Back to artist

Gramophone November 2024: CD Fayrfax Maria plena virtute
Here Peter Phillips and The Tallis Scholars present the four great votive antiphons of Fayrfax’s maturity – vast works in five voices, each lasting a quarter of an hour and showing the most astonishing economy of means. He chooses to present them with only two singers on each voice, …. …., these are probably among the world’s best singers for this kind of music; and they now have enormous resources of experience. As always, The Tallis Scholars run effortlessly like a Rolls-Royce; and everything seems unchallengeably in place. David Fallows –Review in full

Ritmo January 2024 : Sheppard Missa Cantate - *****
… The Tallis Scholars despliega en este disco todas las cualidades a las que nos tiene acostumbrados : un sonidao compacto y poderoso, como la de una maquina que podria hacerse oir hasta las estrellas, pero que jamas traicionaria la esencia de la obra que tiene en atriles por usar un efecto innecario … Juan Fernando Duarte Borrero

Bachtrack 16/11/2023 : Brilliant raue Noten: Renaissance und zeitgenössische Musik von The Tallis Scholars
… In Giovanni Palestrinas Tu es Petrus klangen alle Stimmen kräftiger und schallte der Text aus dem Mattheus Evangelium laut und freudig wie von unerschrockenen Himmelsstürmern. Für John Rutters anschließende Hymne Hymn to the Creator of Light für Doppelchor wechselten die Sänger dementsprechend die Aufstellung. Es spricht für die stimmliche Meisterschaft dieses Ensembles, dass diese einfachbesetzte Ausführung keine Wünsche offen ließ im Vergleich zu einer größer besetzten Chorfassung.
…. Wurde Gomberts Stück mit mitreißenden dynamischen Differenzierungen mit zwei Sopranen weniger und also nur mit acht Sängern ausgeführt, standen für die älteste Komposition des Abends nur noch ein Gesangsquartett auf der Bühne. Wieder war es die Altstimme, die mutig voranging im meist intimen musikalischen Momentum des Abends.
…Den begeisternden Schlusspunkt setzten The Tallis Scholars mit Arvo Pärts Which Was the Son of... Für die Aufzählung von Jesus‘ Vorväter von Josef bis hin zu Adam aus dem Evangelium nach Lucas zogen Philips und seine nun wieder zehn Sänger noch einmal alle Register ihres virtuosen stimmlichen Könnens und brillierten mit blitzsauberen Harmonien in dieser abwechslungsreichen rhythmisch akzentuierten Chorkomposition. Als Zugabe gab es noch weiteres Mal Stimmenzauber aus der Feder Pärts: dessen Bogorodice dievo (Ave Maria). Michael Klier - Resenzion

Ft.com 6/10/2023 : The Tallis Scholars sound close to perfection in John Sheppard: Missa Cantate - Recordings of seven works by the Tudor composer were made in a 12th-century priory
…As always, the Tallis Scholars’ performances are pure and technically close to perfection, the use of high keys adding extra brilliance to their already bright sound.  Richard Fairman – Review in full

Gramophone October 2023 : CD Sheppard - Missa Cantate
...That Peter Phillips and The Tallis Scholars have – after 50 years of concerts – never before recorded Sheppard’s Cantate Mass is an astonishing fact. ….  And for that this new issue is all the more welcome.  Welcome, of course, for all the qualities that have made The Tallis Scholars world leaders : absolute unanimity, perfect tuning, impeccable diction, stunning control and a seemingly effortless inevitability about everything they do.
… Phillips fills the rest of his disc with Latin service music, including the gorgeous Gaude, gaude, gaude Maria, with its magical middle section for four close-harmony high voices and a bass, and ending up with the glorious motet Gaude virgo Christiphera, not previously recorded, I think, and a truly wonderful addition to the repertory of that most idiosyncratic of 16th-century composers. David Fanning – Review in full

