- RodolfusChoir: Latest News: Five Stars for Howells CD http://bit.ly/cT2KOC 27 days a go
| Reviews of the Choir |
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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. Ralph Allwood, the finest trainer of young choirs in the country today...the Eton Choral Courses bring 250 teenagers to Eton college each summer. The best are then selected for a group called the Rodolfus Choir that gives concerts under Allwood's direction in London and at regional festivals.
Unspeakably beautiful ... a truly memorable performance. The Rodolfus Choir rise above the technical challenges to convey a sense of radiance and elation that is indelibly memorable...marvellous. Exemplary in every respect. Choral singing of the highest quality ... a wondrous presentation. One could not ask for better performances. Outstanding by any standards ... Sheer pleasure. One of my favourite outfits. Arrangements are all first-rate ... everything from a Chopin Etude to the Sugar Plum Fairy ... all perfectly sung. The finest young singers in Britain, all products of the elite Eton Choral Course, and conducted by its founder Ralph Allwood ... they are set apart by the force of their expression, power, and subtlety ... impeccable credentials. The 400th anniversary of Tallis's death has been overshadowed by the Tippett centenary, yet the Tudor polyphonist is arguably the greater composer. Ralph Allwood and The Rodolfus Choir drawn from young singers of both sexes who have participated in Allwood's summer schools have assembled a programme of his finest motets, anthems and hymns, without resorting to Spem in alium. The sound of the Rodolfus Choir is like that of no other UK chamber choir that I can think of. It is fresh, because all the members are under 25. It is wonderfully blended. It is fantastically in tune and very expressive, with a wide range of dynamics, sensitively employed. What does that leave out? Oh yes, balance - and that too is superb. And it has a quite extraordinary flexibility. The choir are young sounding, performing Tallis’s music with a concentrated, passionate intensity which impressed me. The sopranos are recognisably female but sing with a lovely, bright, forward, boyish tone ... The Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in the Dorian mode were written for Edward’s reign, for the newly instituted service of Evening Prayer. Like his anthems from the period, the settings are economical and clarity of text is paramount. I thought that the choir's performance in Charleston during the summer was one of the best choral concerts I have ever attended. Deeply moving and richly satisfying interpretations ... delighted the audience with imaginative programming and set the highest standards in unaccompanied choral performance ... Ralph Allwood, economical of gesture but in total control of every nuance, balance and dynamics. What a treat it was to hear the wonderful Rodolfus Choir. So expressive, so vibrant, communicating to us listeners as a choir should! So inspiring. If I was a younger man I would be clamouring to join one of the Eton Choral courses and hopefully be chosen to sing with this brilliant choir. What more can I say? |
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