For purity and precision of tone, and flawless intonation, Nigel Short’s chamber choir Tenebrae is pretty much unbeatable.

The Times

… they seem to have an extra gear, a kind of choral over-drive that allows them to soar almost serenely over corners that have some of the finest vocal ensembles showing the strain.

BBC Radio 3, CD Review

… all marvellous. It’s hard to imagine them being done better: Tenebrae’s tone, balance and intonation are superb.

Classic FM

The awards jury says … Poulenc’s Figure Humaine makes extreme demands on ensemble and intonation, as plenty of commercial recordings can prove. Nigel Short’s Tenebrae is astonishing, and instead of being diverted by the musical struggle, you’re free to focus on Eluard’s texts. The sense of liberation at the end is no less powerfully expressed, and as a showcase for Poulenc’s choral writing, I’m finding it hard to imagine this recital being bettered.

 

BBC Music Magazine

With considerable expertise Nigel Short directs the impeccably prepared choir in beautiful accounts. They have the added advantage of crystal clear and superbly balanced sound.

Michael Cookson

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, which are frequently not as straightforward as they look on the page. Not least, the sopranos float ethereally in the more lyrical moments…The demanding top E at the end of Figure Humaine crowns the work as it should.

Roger Nichols

… I think this is near perfection for me

Hilary Finch

Beautiful, sustained, controlled singing – a marvellous CD

Rob Cowan

It’s a fabulous disc, I can’t stop listening to it at the moment; it’s practically cemented itself to my CD player – it’s beautiful

Jeremy Summerly, BBC Radio 3 Critics Choice 2010

An absolute tour de force from the British chamber choir Tenebrae here, singing in idiomatic French and with absolute technical assurance, even in the face of the fearsome challenges presented by the centrepiece, Figure Humaine (top E for the sopranos and all!).

Presto Classical

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

pristine performances

The Financial Times

Poulenc had vocal expertise in mind when he wrote his choral music, and that is what he gets in this fine selection… all performed with colour and skill by Tenebrae

The Daily Telegraph

an impeccable disc

The Observer