The Arts Desk 30/09/2023 : CD Sheppard: Missa Cantate
…The highlight of these is probably the final piece, Gaude virgo Christiphera, which conductor Peter Phillips, in his invaluable liner notes, suggests is a late work because of its “ease of writing”. It is massive (11 min) but with the most confident architecture, and long spans of imitative melody than seem to constantly renew themselves. The singing is glorious here – as throughout. The tuning and blend is impeccable – of course it is, that is the Tallis Scholars’ stock in trade. The high singing, Sheppard’s hallmark, is ecstatic and effortless, and the whole disc, despite its essential seriousness, is joyous. …., a strong recommend. Bernard Hughes – Review in full

Gramophone 21/09/2023: CD John Sheppard: Missa Cantate
Captivating vistas of the six-voice Missa Cantate appear alongside stunningly inventive examples of chant-based responsories, hymns and votive antiphons. …. The singing is immaculate and joyously committed in an admirably clear and immediate recording. A composer of genius? Absolutely. Rebecca Tavener – Review in full

Muziek-recensie.nl 2/09/2023 : Impressie van de Josquin-Marathon tijdens het Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht - Nieuwe muziek uit de renaissance
…De grootsheid van de componist is al aangestipt. Bovendien splitste het koor zich elk concert op in een andere samenstelling van negen zangers en in het laatste concert (Finale) tien, zodat de klankkleur heel afwisselend was. Soms van een volkse rauwheid (Amen van het Credo uit de Missa ad fugam, I), soms teer (Benedictus uit het Gloria van de Missa La sol fa re mi, III). … dan was er weer die bekende Tallis Scholars klank: vol én doorzichtig, haast gepolijst. Slechts met een enkel rafelrandje, dat liet horen dat het zelfs voor een koor als dit om mensenwerk gaat. Gelukkig maar.
Die ene dirigent, Peter Phillips dan. Hij richtte The Tallis Scholars in 1973 op en wist in deze tour de force het beste uit zijn koor te halen. Waarbij hij soms nauwelijks bewoog; de klank vloeide toch wel. Of stond stil, als klankvelden (akkoorden) die als gordijnen nagenoeg niet bewogen (Missa L’ami Baudichon, V). Het publiek, waarvan het aantal per concert wisselde, luisterde ademloos toe, …  Els van Swol – Artikel

Andrewbensonwilson 24/06/2023 : Tallis cholars: Spem in alium
…The ritual arrival of an unfeasibly large music stand heralded the 40 singers for Spem in alium, spreading themselves in two closely-spaced rows across the stage. This was a powerful performance that used the full range of volumes. In this, as throughout the evening, I was particularly impressed with the upper voices, whose clarity of tone and impeccable balance with their lower-pitched colleagues made for an outstanding consort sound. Andrew Benson- Wilson – Review in full

Stratford-herald.com 11/05/2023 : Tallis Scholars and Paul Lewis among the highlights at Chipping Campden Music Festival so far
…Tallis Scholars, directed by their founder, Peter Phillips, performed a collection of works for unaccompanied voices, mainly by the English Renaissance composers William Byrd and Thomas Tallis. The purity and precision of their sound was magnificent. The four sopranos, two altos, two tenors and two basses gave memorable accounts of some of the greatest music written in Europe in that pre-Baroque era.. Preston Witts – Review in full

SF Classical Voice 30/04/2023 : Tallis Scholars Celebrate 50 Very Busy Years With a Retrospective
…Hearing The Tallis Scholars live is a trip. When the 10 singers open up in two and a half or three octaves of spacious polyphony, you have the aural sense of a cathedral in sound. …More magnificence is more impressive. The Tallis Scholars made this point with the program’s opening selection, ... Of course, the nuances and variety of colors in the sound are important reasons we listen to The Tallis Scholars, even though we often don’t notice the technical means taken to achieve such details…
John Rutter’s Hymn to the Creator of Light on the second half, it was a performance that showed the choir’s finely honed tuning and blend.
…As the final chord settled in Byrd’s motet, and before the swell of applause, a woman seated ahead of me breathed, “Awesome!” Feeling like my blood pressure had dropped 20 points since the start of the concert, I knew what she meant. Michael Zwiebach – Review in full

