Recordings
MASS IN B MINOR JS BACH
Conducted by: Ralph Allwood
Soprano: Sophie Bevan Countertenor: Clint van der Linde
Tenor: Ben Johnson
Baritone: Hakan Vramsmo
Baritone: Colin Campbell
“The overriding feeling of this recording is its lively pace and its refusal to hang around…The opening of the Credo finds the choristers presenting beautifully moulded choral lines with such an astonishing legato that they positively glide by. Allwood is also blessed with an outstanding team of soloists…Throughout the Southern Sinfonia lend distinction to the performance.”
International Record Review, March 2011
“They achieve remarkable facility in passagework: I’ve never heard nine basses in such perfect accord in the tortuous ‘Et iterum venturus est’…The soloists are a fine team. In ‘Domine Deus’, Sophie Bevan and Ben Johnson match perfectly in imitation…The basses are cleverly typecast…Highly recommended.”
BBC Music Magazine, January 2011
Vespers of 1610Monteverdi
Conducted by: Ralph Allwood Choir: The Rodolfus Choir Addition Ensemble: The English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble
“The sound of choir and ensemble massed together is altogether pleasing, and the playing of the Southern Sinfonia is arguably this set’s greatest strength”
Gramophone
“Every year selected singers from cathedral, church and school choirs take part in Eton Choral Courses, from which the conductor Ralph Allwood further cherry-picks the elite Rodolfus Choir.
They make a light, bright, exciting sound as evidenced by this terrific double CD of Monteverdi’s Vespers. There is real spring in their tone, particularly in the Nisi Dominus, and crystal diction throughout. The solo voices have a youthful plaintiveness- enjoy the balancing tenors over the walking lute in Laetatus Sum. Margaret Faultless leads the excellent Southern Sinfonia, while the English Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble add a princely lustre to the worship”
Rick Jones The Times December 2007
Conducted by: David Hill
Choir: The Bach Choir
Soprano: Olivia Robinson
Baritone: Edward Price
Organ: Jane Watts
Recorded: St. Johns Smith Square, London
“Carl Rütti’s Requiem is a Naxos recording that caught many of us by surprise last year. It’s rich and dark beauty somehow resonated with a few of us enough to make our best of 2009 lists. I decided to contact Carl and see if I could get him to speak about this fantastic piece of music”
Naxos Blogspot
“This release is an event in the choral world: a fine new Requiem to add to the repertoire, with challenging yet accessible lines for double choir, glorious passages for soloists and an accompaniment adaptable to available forces. The Bach Choir sings magnificently here, particularly in the terrific Sanctus, and young soloists Olivia Robinson and Edward Price bring Rütti’s lyrical pen to glorious life. No wonder it brought the audience to its feet at its premiere.”
Stephen Pritchard The Observer