“…Neil Ferris conducts a totally convincing performance (Requiem], and, as the choir’s Music Director, will be in large part responsible for the quality of the choral singing… The City of London Sinfonia and Neil Ferris provide a sensitive accompaniment to tenor Benjamin Hulett in the coupling, 70 Degrees below Zero… The tenor line is often ungrateful to sing, but he manages everything beautifully, knowing instinctively, so it seems, where to place emphasis and where to change pace. The orchestral writing is superb …another highly impressive work, one that, in particular, ends wonderfully …”

“… It [Da Vinci Requiem] is a work that is badly needed at the present time: I have no doubt that, in its direct and compelling language, able to be grasped immediately by any music-loving listener, McDowall’s Da Vinci Requiem is a masterpiece. The performance here is compelling, and it surely earned the composer’s total approval… The work [70 Degrees below Zero] is written for chamber orchestra with tenor solo, and forms a perfect musical coupling to the Da Vinci Requiem – especially in such a fine performance as this…” ***** 

Performance ****      Recording ****

“… The City of London Sinfonia are sensitive partners to the voices throughout, while conductor Neil Ferris should be commended for this judicious pacing and marshalling of all involved.”

“… In this Requiem, as in all her works, McDowall knows how to hold the listener’s attention with a music that becomes directly communicative with much thoughtfulness in setting texts to music, because it appeals to the human sensibility in a moderately modern tonal language whose high artistic standards cannot be denied… Neil Ferris, his chorus, the two very fine soloists and the City of London Sinfonia deliver a gripping account of this Requiem that, in an excellent sound recording, has everything to be effective and, yes, memorable…” *****

“…I have been very impressed by Da Vinci Requiem. The concept of combining Leonardo’s writings with the words of the Mass for the Dead is original and intriguing – and very successful. I’ve admired Cecilia McDowall’s music for a long time, so expectations were high – and have been fulfilled… 70 Degrees Below Zero is an impressive work and I’m delighted that it has achieved a recording. Neil Ferris draws excellent playing from the City of London Sinfonia while Benjamin Hulett is simply outstanding. The clarity of tone and diction he brings to this music is admirable, and so is his emotional engagement with the piece. This is a fine disc, showing, as so many previous recordings have done, that Cecilia McDowall is a first-rate composer who communicates splendidly with audiences. The performances have been recorded in excellent sound by engineer Mike Hatch …”