Get the chance Wales12/02/2023: Taverner to taverner
…The Tallis Scholars have a deep, rich sound which is very gentle in a lot of accepts. Peter Phillips as director painted the glory of the music with a vibrant brush, he knows the singers well and wants the best for them. They all delivered great singing in a somewhat familiar and conventional programme that will please most.  James Ellis – Review in full

Actualnewsmagazine.com 14/12/2022 : Tallis/ Scholars | Absolute vocal luxury at Bourgie Hall
A critic always hesitates to speak of perfection. But that’s what Bourgie Hall listeners were treated to on Tuesday night with the legendary Tallis Scholars. …From the first chord of the antiphon Alma redemptoris mater by Roland de Lassus, who opened the evening, everything is already in place. ….
Capable of power - The continuous and exhilarating tension created by Phillips right up to the word “surrexit” (he is resurrected) in the magnificent motet Maria Magdalene and altera Maria by Francisco Guerrero is one of the many examples of the consummate art of the Tallis in giving meaning to the combination of verb and sound. The sopranos are also distinguished – among others in the above-named Guerrero – by the purity of their timbre, which never takes over. The duet between one of the sopranos and one of the altos in the Agnus Dei of the Mass Ave Maris Stella by Josquin des Prés also reveals the quality of the individual female voices. The public hardly dares to breathe in front of so much beauty. Emmanuel Bernier – Review in full

Andrew Benson-Wilson 12/06/2022 : Spem in alium - Tallis Scholars sing Tallis
…The nine sections of praise to the Virgin Mary varied in their vocal texture, the two central Gaude contrasting high and low voices before all the voices combine in a well-controlled build-up of musical tension by Tallis and Peter Phillips.
…. It goes without saying that the singing of The Tallis Scholars throughout the evening was exquisite, the voices blending perfectly. The cadences wee attractively calm as a result of the stability of the voices and their tuning. Andrew Benson-Wilson – Review in full

Seen & Heard-Int 23/12/2021 : Beautiful, uplifting concert with Hymns to the Virgin from the Tallis Scholars
…The layout of the singers varied throughout the evening, beginning here with the ladies in the centre of the line, offering a beautifully rich sound. The tuning of the Tallis Scholars is miraculous, as is their ensemble (well-nigh faultless throughout the entire evening). Back a little earlier in time then to Josquin des Prez’s Missa Ave maris stella - … it was the purity of both voice and expression that impressed most: ….
Pärt – Virgencita - …the Tallis Scholars have the piece all the breadth it needs. Silences must speak and speak they did; as must the anguished harmonies. Again, hearing them perfectly in tune added to their power.
A beautiful, uplifting concert, rounded off by a small but highly effective encore: Pärt’s Bogoroditse devo, dancing like a frisky Christmas carol and containing the most remarkable rapid-fire chanting. Magnificent. Colin Clarke - Review in full

Inews.co.uk 22/12/2021 : Seamless grace and immaculately clean lines
…To hear their full complement in the responsive acoustic of St John’s Smith Square – five men and five women, two to a part – was thrilling.Their first number was a prayer-setting by the 16th-century Flemish composer Orlande de Lassus, …
There wasn’t a trace of vibrato in the immaculately clean lines of their singing. While the sopranos soared aloft, and the basses laid the grounding, the altos sounded like woodwind; it all had the purity of an architectural drawing, or – to change the metaphor – the perfection of a well-oiled machine powered by passion.  Michael Church - Review in full

Gramophone 21/09/2021 - Gramophone Classical Music Awards 2021: The Recording Category Winners Revealed!
… Who better to navigate such extraordinary music than the masters of tranquillity and clarity themselves, The Tallis Scholars? Their exacting style delineates the distinctive sound world of each Mass while maintaining a consistent sonic beauty. …  This glossily perfect performance pings with relish and crackles with energy. A superb end to a magnificent cycle of recordings. Edward Breen -  Review in full

