Tallis: O sacrum convivium

“The performances are second to none, rivetingly presented with all the skill of master musicians who have been doing this for years—the miracle is that they are all young, and yet still are able to penetrate the essence of these wonderful works. Need I say more?” Audiophile Audition, 31st October 2012 *****

“The run-up to Christmas seems hardly the most propitious time to release an Easter-themed anthology of choral music, but regardless, Passion & Resurrection is to be welcomed both for its skilled execution, and for clever programming” The Independent, 3rd November 2012 ****

“Beautifully presented as always...Is the perfectly blended Stile Antico sound too uniform for all this varied music? The clarity of Taverner's Dum transisset is lovely, but Tomás Luis de Victoria's O vos omnes lacks some Spanish passion.” The Observer, 4th November 2012

“The McCabe piece...is beautifully tailored to the 12 voices of the choir. Although fiendishly difficult to perform, they manage it with superb poise and great dynamic sensitivity and projection. Clearly this is a group that can sing in tune, mantain its balance and enunciate words clearly.” BBC Music Magazine, Christmas 2012 ****

“Stile Antico are probably at their best when the music invites them to sing out. The preference for a choral over a chamber music sound is clearly deliberate (as is the slow tempo adopted for the more solemn English pieces).” Gramophone Magazine, Janauary 2013

“Clare Wilkinson's pure Mezzo voice emerges from the mists of time in the opening antiphon by Talllis, sustaining and beautifully articulating the text. …the Rose Consort play in a sublimely unfussy, unfettered manner worthy of the music.” Gramophone Magazine, September 2008

“The Tallis Scholars produce a distilled, transparent sound and the spiritual tone of their performance is one of serene contemplation through which the Requiem's ecstatic 'external light' shines.” BBC Music Magazine, September 2005 *****

“[In Spem in alium] Parrott's sure touch tells in the form: the first entry is clear and confident...the first Mexican wave spreads inexorably, the arrival on the second tutti rings out like a clarion-call, the antiphonal section doesn't flag, the initial 'Respice' is solemn and arresting, and the final tutti gloriously full-bodied.” Gramophone Magazine, February 2010

“This, the third volume of the survey by The Tallis Scholars of the music of the Tudor composer, Thomas Tallis, contains the well-known Lamentations, eight motets, and the extended motet Salve intemerata virgo. The Lamentations and motets are typical of the style of late Renaissance English composers. The overall mood is one of considerable austerity and their simplicity is indicative of the probability of their having been written for the private use of loyal Catholics rather than for formal ritual. Salve intemeratavirgo, on the other hand, looks back to the glories of the late 15th century. In particular, Tallis's use of the phrygian mode gives the work as a whole a strong sense of the medieval. Despite this disparity of styles the Tallis Scholars acquit themselves, as always, with great distinction. In the Lamentations and motets they achieve an appropriate sense of intimacy, while in Salve intermerata virgo they rise fully to the challenges of one of the more extended and demanding examples of Tudor choral composition. In addition the formidable challenges which this latter work sets for the conductor, such as the sense of pace, variation of dynamics, and overall architecture of the work, are all extremely well handled by Peter Phillips.
The recording is very fine.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

... enthralling - a glorious testimony to a golden age of music
BBC Music Magazine

“Another success for Jeremy Summerly's Oxford Camerata.” BBC Music Magazine