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December 20, 2011
Stile Antico reviews from recent N. American tour-"...marvels of perfection."

Stile Antico was at its best, marshaling color, texture, and pacing to give shape to music that can otherwise seem gorgeous and inert. The Agnus Dei of the Mass was one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard. - Boston Globe

 

The ensemble began with a plainchant, “Veni Emmanuel”… a beautifully unified reading. But the real test of the group’s mettle was in the large, polyphonic works… it produced a sound that was finely blended yet transparent enough to allow you to focus on individual lines…. a world of gracefully spun themes that sound as moving on their own as in context.” - The New York Times

 

There is a passionate frankness to the singing… Line is everything. Small-scale dynamic contrast is created through the constant ebb and flow of changing textures…. Following a concert so entirely without compromise or pandering, the volcanic reaction from the Chan Centre audience was jarring but well deserved. A single encore ended an evening of near perfection.”  - The Vancouver Sun

 

When Stile Antico was good, they were very, very good. And when they were bad, they were … still awfully good. The most successful offerings were nothing short of marvelous, as if a wonderful new organism had opened its mouth and delivered a plural aria… Stile Antico's ensemble was glittering, its texture lustrous. Close to the darkest time of the year, it was welcome light.  - Richmond Times-Dispatch

 

The singers used the extremely live acoustics of St. John's like an artist uses a canvas... they allowed phrases time to rise and hang in the air before landing upon and relishing the perfectly tuned harmonies of the inevitable cadences.  -Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

 

The ensemble's sound evokes freedom of expression and richness of texture, with voices coming forth when the phrase invites it, a tangible representation of the group's democratic makeup. 

- Milwaukee Express

 

Stile Antico... pushed the expressive limits of the Tallis Mass, treated Byrd’s vocal weavings with spontaneity, and positively reveled in the intricacies and surprising eccentricities of the White and Sheppard. -Letter V

 

A welcome anachronism amid the ambient noise of the 21st century, the music filled the sold-out cathedral with the soft, reflective spirit suited to the year’s end. - Inside Milwaukee

 

Stile Antico sang on the Early Music Now series Saturday evening and deepened my understanding of Renaissance polyphony. I love it when that happens.  - Third Coast Digest

 

Stile Antico stands out for clarity of phrasing, precisely unified ensemble, and for sheer beauty of sound that is strong and clear but never sounds forced… nothing can replace the pure pleasure of hearing this talented ensemble live in a beautiful space such as St. Paul Church.  - Boston Musical Intelligencer

 

From unison plainchant which ebbed and flowed like speech, to seven intricate, complex parts for the Tallis, Stile Antico sang unaccompanied with exact pitch and no vibrato so that chords were marvels of perfection.  - The SunBreak

 

The collective explorations of Stile Antico are shining a new light on a dark period of English history.

- Straight.com

 

Stile Antico This comes in hot off the presses being that this fab English consort played New York just yesterday as part of the Music Before 1800 series. Post-performance high aside, the seamless blending of voices breathed new life into Tudor-era Advent classics. The effect was mesmerizing and meditative—exactly what one looks for in an early music  - Olivia Giovetti, WQXR Operavore

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