Opusklassiek Mei 2021 : Veertig jaar Gimell - Alle missen van Josquin op negen cd's
….Over de uitvoeringen van de laatste drie missen kan ik kort zijn. Die zijn ronduit perfect. Loepzuiver, evenwichtig, doordacht, maar met een onderhuidse spanning. De klank is in de loop der jaren wat robuuster geworden er kwam meer emotie, ietsje meer dynamiek ook bij. Maar de essentie bleef. Drie sopranen (vrouwenstemmen), twee alten, twee tenoren en twee bassen. ….  Gerard van der Leeuw - Artikel

Limelight Magazine 4/01/2021: CD Josquin: Masses - Scholars deliver the crowning glory of a Herculean labour of love.
This massive undertaking, completed in time for the 500th anniversary of Josquin’s death in 2021, seems, at first blush, an unusual project for The Tallis Scholars to have undertaken. Yet, these champions of high Renaissance music, boasting a refulgent high soprano line, were guided by their founder, Peter Phillips to explore the music of this earlier master after the success of their award-winning 1987 disc of the Missa Pange Lingua and the Missa La sol fa re mi.
…the Missa Hercule Dux Ferrarie becomes increasingly intriguing; the final section of the Agnus Dei flowering into six parts and yielding some gloriously transcendent music.…Coming to the end of this absolutely remarkable odyssey, the listener can only be filled with admiration for Phillips’ vision and the enormous flexibility of The Tallis Scholars, who for nearly half a century have maintained their unchanging commitment to vocal and musical excellence. Having completed the crowning glory of these Herculean labours, what could possibly come next? Tony Way - Review in full

Schallplattenkritik.de January 2021: CD Josquin Desprez: Masses
With this CD, the Tallis Scholars conclude their complete recording of all masses by this most important master of Renaissance polyphony, … It’s once again exciting to witness Peter Phillips succeed at unifying his singers under a single interpretive banner, combining the perfect homogeneity of the sound with the structural transparency of each individual voice. Mathematics becomes magic – an event that makes Josquin’s rigorous art immediately present in all its strangeness. Uwe Schweikert - Review in full

Resmusica 17/12/2020 : Les Tallis Scholars bouclent leur intégrale des messes de Josquin des Prés
Le grand-œuvre est ainsi achevé, pour le 500ᵉ anniversaire (en 2021) de la mort de Josquin des Prés ; les Tallis Scholars et leur chef Peter Phillips publient sur leur label Gimell le neuvième et dernier volume consacré aux messes du maître franco-flamand, regroupant trois de ses compositions parmi les plus singulières.
… C’est l’œuvre d’une vie artistique et personnelle sublimée en une aventure collective, menée au gré des générations des pupitres et de l’existence même de son ensemble.
Pour cet enregistrement, tout en restant fidèle à l’identité sonore du groupe et à la gémellité des pupitres – sauf ici les soprani groupées cette fois par trois, Peter Phillips a travaillé davantage sur le caractère sombre et strict de la polyphonie. Les teintes de cet effectif – renouvelé durant cette dernière décennie – semblent d’une gravité un rien solennelle. Les lignes de superius sont, il est vrai plus qu’à l’habitude, cantonnées dans le grave de la tessiture des sopranos. Les pupitres d’altos masculins virent aux countertenors à l’anglaise et se fondent idéalement avec le timbre des ténors par un subtil jeu de miroir sonore et d’équilibre dynamique. Les basses tranchent davantage par leurs valeureuses interventions.
Hercules Dux Ferrarie  - …, la nouvelle version l’emporte autant par la clarté des lignes et la perfection d’intonation que par ses couleurs quasi élégiaques. La Messe « Faisant regretz » - … la version idéalement ludique et spéculative de Peter Phillips très énergique et engagée vient pallier cette lacune de la discographie, parfait hommage à l’écriture quasi fractale de toute l’œuvre. Enfin, nos interprètes donnent une interprétation à la fois sereine et nostalgique de la missa « d’ung aultre amer » culminant dans le sublime motet central « tu solus » déjà cité.
Voici donc une superbe conclusion à une réalisation majeure du disque, sans aucun équivalent … En bref, avec cette fin de cycle discographique l’année Josquin à venir est déjà marquée d’une réalisation majeure.  Benedict Hévry - Article

