Music on Christmas Morning – MusicWeb International

I well remember reviewing an excellent Christmas disc, ‘Noël nouvelet’ by Jeremy Backhouse and the Vasari Singers, not least because I have probably played the disc at least once every Christmas since then. Nonetheless, it came as a bit of a shock to look back and discover that the disc came out as long ago […]

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Music on Christmas Morning – John Rutter

A selection of comments made by John Rutter in conversation with Andrew McGregor, on BBC Radio 3’s Record Review programme on Saturday 23 December 2023. Music on Christmas Morning is a delightful mix of old and new, familiar and unfamiliar. You would certainly enjoy it as you’re preparing your Christmas turkey. Nova, Nova (Ian Farrington):Andrew […]

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Five Mystical Songs CD Review – BBC Music Magazine

For many listeners the main attraction will be baritone Roderick Williams’s take on Vaughan Williams’s Five Mystical Songs, in a new version for organ accompaniment by Martin Ford. Williams is in sovereign form, noble and resonant in the opening ‘Easter’, plangent and intimate in ‘I Got Me Flowers’. In ‘The Call’ Williams distils a palpable […]

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Five Mystical Songs CD Review – Roderick Williams

I’ve always enjoyed singing alongside the Vasari Singers ever since I was part of the team when they won BBC Choir of the Year. Friends that I made in the choir at that time, when I was just starting out on the London singing scene in the early 1990s, have remained friends ever since. It […]

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Five Mystical Songs CD Review – MusicWeb International

I was delighted to receive this new CD from the Vasari Singers because I’ve admired a good number of their releases in the past. Though their recorded repertoire is wide, they’ve consistently demonstrated a propensity for British music, as is the case here. There are some very welcome selections in this programme. I was very […]

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