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Performance *****Sounds *****
No longer need Alfred Schnittke's daunting and often overwhelming Choir Concerto be seen purely as the provenance of those supernaturally adept Russian choirs. In both the most uplifting of block harmonies and the most anguished of laments, Layton and the Holst Singers impress me even more than the assured yet still English cathedral-choir-like Corydon Singers' award...
Schnittke: Choir Concerto; Minnesang; Voices of Nature. Holst Singers/Layton (Hyperion CDA67297). Stephen Layon's abilities as a choral trainer and conductor have been recognised with a Gramophone Award and a series of prestigeous appointments, including director of the Netherlands Radio Choir. In his latest Hyperion release, h draws a sublime performance od Schnittke's Choir Concerto from the...
Polyphony met the Age of Enlightenment; they said “Handel’s oratorio ?”, the others said “Stephen Layton conducting “, the consequence was Emma Kirkby, Michael Chance, James Gilchrist and David Wilson-Johnson; and the world said “wow!”
'Polyphony beautifully continue the English tradition with joyful refinement'
'A treat for all Rutter fans! … the program is bound to satisfy anyone seeking a balanced program of Christmas choral music done with sensitivity and taste'
If audience participation muddies the join-in carols in the King’s disc, here’s something cool, poised and honed to perfection. The breathtakingly precise Polyphony under Stephen Layton sing my favourite performance of these exquisite motets. Poulenc gives us the eery depth in ‘O magnum mysterium’, the inimitable delicacy of ‘Videntes stellam’ and breaks into peals of robust joy with ‘Hodie...