OpusKlassiek December 2020 : CD Josquin Des Prez: Missa Hercules Dux Ferrarie – Missa D'ung aultre amer – Missa Faysant regretz
… Deze uitgave markeert de voltooiing van een project waaraan decennialang gewerkt is: een opname van de complete missen van Josquin, zestien in getal, samengebracht op negen individuele cd's. …The Tallis Scholars hebben zich in iedere aflevering van deze integrale met een loepzuivere intonatie soeverein betoond. Phillips kent deze partituren als geen ander en zorgt bovendien voor een doorwrochte toelichting. De interpretatieve keuzes die hij maakt leiden tot een schitterend klinkend resultaat: eerlijk, streng, strak, zuiver en zonder opsmuk; met dynamische schakeringen wordt zeer terughoudend omgesprongen. …
In augustus 2021 voeren Peter Phillips en The Tallis Scholars in vier dagen de zestien missen van Josquin uit in de Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlijn, ongetwijfeld online te volgen. Een niet te missen historisch moment! Siebe Riedstra - Artikel

Bachtrack 14/12/2020 : Tallis Scholars return with Renaissance and modern masters
The ensemble has set a standard so high that a greater level of musical perfection is simply not conceivable. … Even listeners who might ordinarily avoid “church music” cannot help but be impressed, moved, and even transported by the impeccable artistry of the ten singers and their conductor….
The Tallis Scholars’ Renaissance sound is generally characterized by a bright soprano melodic line shining over an undulating current of lower voices which intertwine, taking the listener to unexpected places, and seeming as though they could flow onward forever, perhaps beyond time.
… Each singer’s voice was naked and unhidden and, to my ear at least, never wavered from pitch, blending together in uncanny synchronicity. It is a rare thing to hear a performance permeated by such artistry, dedication, and respect for both the music and those who receive it. At this time of year, it is the ultimate gift. Linda Holt – Review in full

Classical-music.com 26/11/2020 : Josquin: Missa Hercules Dux Ferrarie, etc
With this almost valedictory recording, The Tallis Scholars complete their monumental nine-disc project to record all of Josquin’s Mass settings, … The Scholars’ sound is lean and clear: every strand of the musical web is beautifully illuminated, and the text is carved with a sculptural sharpness, …
The text is to the forefront, too, in the Scholars’ account of Josquin’s Missa D’ung aultre amer…. Its prayerful Credo is so articulately uttered here that the words seem more spoken than sung, while the Benedictus motet ‘Tu solus qui facis mirabilia’ is voiced with prayerful solemnity. The disc’s final work, the Missa Faysant regretz, ….making a mesmerising final chapter to this unforgettable musical odyssey. Kate Bolton-Porciatti – Review in full

The Guardian 7/11/2020 : CD Josquin Masses
The Tallis Scholars and their director, Peter Phillips, have reached the end of an enterprise begun in 1986: to record all 18 masses by the French Renaissance composer Josquin des Prez, just ahead of his 500th anniversary year. … Phillips, whose impassioned liner notes guide the listener into Josquin’s rarefied but sublime sound world, compares this last to a string quartet of Bartók in its close argument and dazzling economy. As always with the Tallis Scholars, it’s immaculately sung. All told, a mighty achievement. Fiona Maddocks - Review in full

