Gabrieli Consort a cappella

“When you’re on a roll, you’re on a roll: this is the sixth Gabrieli Consort issue on its own ‘Winged Lion’ imprint, and easily matches the outstanding quality of its predecessors. This is partly due to conductor Paul McCreesh’s bold and imaginative programming, resulting in a Christmas issue which is genuinely challenging and different. … At the heart of everything is the consummate technical ability and sense of idiom displayed by the 28 Gabrieli singers, and McCreesh’s inspirational direction. It’s the type of artistry that completely avoids the impression of artifice…”BBC Music Magazine

“If ever greatness announced itself, it was with Britten’s audaciously inventive and extended choral variations, A Boy Was Born, written at 19. It is the most plausibly symphonic and texturally elaborate of a cappella pieces, yet sustains the freshness of an anthem, the sheer zest of a carol. McCreesh has made it the end piece of an ancient and modern Nativity programme (plainchant rubbing up against Howells, Leighton and Dove), which the Gabrielis gave atmospherically at Shoreditch Church as part of the Spitalfields Winter Festival. Now here is the whole thing on disc, as beautiful as before, in a hardback adorned with images of babies. ”The Sunday Times

“The concept, and the glittering recording that it creates, is ‘very British, indeed’ and worthy of the description: a divine CD aimed at the very heart of the Christmas mystery.”Südwest Presse

“…spellbinding. An ensemble of superb unaccompanied voices soared in elaborate polyphony.”The Guardian

“…an inspired triumph. … the small audience heard perfection of phrasing and diction, both precision sharp at all times. Intonation never slipped and, while there are fine solo voices in this ensemble, they all blended to produce a mellifluous, fine sound which was an absolute joy to hear. ”Liverpool Daily Post

“…exquisitely handled … Plangent plainsong and magical motets.”The York Press

“…his performance of the Great Service with the Gabrieli Consort transported the minster congregation four centuries back in time. The revelation was how contemporary Byrd's writing sounded. The tendrils of pure tone produced by 26 voices coiling and uncoiling in counterpart must have pushed the Protestant reformers' demand for simplicity to the limit … sinuous, antiphonal lines sometimes colliding into a sensuous throb.”The Guardian

“Marian worship reaches giddy heights of bliss in this gloriously sung survey … There can be nothing but praise for the breathtaking assurance and responsiveness of McCreesh’s singers throughout. Emanating from the magically apt surroundings of Ely Cathedral’s Lady Chapel, the sound is at atmospheric and voluptuous as can be imagined... for this is indeed a glorious CD.”The Gramophone

“Time and again in this profoundly sentient collection of Marian compositions the Gabrieli Consort effectively bypass the whole self-orientated notion of ‘performance’, drawing the listener into what, in many of the pieces, is process of prayer through music. ... and James Macmillan’s superbly dramatic Seinte Mari Moder Milde is in places fiercely, burningly imprecatory in its impact. It’s magnificently sung here by the Gabrieli Consort, whom Paul McCreesh directs with passion and dedication throughout a CD I have no hesitation calling essential.”BBC Music Magazine

“Sung throughout with sensitivity to style, this themed programme reveals the reverence and the rapture the Virgin Mary has inspired in music over the centuries … There can be nothing but praise for the breathtaking assurance and responsiveness of McCreesh's singers throughout … the sound is as atmospheric and voluptuous as can be imagined … this is indeed a glorious CD.”The Telegraph

“The Gabrieli Consort actually come up with some exceptional performances here. There are genuinely moving and enlightening accounts of Robert Parsons's "Ave Maria" and of Britten's "A Hymn to the Virgin", quite simply as good as anything available elsewhere, a beautifully posed account of "A Good-Night" which perfectly captures the simple, direct character of Richard Rodney Bennett's setting, and a graceful, elegant, unforgettable performances of John Sheppard's "In pace in idipsum" which exudes tranquillity. There is no doubt that Paul McCreesh has been inspired to draw from his singers performances of unusual sumptuousness in their own right.”International Record Review

“As always, the Gabrieli Consort's singing is of the highest quality and the recording is impeccable.”Financial Times

“The quality of singing is mesmerising.”BBC Music Magazine