CD, Praetorius, M (composer)

The Sixteen have been around so long (40 years and counting) that it is easy to take them for granted. This newly recorded Christmas disc, however, acts as a sharp reminder of the choir’s abiding... — BBC Music Magazine, Christmas 2021, 5 out of 5 stars More…

The group’s name suggests a band of wrongly imprisoned miscreants, but they make celestial sounds in Vaughan Williams’s neo-plainsong The Truth Sent from Above and Holst’s Lullay My Liking.... — Sunday Times, 15th December 2019 More…

This third instalment in Capella de la Torre’s series of the four elements is every bit as fresh and thoughtful as one would expect from one of Europe’s leading early wind ensembles...This enjoyable... — Gramophone Magazine, November 2019 More…

This excellent German vocal quintet presents seven of Martin Luther’s chorales in many versions, typically changing composers from one verse to the next... instrumental chorale preludes appear... — New York Times, 13th December 2017 More…

all fulsomely rendered, though acoustically a little inconsistent, in rare arrangements with period orchestra. — BBC Music Magazine, Christmas 2023, 3 out of 5 stars More…

Vestiva explores how the art of embellishment revolutionised instrumental music in the 16th and 17th centuries, allowing performers to openly flaunt both their virtuosic and improvisatory skills... — BBC Music Magazine, February 2024, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Kaufmann is audibly having fun here, with strong orchestral accompaniment. The dominant German set is rich and chocolatey, the later English items a more sickly-sweet candy. — BBC Music Magazine, Christmas 2020, 3 out of 5 stars More…