Reviews

In The Waste Land T S Eliot described April as the cruellest month. This performance by Layton and his band of instrumentalist and singers reminded us why this is the case and brought home the true meaning of Easter.

Bach: St John Passion (Concert Review - Seen and Heard...

"a core of emotional integrity pointing to a terrifically strong inner ear... undoubtedly responsible for Polyphony and Trinity's burnished sounds, refined but reined in with 'glow'"

Christmas Festival 2016 (Feature Interview - Early Music...

"I'm not ashamed to say I had tears in my eyes; listeners who are churchgoers and non-believers alike will find this disc a profoundly moving experience"

Briggs: Mass for Notre Dame (CD Review - Gramophone...

"When the opening work on a CD puts a smile on your face and the closing piece brings a tear to your eyes, there lies the power of music."

Ešenvalds - Northern Lights (CD Review - Classical Music...

"Their approach to Bach’s St John Passion is guided by the twin virtues of courage and commitment, sweeping reticence aside in pursuit of dramatic truths and eternal metaphors at the work’s heart."

Bach: St John Passion (CD Review - SINFINIMUSIC.com, 2013)

"This Messiah not only captures the heart, but ravishes the ear"

Handel: Messiah (CD Review - BBC Music Magazine, 2013)

"Polyphony effortlessly evoke the music's transcendent qualities in a performance awash with holy reverence. This is music and a performance that takes the ears and the mind heavenward, whatever you believe."

Jackson: Not no faceless Angel (CD Review - bbc.co.uk, 2009)

"Suddenly you are transported to a separate universe...I find no words that are adequate to describe the magic that emanates from this brilliant and poetic disc..."

Praulins: The Nightingale (CD Review - German Review, 2011)

"... it is impossible to do anything else but listen once the opening track of this glorious album begins..."

Various: Beyond All Mortal Dreams (CD Review - Classic FM...

"...the ‘Osanna’ rocking crazily, the ‘Incarnatus est’ exuding marmoreal stillness, the angular counterpoint of the ‘Confiteor’ fairly scudding along, and the ‘Sanctus’ thrusting up like a great tree out of the earth."

Bach: B minor Mass (Concert Review - The Independent, 2014)

"...only a choral wizard could have conjured up such iridescent lights and intriguing shades, majestic heights and depths of despond from the pages of Handel’s score."

Handel: Messiah (Concert Review - ClassicalSource.com, 2011)

"Stephen Layton follows the lead set by Bach...inviting listeners to enter a world of heightened spirituality and compassionate contemplation."

Bach: Christmas Oratorio (CD Review - Sinfini Music, 2013)

"the tonal blend drawn from the choir...suffused by the acoustic...is glowing, and makes the opening 'Salvator mundi' a spiritually palliative experience."

Howells: Requiem & Other Choral Works (CD Review - BBC...

"Layton’s performances inspire the soul even as they break the heart with their intense beauty"

Bruckner: Mass in E minor & Motets (CD Review -...

" I found a recording that I can barely put down: "Lux aeterna," a crystalline recording of choral works by the American composer Morten Lauridsen"

Lauridsen: Lux aeterna (CD Review - The St Louis Post, 2005)

"Layton is a peerless Handelian, master of the architecture, yet constantly alert to enlivening nuances that only seem obvious with hindsight."

Handel: Chandos Anthems Nos 5a, 6a & 8 (CD Review - BBC...

"Nothing about their performance is habitual: the renewal of the choir or a change of soloists ignites each performance anew."

Bach: St John Passion (Concert Review - The Observer, 2012)

"Presiding over everything and moulding all these excellent performances into a cohesive whole is Stephen Layton."

Bach: Christmas Oratorio (CD Review - Music Web...

"intensely focused, thrillingly articulate and searchingly musically literate"

Britten: A Ceremony of Carols & St Nicolas (Concert...

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Walton: Coronation Te Deum (CD Review - Organists Review, 2002)

'From fanfare to finale this is a very fine and fitting centenary compilation indeed'

Walton: Coronation Te Deum (CD Review - The Observer, 2002)

'a wonderfully refreshing interpretation'

Walton: Coronation Te Deum (CD Review - Cathedral Music, 2002)

'A great collection and an absolute winner'

Walton: Coronation Te Deum (CD Review - Classica Répertoire France, 2002)

'On trouve chez Layton, avec des chœurs d’une beauté et d’une précision étonnantes, un surcroît de chaleur et d’investissement, ce qui place ce disque en tête de la discographie'

Walton: Coronation Te Deum (CD Review - American Record Guide, 2002)

'This sterling collection should win Walton’s choral music many new fans'

Walton: Coronation Te Deum (CD Review - Music Week, 2002)

Gramophone Award-winning choir Polyphony and their inspired conductor Stephen Layton appear set for further prizes on the strength of their latest Hyperion release, and anthology of choral works by William Walton issued to mark the composer’s centenary and the Queen’s Golden Jubilee. This disc, which opens with Walton’s Fanfare for Elizabeth II and Coronation Te Deum, is distinguished throughout...