Britten; Saint Nicolas / A Ceremony of Carols Vocal & Song Signum

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“… if you don’t know this delightful work [St Nicholas] scored for solo tenor, mixed choir, boy trebles, strings, organ, two pianos and percussion, this would be a fine place to make its acquaintance. The story-telling from the singers is admirably detailed, with fantastic diction coming from all quarters. It’s that same urgent projection of text, by the way, that makes the Crouch End Ceremony so special …”

Philip Greenfield – American Record Guide – January/February 2022

**** Excellent album

Thomas Deschamps – Classica magazine (France) – October 2021

“… Any chorister will appreciate this release for choral sound and blend. Without a doubt, an enjoyable listen and something of an accomplishment, given the fact that there are some remarkable versions in the market for both works.”

Leighton Jones – theclassicalreview.com – 7 December 2020

“… A Ceremony of Carols receives supremely enjoyable advocacy here… Temple directs with purposeful vigour, eliciting admirably spick and span, notably enthusiastic results from his choral and orchestral team (amateur and professional alike); Mark Le Brocq is an ardent exponent of the title-role. What’s more, there’s no disputing the infectious community spirit and festive splendour on display.”

Andrew Achenbach - Gramophone magazine - December 2020

Performance **** Recording ****

Daniel Jaffe – BBC Music magazine – Christmas 2020

“The pairing of Benjamin Britten’s cantata Saint Nicolas with his Ceremony of Carols is fairly common. Yet there’s a freshness to the performances the Crouch End Festival Chorus and BBC Concert Orchestra (conducted by David Temple) deliver in their recording of both works that’s special. Much of this owes to the purity of the Chorus’s and soloists’ singing in both pieces… Tenor Mark Le Brocq brings a bright tone – as well as excellent enunciations of text and terrific intonation – to his title-role solos.”

Jonathan Blumhofer – thesrtsfuse.org – 2 December 2020

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