visible gas mysteriously filled the cabin…
“Then we were subject to one of the more opaque immigration queuing systems in recent memory. Still, they are forgiven for... continued
We asked Andrew to blog about our first few days in wonderful Colombia.
“Following a very pleasant post-concert dinner in NYC, the shock of our 5am alarm call was at least partly alleviated by the excitement of heading to South America for the first time. By lunchtime we had made it through immigration and to our hotel in the centre of Bogotá, the... continued
Beginning with Jesus’s betrayal in the garden and ending with the entombment, there’s a profound sense of peace and meditation to Victoria’s masterly settings. With a spirited rendition of Guerrero’s joyful motet Maria Magdalene giving a lift at the end, it was hard not to emerge from such a concert without feeling refreshed and cleansed of spirit.
Clive Paget, Limelight Magazine (11 April, 2018)
As the US leg of our tour came to an end (we’ll be back in October!), we asked the departing Matthew to write about our time in our now-familiar haunts of Boston and NYC.
“With the prospect of a busy weekend ahead, Saturday morning saw a much-needed gentle start and civilised after-breakfast departure from the hotel. We abandoned our two Dodge Grand... continued
This expressive flexibility is unusual, and comes out of a passion for the music and the excitement of the moment that one could feel grow organically in the group… The music culminated in joy and glory, a wise end to a brilliant performance.
George Grella, New York Classical Review (9 April, 2018)
Helen sends dispatches from the front in the war against plastic…
“Wednesday morning saw another early wake up from most of us and I decided to take advantage of the beautiful morning sunshine and have a wander by the Savannah river. I pretty much had the place down by the wharves to myself and was surprised to see a dolphin frolicking in the water! It... continued
We asked Becky to kick off our Americas tour blog: here are her memories of a lovely stay in Savannah, GA!
“We had very much enjoyed our time in Savannah back in 2011, so we were looking forward to returning for our second appearance at the Savannah Music Festival. After a flight from Heathrow to Philadelphia, followed by a bit of time eating and lolling, we... continued