We can only admire the generous young people of Stile Antico, and the vision of the producer who backed this ensemble at such an early stage. In their hands, polyphony lives and breathes, declaims, rejoices, implores, dares expansive phrases and powerful crescendos, sustained at every moment by irresistible feeling.
Roger Tellart, Diapason (April 2008)
These are careful, considered performances, entirely conscious of the expressive potential, as well as the interpretative pitfalls, of the music… simply gorgeous singing.
David Trendell, Early Music (November 2008)
The most striking feature of these performances is how wonderfully varied they are… in their overall sense of form and local nuance this group has something that so many other ensembles noticeably lack.
Anthony Pryer, BBC Music Magazine (March 2008)
Michael Church, The Independent (22 March, 2008)
The director-less Stile Antico offers simply stunning performances here; their phrasing and intonation are beyond reproach, and an absolutely stunning multichannel recording is the icing. Not to be missed – very highly recommended!
Tom Gibbs, Audiophile Audition (28 February, 2008)
The performances, given without a conductor, are splendid – pure, solid, at times astonishingly full for a group that runs to barely more than a dozen voices. This is a spellbinding disc.
Michael Dervan, The Irish Times (7 March, 2008)
If you’ve been paying attention to the choral music scene lately, you know to expect that Stile Antico is more than capable of giving exciting new life to old music… not surprisingly Stile Antico’s renditions join with the very best in the catalog. Not to be missed!
David Vernier, Classics Today (24 January, 2008)
Stile Antico further establishes a newer, higher standard for singing this repertoire.
David Patrick Stearns, The Philadelphia Inquirer (16 March, 2008)
The British tradition of Renaissance choral music, part of the Early Music revival of the 1970s, remains unchallenged, but groups such as Monteverdi Choir and Tallis Scholars need a new generation to invigorate their pioneering skills. Stile Antico, a superb mixed-voice group… are the answer.
Fiona Maddocks, The Evening Standard (16 January, 2008)
Stile Antico’s performances are ideal… they sing the words with the expression the composers intended… A top-notch job all around that can be recommended equally to collectors of English choral music and listeners just beginning to understand the style worlds of Renaissance music.
James Manheim, AllMusic (March 2008)
Marc Rochester, International Record Review (February 2008)
This CD is a knockout. Sensitive expression of the texts is paramount… You won’t find a better demonstration of just how beautiful and yet also powerful these pieces are.
Michael Greenhalgh, MusicWeb International (April 2008)