Gramophone 6/11/2020 : CD Josquin Masses (Phillips)
This ends a hugely enjoyable project begun in 1986, not originally envisaged as a complete cycle of Josquin’s Masses but which spawned consistently superb releases until completion became inevitable. .. Who better to navigate such extraordinary music than the masters of tranquillity and clarity themselves, The Tallis Scholars? Their exacting style delineates the distinctive sound world of each Mass while maintaining a consistent sonic beauty.
Missa Hercules Dux Ferrarie - … As ever, one greedily awaits the canonic passages in The Tallis Scholars’ performance since their glassy serenity lends itself to such textures. The six-voice Agnus Dei is sublime.
Missa D’ung aultre amer  - … it’s a delight to hear his music infusing this final disc.
Missa Faysant regretz - … Here the Agnus III is stunning: Josquin’s inventiveness in creating such a finely spun texture over a repeating tenor part is extraordinary. This glossily perfect performance pings with relish and crackles with energy. A superb end to a magnificent cycle of recordings. Edward Breen – Reviw in full

Limelightmagazine.com.au 16/04/2020 : CD  Josquin • Bauldeweyn: Masses - Tallis Scholars ask will the real Josquin please stand up
…Phillips and his singers communicate Josquin’s passionate response to Brumel with luxurious tone and beautifully shaped melodic arcs, particularly in the third Agnus Dei, which is like a flower opening in an arid landscape. Tony Way – Review in full

Australian Stage Online 3/03/2020 : 150 Psalms: Gratitude
….An inspiring performance by The Tallis Scholars, under the crisp, secure and unobtrusive direction of their founder, Peter Phillips. This group is so well known from its many splendid recordings, but to hear them live, in a lively acoustic such as this Temple is a whole new and very much more immediate experience. They are a polished and tidy ensemble, who were equally at home with the mellifluous interweaving of themes by the polyphonic renaissance composers, such as Merulo, Victoria, Gibbons and Guerrero, for example, as they were in the less complicated homophonic simplicity of works by the 19th century SS Wesley and the 17th century Danish Morgens Pedersen. Whatever the genre, they enchanted, with superb intonation and blend, and seemingly effortless clarity.
…. Psalm 107 by Philippe deMonte presents an opportunity to showcase the Scholars’ dynamic range, and Schubert’s Psalm 92 (in Hebrew) demonstrated their power and subtlety in the weaving of its themes. …   Peter Bleby - Review in full

Artsfile.ca 10/12/2019 : Tallis Scholars offer sublimely consistent performance
The trio of Salve Reginas began with the Gregorian chant of the text, flexibly sung by tenor Simon Wall. The setting by William Cornysh, a favourite composer of Henry VIII, stood out for its virtuosity, with the 10 singers executing the music’s delicate flourishes and ornamentation with a painterly touch, and the tuning rich with satisfyingly buzzy overtones. ….
A Thomas Tallis O sacrum convivium was paired with a setting by the 20th-century French mystic Oliver Messiaen. The intonation in the latter, with its famously dense, difficult, dissonant chords, was almost inhumanly precise; the singers produced a perfectly smooth, velvety wash of sound that was more akin to an organ than a choir.
The concert ended with two lively Magnificats by William Byrd and Tomas Luis de Victoria. A thunderous ovation was rewarded with an exuberant encore… Natasha Gauthier  - Review in full

The Artsdesk.com 7/12/2019 : CD Josquin: Missa Mater Patris, Bauldeweyn: Missa Da pacem
Peter Phillips rightly stresses that clarifying and simplifying ones musical language shouldn't be mistaken for a sign of fading gifts, and listening to The Tallis Scholars’ version is an electrifying, visceral experience. Lean, open textures dominate, giving the music a tremendous sense of space and light, the harmonies implied rather than stated. Striking too is Josquin’s overt hommage to an older colleague, Antoine Brumel, whose Mater Patris is quoted and embellished in the work. The singing here is spectacularly assured, this choir's bravura technique never obscuring the music's warmth. Graham Rickson – Review in full

