Poulenc: Salve Regina

“[Le Figure Humaine is] not only one of Poulenc's greatest achievements, but one of the 20th century's most extraordinary choral pieces, with its waves of voices climaxing in the great shouts of Liberté in the closing moments, which Tenebrae control quite beautifully.” The Guardian, 3rd June 2010 ****

“an impeccable disc” The Observer, 20th June 2010

“Poulenc had vocal expertise in mind when he wrote his choral music, and that is what he gets in this fine selection of six works...all performed with colour and skill by Tenebrae.” The Telegraph, 18th June 2010 ****

“Tenebrae is equal to every challenge. The tuning is impeccable, the phrasing intelligent and never forced, the balance always adjusted to the demands of Poulenc's textures...Not least, the sopranos float ethereally in the more lyrical moments...A disc to be treasured.” BBC Music Magazine, August 2010 *****

“pristine performances” Financial Times, June 2010

“For purity and precision of tone, and flawless intonation, Nigel Short’s chamber choir Tenebrae is pretty much unbeatable...It’s quite a whirl, but Tenebrae’s firm sense of pitch keeps them upright and their beauty radiates like a halo. Warm, affecting music, thrillingly performed.” The Times, 31st July 2010 ****

“Their singing has a precision of pitch, a rhythmic vigour and a musical focus few choirs can equal...Nigel Short, similarly, has studied these scores to the extent that he realises every tiny nuance of Poulenc's writing and produces that kind of performance that offers an almost transparent level of textural precision.” Gramophone Magazine, October 2010

“Here's almost two and a half hours of bliss. These are recordings to set aside for the time when, as the prayer says, 'the busy world is hushed'. Asked to characterise Fauré's and Duruflé's Requiems as compared with others, we might suggest words such as 'delicate', 'meditative', 'undramatic'; but that last would be a mistake. These performances certainly do not go out of their way to 'be' dramatic or anything else other than faithful to the music, but one is struck by the power exercised by those rare moments that rise to a forte and above.
The choir is surely at its best, the trebles with their fine clear-cut, distinctive tone, the tenors (so important in the Fauré) graceful and refined without being precious, the altos exceptionally good, and only the basses just occasionally and briefly plummy or obtrusive in some way.
The Poulenc works further test a choir's virtuosity yet in the extremely difficult Mass, the choir seems secure, and in the Salve Regina they catch the necessary tenderness. The treble soloists sing beautifully, Christopher Keyte dramatises almost too convincingly in Duruflé's 'tremens factus', and Benjamin Luxon, his production less even, builds finely in Fauré's Libera me. These recordings have a vividness, certainly in the choral sound, that modern recordings generally lack.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“What gloriously warm and uplifting music this is...Ericson draws superb singing, whether in the Romanesque devotional motets...or the robust earthniess of the early Chanson a boire.” Gramophone Magazine, April 2013

“it would be hard to better these performances. Clearly Ericson had prepared the choir impeccably with consistent purity of tone and an impressive transparency of texture displaying this music at its finest. In the sacred works there’s a satisfying degree of reverential expression and it is of such an elevated quality it feels almost mystical at times.” MusicWeb International, 19th April 2013

“A timely reminder of Poulenc's wonderful choral output, both sacred and secular. The performances are immaculate, if arguably a touch clinical.” BBC Music Magazine, June 2013 ****

“From the very outset of the Gloria its clear that this is a performance of real distinction. …the scintillating choral entry, the basses starting the ball rolling with the kind of pent-up energy which you just know is going to explode in the most spectacular way. In the final chorus of the Gloria, after the boisterous start, we have a moment of profound sanctity and another, crowned with incredible delicacy by Susan Gritton, of mouth-watering enchantment.” Gramophone Magazine, April 2008

“Stephen Layton's tight control of his forces, both choral and orchestral, lends impeccable ensemble and heart-thumping excitement - has the opening tutti ever had such punch? Soprano Susan Gritton is superb, too, in her committed, soaring performances. The combined choirs of Trinity College, Cambridge and pro group Polyphony are astounding as a virtuoso choral unit...” BBC Music Magazine, April 2008 *****

“Poulenc’s riotously wild, spiky and humorous Gloria is given a marvellously fresh interpretation here by Polyphony … but perhaps the real interest in this disc lies in the more unfamiliar motets. Each is an exquisite example of Poulenc’s daring choral writing, handled here by Polyphony with the same subtlety and skill they brought to their Bruckner Hyperion disc last year” The Observer

“From the very outset of the Gloria it's clear that this is a performance of real distinction. The gloriously pompous opening orchestral fanfare has a swagger and a self-satisfied strut which is one of those rare moments on disc where you would wish it were tracked separately so that you could just play it over and over again. But to do that would miss the scintillating choral entry, the basses starting the ball rolling with the kind of pent-up energy which you just know is going to explode in the most spectacular way. Other recordings have a pleasant, smiley quality here; Stephen Layton's crew has an almost piratical swagger, buoyantly breasting Poulenc's turbulent waves of barely restrained exuberance.
The 38 voices of Polyphony are augmented by 31 from Trinity College, Cambridge, while an unusually hefty contingent of orchestral players makes up the Britten Sinfonia on the disc. What results is not only music-making of immense power and vibrancy – take the riveting declamation 'Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris', hardly subtle or even particularly refined (the men shout and the brass blares) but unbelievably spine-tingling – but also an ability, brilliantly directed by Layton, to capture Poulenc's 'half hooligan, half monk' musical persona (in Claude Rostand's oft-quoted aphorism). Thus, in the final chorus of the Gloria, after the boisterous start, we have a moment of profound sanctity and another, crowned with incredible delicacy by Susan Gritton, of mouth-watering enchantment.
Not everything is quite so enticing: Gritton wallows a little too much perhaps in the 'Domine Deus', mischievously abetted by Layton's almost kitsch romanticism. But it is the vivid sense of unfettered joy in the Gloria and the matchless intensity of feeling revealed in the motets that make this such a gloriously distinguished disc.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“This is another quality disc from Chandos which offers beautiful performances of these attractive French choral works” Canberra Times