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Expressive Power
MALCOLM MILLER listens to
The Sixteen's 'The Earth Resounds'
The Earth Resounds is both an apt title for the programme of Renaissance choral music performed by The Sixteen under their charismatic director Harry Christophers during their 'Choral Pilgrimage 2012', and an accurate description of their achievement, that of making accessible and relevant the treasures of the musical past to an ever widening public. In contrast to the ubiquitous 'dumbing down' of so many popularising classical artists, The Sixteen have gathered a wide international following for their superb performances and prolific recordings of choral music since the Renaissance, through the sheer skill and artistry of their accomplished singing style, their sense of teamwork, and their penetrating interpretations of music which require the utmost discipline, both in analysis and performance. While audiences in cathedrals and churches across the UK have enjoyed and continue to enjoy this particular programme in spacious and resonant surroundings, the 2012 Pilgrimage came rather remarkably to a modern concert hall with a crystal clear acoustic on 27 September 2012, enthralling the enthusiastic audience at Kings Place, London with thrilling performances that -- even though coming towards the end of the tour -- excelled in its freshness, vitality and expressive power.
Accuracy and quality of tone, formidable intonation and immaculate diction: the sheer sonic characteristics of The Sixteen were eye- and ear-opening...
Copyright © 1 October 2012
Malcolm Miller,
London UK
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