'the flawless blend of this virtuoso ensemble' - 27.09.07

[CD Review – Hymn to St Cecilia from ‘Miserere’ disc] The Britten-Pears Library

A quite stunning performance of Britten’s transparent motet, the open textures made more spectacular by the flawless blend of this virtuoso ensemble. Perhaps not since Swingle II’s notoriously amplified account in the 1970s have Britten’s textures sounded so firm and sonorous throughout the range: the chording before the final tenor solo is breathtaking. Britten’s teacher John Ireland is also represented by his moving Ex ore innocentium (athough it is perhaps less touching when sung by the assured sopranos of Tenebrae than by the boy choristers for whom Ireland wrote).

Signum Classics SIGCD085