The Times on Stile Antico's Proms debut

Reviews

The Times on Stile Antico’s Proms debut

Geoff Brown, The Times (25 August, 2010)

Earlier, superior music-making ruled in the lunchtime Prom at Cadogan Hall. The divine British vocal group Stile Antico sailed without hiccup (or conductor) through Renaissance settings of texts from the biblical Song of Songs. Breasts, pomegranates, apples, honey: the sensuous vocabulary vibrated with that mellifluous vocal bliss only possible with long rehearsals, close listening and constant eye contact. The repertoire, from Nicolas Gombert to Michael Praetorius, shifted between lip-smacking and the devout, but Stile Antico’s pitch, unanimity and beauty never wavered.