“What are the EXACT measurements of Eleanor’s largest suitcase?” A question that has challenged luggage experts for decades. Here, to end years of speculation and suspense, is Eleanor’s answer: “Committed as I am to travelling light, the largest suitcase I own measures a mere 55x35x25cm. There are several reasons for choosing a small case, the…
One night in the home of Honky Tonk – an update from one car as the convoy hurtles down the freeway… After a civilised getting-up time this morning we picked up two hire cars from Cincinnati airport, in order to head to Nashville. Thankfully American cars have plenty of room for six people and six…
Stile Antico gets better and better… What we heard in the glorious St. Paul space was not only beautiful sound from the well-matched and perfectly tuned voices, but fine rhythmic sensitivity to the nuances of attack and phrasing that make this music a joy both to sing and to hear… a magnificent conclusion to a richly varied and rewarding program.
Virginia Newes, Boston Musical Intelligencer (11 March, 2014)
Emma blogs on a successful return to Cincinnati! “Today started, well, yesterday. After a less-than-ideal travel day we eventually reached the Garfield suites hotel at 1.15am. After the most welcome night’s sleep of the tour so far, we were treated to a fabulous brunch of bacon, eggs, pastries and fruit salad in Kate and Becky’s…
It was the Agnus Dei of Byrd’s Mass and John Taverner’s “O splendor gloriae” that gave the fullest account of what Stile Antico can do. Each had the group’s unique sound, which balances richness and clarity and varies color and texture in sync with the text. Both were meticulously paced, building logically to a conclusion either hushed and intimate (Byrd) or virtuosic and thrilling (Taverner). They were brilliantly realized, both technically...
David Weininger, The Boston Globe (10 March, 2014)
Ben looks back on a long trip to Cincinnati “The day started well enough…. … but took a turn for the worse. No tour would be complete without at least one day where the travel plans cascade in front of us like a line of dominoes. It only takes one slight delay to a flight…
Its sound creamy and warm, the group sings with a smooth blend that nevertheless allows individual voices to pierce through: a plangent alto here, a slightly husky bass there… The final selection, Taverner’s “O splendor gloriae,” began as a duet and then built through the ensemble to a shining “Amen.”
Zachary Woolfe, New York Times (9 March, 2014)
Katie’s foody foray “One thing that never disappoints when we tour to the USA is the food. From enormous pepperoni pizzas to racks of BBQ ribs, clam chowder in Boston to ‘grits’, the savoury corn-based porridge popular in the mid-Western and Southern states, there is always something to surprise even the most well-travelled of tastebuds….
Becky blogs in Boston “Our first full day of the tour saw us celebrate our fiftieth concert in the US! We awoke to brilliant sunshine and blue skies – well, most of us woke first in the very early hours of the morning, as the day was beginning back at home, but managed to doze off…
London to Boston: a round-up from Ben, and a few words from Stile Antico’s in-flight film critics “As big travel days go, yesterday was pretty good. We breezed through Terminal 5, British Airways delivered us on time and no one was interrogated by a border officer on arrival. For most of us, the one redeeming…
Florida is nothing compared to Helen’s little ray of sunshine! “While the others are jetting off stateside I’m sadly going to be left at home holding the baby. Literally. Thomas was born on the 6th of February so he’s exactly a month old today, and we thought that might be a little early to inflict…
Kate shares some thoughts on the programme we’ll be performing. “On this tour, for the first time ever on a States trip, we will be taking just one programme – The Phoenix Rising. It is always a real pleasure to repeat the same programme in different venues, especially when it is packed full of some…