Shortlisted for the Gramophone Orchestral Award

“This second collection of English string music is a worthy successor to an excellent earlier one. The performances are uniformly superb – well beyond just good playing … Wilson’s conducting gives the impression of these scores having been scrubbed clean, the better tp appreciate their greatness in the light of day.”

“…a superb disc.”

Orchestral Choice

Performance *****      Recording *****

“… John Wilson’s new version [Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis] with that new revived orchestra [Sinfonia of London] sets a stunning benchmark for the digital generation…”

Editor’s Choice April 2023

“… This release is another jewel in the Sinfonia of London’s crown!” ****½

Recommended

“…I am extremely enthusiastic about the recorded quality provided here. A mildly reverberant acoustic provides a perfect cushion for the orchestra, and, as elsewhere, the strings in the vigorous outer movements of the Howells Concerto are splendid in their unanimity and fullness of tone. The necessarily less aggressive playing in the slow movement has a lovely bloom to the playing. .. Throughout the piece [Tallis Fantasia] , the strings are lush yet clear with unerring judgement of sensuality tempered where necessary with austerity. I can only dizzily speculate what it would sound like when played back through a multi-channel system…”

Editor's Choice - Orchestral Section

“… I expect it has been said before, but the Sinfonia of London belongs in the Formula 1 class of orchestras, and in repertoire, and in this repertoire sits in pole position.”

“…Sinfonia of London aren’t afraid to dazzle – the fugue is scorching – but there is also a warmth and generosity about the playing, particularly in the introduction… top-drawer players playing for a top-drawer conductor on this top-drawer album …”

“… It’s always a pleasure to hear new things in such a well-loved favourite…”

“…orchestra and conductor are arguably best in the Vaughan Williams Tallis Fantasia, where balancing, unanimity of attack and tonal richness reach almost superhuman perfection without deflecting from the music’s ultimate humanity. There’s also wistfulness in the Delius and a joyful sense of momentum to the Elgar Introduction and Allegro. Chandos’s luminous recording allows you to hear every strand and the dynamic range is remarkable (and not a trick of the microphones, as anyone who has heard the orchestra live can confirm).”

“…John Wilson has an uncanny ability to make familiar music sound fresh with his sinfonia of London. In this compilation album, he delivers a compelling reading of the Tallis Fantasia and an even more imposing account of Edward Elgar’s Introduction and Allegro for strings ... How Wilson gets his violins to sound at one moment like a string quartet and the next like a church organ is one of the mysteries of musical transmission. On this form, he has the best strings sound in Britain…” ****

“As ever, John Wilson and Sinfonia of London deliver: these are recordings of stellar clarity, subtlety and beauty…” ****

“…the exquisite reading of Vaughan Williams’ masterpiece Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis … is given a nigh- definitive reading, as is Delius’s charming Late Swallows. Howells’ Concerto for String Orchestra is, perhaps, the ringer on the disc – relatively few listeners will be familiar with it, but this heartfelt reading should win the piece many new friends… the disc as a whole is unmissable.”

Recording of the Week

“… I must express my amazement at the quality and beauty of the string sound that Wilson achieves with his orchestra... The thought that Wilson puts into programming these albums is quite remarkable …”

“… Very highly recommended.”

“… As ever, the brilliance of the playing makes this essential listening, the precision and attention to detail alive and exhilarating. The entire disc holds the attention, but the last movement of the Elgar, urgent and impassioned, has you on the edge of you seat: a tour de force.”

“… Herbert Howells’s impressive Concerto for String Orchestra… receives the most satisfying and involving performance in this collection, music that arrests from the off in its vigour and intensity … Wilson’s is a terrific version.”