Crescendo-Magazine 22/09/2019: The Tallis Scholars dans Josquin: la perfection est de ce monde
Entamée depuis de nombreuses années maintenant, l’ambitieuse intégrale des Messes de Josquin par le chef Peter Phillips à la tête des Tallis Scholars en arrive à son onzième volume. Une fois de plus, l’émerveillement est double : d’abord, par rapport à la qualité exceptionnelle de la musique et, ensuite, pour ce qui est de l’interprétation qui est du plus haut niveau.
C’est d’abord à ceux -si nombreux aujourd’hui- qui apprécient la musique vocale d’un Pärt ou d’un Górecki et qui ne connaîtraient pas encore les merveilles de la polyphonie de la Renaissance qu’on conseillera la découverte de cette musique dont la perfection justifie la flatteuse réputation de celui que Luther déjà appelait « der Notenmeister », le maître des notes….Pour ce qui est de l’interprétation, on ne peut que rendre les armes devant la compréhension qu’a le chef de ce répertoire et la virtuosité sans faille des Tallis Scholars dont l’intonation irréprochable, l’équilibre parfait des voix, la finesse du phrasé et la beauté vocale quasi surnaturelle sont une perpétuelle source d’émerveillement. … remarquables interprétations.  Patrice Lieberman – Article
Son 10 - Livret 10 - Répertoire 10 - Interprétation 10

Planethugill.com 15/05/2019: An English Vespers: Rachmaninov from the Tallis Scholars
A lighter more intimate approach to Rachmaninov's Vespers, combined with the music of Sir John Tavener to striking effect…This was an evening of contrasts, the faster sections contrasting with the slow, thoughtful ones, the quiet intimacy with the moments of intense drama, the smooth lines with the more pointed, crisp and energetic rhythms, the languid beauty with moments of intense energy.
…The Tavener Funeral Ikos is amazing in its simplicity, and as such hard to do well. Here the choir (reduced to 12) gave us a superbly crafted performance which focused attention on the amazing work. Robert Hugill – Review in full

Berkeleydailyplanet.com 6/04/2019:: Tallis Scholars Shine in Music Inspired by The Sistine Chapel
Hearing The Tallis Scholars perform sacred works by Renaissance composers who had close associations with the Sistine Chapel was a rare treat. The a capella polyphony of the ten Tallis Scholars vocalists was transcendent. one might even say, trance-inducing.
Gregorio Allegri’s famed Miserere - …For this performance, Peter Philips had the second choir, made up of four women and one man, sing from the foyer at the back of the hall, while the first choir sang from the stage. The soloist, a tenor, sang from stage-right. The dominant feature of this Miserere consists of a single soprano voice repeatedly soaring high above the other voices in verse after verse. The effect here was truly transcendent.
… Sanctus & Benedictus from Palestrina’s Missa Confitebor tibi domine, all ten vocalists of The Tallis Scholars brought out the varying colors of the music. …To enthusiastic applause, The Tallis Scholars performed an encore of a ten-part Crucifixus from Antonio Locris. Whether you are religious or not, this program of Renaissance polyphony sung by The Tallis Scholars was nothing short of heavenly. James Roy MacBean – Review in full

Classicalsonoma  5/04/2019 : Sistine Chapel Inspiration for The Tallis Scholars in Weill Hall
The opening was a Kyrie from Missa Assumpta Est Maria - …The sound of the Tallis Scholars was embraced by Weill’s acoustics of the hall and created transcendant musical experiences: stillness in motion, freedom in order, individual and group supporting and lifting each other. The music and performers became one in a tapestry of intertwining voices, clear and warm.
The second piece was a setting of Regina Caeli by Crisobal De Morales, … Nothing in the interpretation was forced. Dynamics and tempo were masterfully chosen and the music spoke for itself.
Eight of the singers presented the Gloria from Palestrina’s Missa Ecce Ego Johannes. Solo and ensemble alternated in this music of praise. Remarkable always were the clarity of text and beautiful music of changing vowels and new dimensions of sound coloring. The end was a gloriously triumphant Amen.
A standing ovation by the audience of 450 was enthusiastic and sustained, bringing the group back for many bows and then as an encore, Lotti’s Crucifixus in ten voices, showcasing the wonders and expressiveness of polyphony. Sonia Morse Tubridy/Nicky Bell – Review in full

top