Magnificat

“The subtle hues of the choir, an elite corps from Winchester Cathedrals, are particularly impressive in Byrd's Lamentation, a piece in which voicing gives the music its momentum. Yet the beauty of this choir is, ironically, its greatest weakness.” BBC Music Magazine, January 2013 ****

“There is such precision and care paid to the progress of the music and its phrases that you can almost see Philip Cave placing each note carefully, exactly where he wants it. That's not to say Magnificat's sound is in any way bland in its meticulousness - far from it. The blend and ensemble of the voices is beyond reproach.” Gramophone Magazine, January 2013

“The sober packaging of this disc gives little indication of the pleasure within. Pass it over at your peril...the long lines of intertwining and unfolding polyphony, performed with warmth and purity, is the reason to buy this inspirational CD.” The Observer, 9th December 2012

This is quite the best performance of Tallis's 40-part Spem in Alium that I have heard." Gramophone

“This is quite simply the best performance of Tallis's 40-part Spem in alium to date. Sung by a constellation of singers, many of them familiar names from other wellestablished choral groups, it's a gripping realisation.
The effect of the slowly moving harmonies is enhanced by a well-conceived and very positive use of dynamics. Precise entries, gently undulating rhythms that are wonderfully supple, and then those firm antiphonal phrases – one group of choirs answered by another at 'Creator coeli et terra' – raise the tension, until we twice almost miss a heart-beat at the well-placed rest before 'Respice …'.
That great motet, so central to the whole programme, is well supported by the four-part Mass and the delightful group of other pieces for various combinations of voices. The hymn Te lucis with its alternating chant strophes sounding so very English (almost too perfect for what was, after all, just run-of-the-mill everyday chant!) has the tempo relationship of the chant to the polyphony just right, which is a tremendous plus, rarely achieved.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“The Council of Trent would have been pleased: with just two voices per part, and with clear diction and articulation from the members of Magnificat, the texts are generally easy to follow. The lower voices are captured especially well, and the blend between the voices and His Majesty's Sagbutts and Cornetts is gorgeous.” BBC Music Magazine, March 2012 *****

“I'm not sure what inspired Magnificat's director, Philip Cave, to fly the flag for Philippe Rogier but this recording vindicates his decision to do so.” Gramophone Magazine, February 2012

“This is a superb, vibrant disc of some first-rate music...The singers of Magnificat have a rich, creamy sound, well blended but with each voice part's individuality also fully audible. They also have an excellent sense of line, particularly valuable in Rogier's dense writing” International Record Review, February 2012

“Following the Spanish custom these performances accompany some of these pieces with a glorious jamboree of instruments doubling and decorating the vocal lines; this creates a particularly awesome climax in Verbum caro factum est...there's adroitness here too: the word 'Resurrexit' conjures from them a wonderful dancing rhythm.” BBC Music Magazine, April 2011 ****

“The grandeur doesn't pall, as Philip Cave varies the texture by employing a continuo group that includes both lute and harp...Rogier is not a top-flight composer but these lively performances are well worth hearing.” Classic FM Magazine, May 2011 ****

“[Cave] avoids absolute consistency of tone, colour, attack, phrasing and rhythmic profiling, and allows the music plenty of breathing space, especially at sonorous cadences or where the inner parts move with exceptional beauty or interest. He also brings to this music just enough Venetian warmth and playfulness.” International Record Review, March 2011

“The works on what is Magnificat's second disc of Rogier's music for Linn show how the composer's style, Flemish originally, absorbed ideas from other European choral traditions – including the antiphonal effects of Venetians such as Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli.” The Guardian, 24th February 2011 ***

“Iván Fischer and his Hungarian band join the most august company in this wonderful repertoire.
As both sets of dances amply demonstrate, Fischer's Budapest Festival Orchestra is no less virtuosic than Ormandy's dazzling Philadelphians or Ferenc Fricsay's exemplary Berlin RSO, and its impassioned playing melds an earthy physicality, tangy exuberance and improvisatory flair to consistently telling effect. Add to the mix Fischer's wittily observant direction (an abundance of affectionate rubato in the opening section of the Marosszék Dances especially, allied to a generous quotient of 'gypsy' slides from the strings elsewhere), and the results are irresistible.
Similarly, their Háry János Suite is immensely engaging. After a spectacularly good introductory 'sneeze', Fischer sees to it that Kodály's great arcs of melody are truly espressivocantabile as marked. Napoleon's battlefield antics are hilariously depicted (splendidly bolshy trombones), while Fischer's thrusting 'Intermezzo' has joyous swagger. Moreover, for all the giddy festivities of the brassy 'Entrance of the Emperor and his Court', Fischer still manages to extract plenty of ear-burning detail. Five miniatures from the original Singspiel are also included, programmed separately from the suite; in 'The two gypsies' Fischer shares fiddling duties with Gábor Takács-Nagy. Last but not least we get three choral offerings from 1925-9, which are delivered with captivating freshness and charm by the two admirable children's choirs here.
A peach of an issue, complemented by an irrepressibly vivid recording.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“So much first-rate 16th-century music still remains unrecorded, but here's a welcome addition.
Philippe Rogier's death at the age of 35 in 1596 cut short a prolific stream of music. Worse was to come. In 1734 a fire destroyed the library of the Spanish royal chapel, which must have held a large number of his compositions (at the time of his death he was chief court musician to Philip II).
How large a number can be gauged from the terrible earthquake that struck Lisbon in 1755, swallowing up the royal library along with 243 works.
Today we're left with only 51, of which the present recital represents a sizeable proportion.
Rogier's music has Palestrina's imposing solidity and classical feel, but is more florid and freer in its use of dissonance. In this sense it looks forward to later Iberian music of the 17th century, achieving a sustained intensity in the motets. The Mass is a consummate demonstration, the skilful working out of a motet by Gombert, whose influence is very audible. The booklet-note rightly points out how Rogier develops his model in very different directions: the sequences that conclude most movements are persuasively managed, but sound utterly unlike Gombert.
Rogier's Mass Domine Dominus noster appears in a fine recording on Ricercar. But Magnificat's interpretation is of a different order. This is singing in the English tradition, but with greater warmth and richness than we're used to from mixed choirs of this kind. Given Rogier's predilection for fully scored writing, that richness pays dividends, as does the relatively large cast of 18 singers. Interpretation and music are well matched in more ways than one. Neither are strikingly original, but both make a striking impression.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010