“…A lovely disc, with an energised Iceland Symphony Orchestra sounding thoroughly Gallic under Yan Pascal Tortelier’s baton. Superb sonics too.”

“…As an introduction to MacMillan, this couldn't be bettered. The performances are incredibly assured, and it's a surprise to discover that this is a largely amateur choir. Immaculately recorded with full texts and translations, too: heartfelt, accessible music for grown-ups.”

“… The Hilliards, who have recorded Casken before, sing with limpid clarity and moments of earthy force. There is an additional setting by Pérotin (Viderunt omnes, arranged by Casken) and three early strophic settings in three and four voice parts. Mysterious but tightly controlled; the perfect prelude to Casken’s vocal masterpiece.” ****

“… the discipline and characteristic bright tone of the early tracks are warmed in more emotional interpretations of Morton Lauridsen’s O magnum mysterium and The Road Home by Stephen Paulus, which for me are the highlights of the disc.” *****

“… A thoughtfully assembled collection of familiar and unfamiliar Howells, beautifully captured in King’s Chapel, and a marvellous celebration of Cleobury’s contribution to the musical life of the College.” *****

“... The mass for All Saints is a beautiful creation … LaBarocca deliver the music with passionate reserve and immaculate control.” ***

“…As ever, nimble choral singing and loveliness of line delights… universal praise must flow to soprano Carolyn Sampson, who not only graces this work, powering magisterially through her aria, but also takes sublime ownership of the solo ‘moral’ cantata ich bin in mir vergnügt BWV30a. There’s glorious playing from the orchestra and a proper acknowledgement of the excellent obbligato soloists.”

"... the music is well-crafted, the arias often charming and the chorales familiar and straightforward. This recording from Hungarian musicians under the directions of Gyögy Vashegyi is a fine achievement, and very welcome. The Purcell Choir is a small chamber choir with an attractive, bright tone; the period instruments of the Orfeo Orchestra are led by no less a figure than Simon Standage. Only a few slips in vocal intonation rob the disc of a fifth star." ****

"This is a fine collection of largely unusual transcriptions played on a new symphonic organ, Casavant's Opus 3875 ... Jan Kraybill, organ conservator at the Kauffman Center, plays with considerable verve and a feeling both for colour and for the grand gesture... this is very enjoyable ..." ****

Artistic Quality 10       Sound Quality 9

“Here is an enjoyable album of 20th-century British string music. If you don’t know the composer Herbert Howells, familiarity with the string works of Vaughan Williams (and a bit of Britten) will give you some idea of what to expect… Richard Hickox leads highly engaging performances with the City of London Sinfonia. Chandos’ recording boasts clarity and wide dynamic range …”

Recommended

“…Chandos provides vivid and well balanced sound in all works… if one wants a coupling of these two concertos, I would make his [Bavouzet] performances on this Chandos disc my first choice.”

“… The Chandos recording is ideally sensitive to the openness in Williams’s youthful baritone, which can shift eloquently both to a disarming clarity in his middle register to a haunted, veiled quality; he charts the miller’s minute dissection of ‘she-loves-me, she-loves-me-not’-type observations with deadly accuracy, and in his higher voice his light, flexible vibrato is immensely expressive… All this works powerfully in the pivotal songs, from ‘Pause’ (XII) to ‘Die böse Farbe’ (XVII), in which he teases out the millers amazement, jealousy and loss with unswerving insight, and the intertwining imagery of fate, flowing water and the colour green reveal how thoroughly both artists have understood the cycle’s poetic and emotional arch, gathering to a quietly devastating close. Burnside’s role at the piano is equally subtle, as he makes the distinction between confrontation and reflection with artless directness, and the recording ensures that the piano’s retreats never sound artificial… The Williams-Burnside duo is seriously sympathetic, with the sort of imagination that ensures there is something new to hear after many hearings of this fine release…” *****

Performance ***      Recording ****

“…There is fine solo work from tenor Mark Dobell in ‘Invictus’, setting a poem by William Ernest Henley… Kirsty Hopkins brings her fresh soprano to ‘The Song of Mary Magdalene’ … The choral singing is committed if occasionally scrappy, and the small chamber band accompanies neatly.”

“…The programming is thought-provoking, once again pitting Haydn, the earthy intellectual, against his younger contemporary, the sophisticated and well-travelled savant… Christophers once again demonstrates that his 203-yer-old band are in rude health.”

Performance ***        Recording ***

“… he [Christophers] keeps the delightful score bouncing merrily along; the instrumentalists supply expert playing… Grace Davidson’s Galetea offers a small but pretty soprano and Jeremy Budd’s Acis is crisply articulated and emotionally engaged, while Stuart Young enjoys the comic-grotesque possibilities of the giant Polyphemus …”