Tenebrae responsories

"Vurdering: Recording of the month" - "This disc presents impeccable music-making and should be in anybody's collection. Amazing".

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"This beautifully realised release from Tenebrae goes a long way to confirming their position as the one of - if not the - finest chamber choirs at work in Britain today ... The singing itself is marvellous throughout. When the sopranos sing alone the effect is bright, pearly and luminescent ... The tightness of the ensemble is a thing to marvel at".

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"This new version is thoroughly professional and enjoyable ... The recording acoustic here is very deep and warm and there is a very pleasing distancing between the two male choirs in the antiphonal plainsong ... Regarding vocal quality, [Stile Antico] offers impeccable intonation, homogeneity and musicality ... No-one acquiring this new recording, paradoxically warmer in sound and cooler in execution, is likely to be disappointed by the performance here of this extraordinary music".

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"Victoria's Tenebrae Responsories are among the starkest music ever penned, with the four voices just declaiming some of the starkest words in the Christian liturgy; but the impact here is just overwhelming. The solo singers almost never raise their voices ... The very restraint of I Fagiolini does the trick here ... There are plenty more versions of the music out there but this one creates a very special colour and atmosphere. Nobody is likely to regret obtaining a copy, however many other recordings they have of the same music".

"Their [Tenebrae and Nigel Short] approach to what is possibly the most concentrated essence of the composer's work is correspondingly informed with musical intelligence. There is a careful shaping of lines throughout and very great care taken to shape the dramatic narrative of these liturgical and human masterpieces ... Competition is strong ... however, Tenebrae and Short bring their own vision to these remarkable pieces".

"Vurdering: Gramophone choice" - "A recording that strips all excess musical flesh aside, exposing the chilly bones of these penitential masterpieces ... The heart of the cycle - the imploring Si est Dolor - is almost impossibly charged, its balance of vocal fragility and tensile strength discovering the emotional paradox at the core of this music".

"Editor's choice: This has to be Stile Antico's best album to date: it's certainly their most gripping and, as ever with this ensemble, the vocal sound is sumptuous throughout ... It's rather thrilling therefore to hear Stile Antico, who often perform Renaissance polyphony calmly, tap in to the dramatic excitement and atmospheric intensity now associated with these works".