Rebecca Franks reviewed our concert at the BBC Proms with Voces8:
"Close harmony singing doesn’t get much more flawless than this. If the King’s Singers led the way for decades in polished a cappella performances, Voces8 have been honing their own impeccable blend (and brand) on nearby ground for nearly 20 years. Put the two together in concert for the first time and what do you get? A choral supergroup that sounded entirely at ease at the Royal Albert Hall.
This was a morning Prom, but an evocative opener by Cheryl Frances-Hoad immediately placed us under an indigo night, soon speckled with stars thanks to Eriks Esenvalds at his most atmospheric. Outer space and the sky were the loose themes of the varied 90-minute programme, which encompassed everything from Bob Chilcott to the folk singer Kate Rusby to enigmatic Holst, all performed with trademark slickness.
Two premieres were both enjoyable in their own ways. Melissa Dunphy’s skilful Totality took us to a solar eclipse, her sensitivity to text a real plus, even if the performers didn’t lean into the sense of “primal joy” and “near-manic excitement” described in the programme note.
And Riverside!, which boasted three arrangers, wove together a traditional Scottish song with an African-American spiritual. Good, but the simplicity of Robert Lowry’s Shall We Gather at the River was even better.
Each group had its moment in the spotlight. The King’s Singers’ trio of Disney songs was beautifully restrained — almost too much so — but the purity of vocal sound and precision of intonation was sublime.
When Voces8 sang Paul Simon’s The Sound of Silence, the hall quietened and stilled, before being swept away by Alexander L’Estrange’s fantastic blend of Come Fly with Me and Fly Me to the Moon. A word here for the many other arrangers, name-checked on stage, whose skills and imagination certainly deserved their applause."
★★★★☆
Rebecca Franks reviewed our concert at the BBC Proms with Voces8:
"Close harmony singing doesn’t get much more flawless than this. If the King’s Singers led the way for decades in polished a cappella performances, Voces8 have been honing their own impeccable blend (and brand) on nearby ground for nearly 20 years. Put the two together in concert for the first time and what do you get? A choral supergroup that sounded entirely at ease at the Royal Albert Hall.
This was a morning Prom, but an evocative opener by Cheryl Frances-Hoad immediately placed us under an indigo night, soon speckled with stars thanks to Eriks Esenvalds at his most atmospheric. Outer space and the sky were the loose themes of the varied 90-minute programme, which encompassed everything from Bob Chilcott to the folk singer Kate Rusby to enigmatic Holst, all performed with trademark slickness.
Two premieres were both enjoyable in their own ways. Melissa Dunphy’s skilful Totality took us to a solar eclipse, her sensitivity to text a real plus, even if the performers didn’t lean into the sense of “primal joy” and “near-manic excitement” described in the programme note.
And Riverside!, which boasted three arrangers, wove together a traditional Scottish song with an African-American spiritual. Good, but the simplicity of Robert Lowry’s Shall We Gather at the River was even better.
Each group had its moment in the spotlight. The King’s Singers’ trio of Disney songs was beautifully restrained — almost too much so — but the purity of vocal sound and precision of intonation was sublime.
When Voces8 sang Paul Simon’s The Sound of Silence, the hall quietened and stilled, before being swept away by Alexander L’Estrange’s fantastic blend of Come Fly with Me and Fly Me to the Moon. A word here for the many other arrangers, name-checked on stage, whose skills and imagination certainly deserved their applause."
★★★★☆
Rebecca Franks reviewed our concert at the BBC Proms with Voces8:
"Close harmony singing doesn’t get much more flawless than this. If the King’s Singers led the way for decades in polished a cappella performances, Voces8 have been honing their own impeccable blend (and brand) on nearby ground for nearly 20 years. Put the two together in concert for the first time and what do you get? A choral supergroup that sounded entirely at ease at the Royal Albert Hall.
This was a morning Prom, but an evocative opener by Cheryl Frances-Hoad immediately placed us under an indigo night, soon speckled with stars thanks to Eriks Esenvalds at his most atmospheric. Outer space and the sky were the loose themes of the varied 90-minute programme, which encompassed everything from Bob Chilcott to the folk singer Kate Rusby to enigmatic Holst, all performed with trademark slickness.
Two premieres were both enjoyable in their own ways. Melissa Dunphy’s skilful Totality took us to a solar eclipse, her sensitivity to text a real plus, even if the performers didn’t lean into the sense of “primal joy” and “near-manic excitement” described in the programme note.
And Riverside!, which boasted three arrangers, wove together a traditional Scottish song with an African-American spiritual. Good, but the simplicity of Robert Lowry’s Shall We Gather at the River was even better.
Each group had its moment in the spotlight. The King’s Singers’ trio of Disney songs was beautifully restrained — almost too much so — but the purity of vocal sound and precision of intonation was sublime.
When Voces8 sang Paul Simon’s The Sound of Silence, the hall quietened and stilled, before being swept away by Alexander L’Estrange’s fantastic blend of Come Fly with Me and Fly Me to the Moon. A word here for the many other arrangers, name-checked on stage, whose skills and imagination certainly deserved their applause."
★★★★☆
Rebecca Franks reviewed our concert at the BBC Proms with Voces8:
"Close harmony singing doesn’t get much more flawless than this. If the King’s Singers led the way for decades in polished a cappella performances, Voces8 have been honing their own impeccable blend (and brand) on nearby ground for nearly 20 years. Put the two together in concert for the first time and what do you get? A choral supergroup that sounded entirely at ease at the Royal Albert Hall.
This was a morning Prom, but an evocative opener by Cheryl Frances-Hoad immediately placed us under an indigo night, soon speckled with stars thanks to Eriks Esenvalds at his most atmospheric. Outer space and the sky were the loose themes of the varied 90-minute programme, which encompassed everything from Bob Chilcott to the folk singer Kate Rusby to enigmatic Holst, all performed with trademark slickness.
Two premieres were both enjoyable in their own ways. Melissa Dunphy’s skilful Totality took us to a solar eclipse, her sensitivity to text a real plus, even if the performers didn’t lean into the sense of “primal joy” and “near-manic excitement” described in the programme note.
And Riverside!, which boasted three arrangers, wove together a traditional Scottish song with an African-American spiritual. Good, but the simplicity of Robert Lowry’s Shall We Gather at the River was even better.
Each group had its moment in the spotlight. The King’s Singers’ trio of Disney songs was beautifully restrained — almost too much so — but the purity of vocal sound and precision of intonation was sublime.
When Voces8 sang Paul Simon’s The Sound of Silence, the hall quietened and stilled, before being swept away by Alexander L’Estrange’s fantastic blend of Come Fly with Me and Fly Me to the Moon. A word here for the many other arrangers, name-checked on stage, whose skills and imagination certainly deserved their applause."
★★★★☆
Rebecca Franks reviewed our concert at the BBC Proms with Voces8:
"Close harmony singing doesn’t get much more flawless than this. If the King’s Singers led the way for decades in polished a cappella performances, Voces8 have been honing their own impeccable blend (and brand) on nearby ground for nearly 20 years. Put the two together in concert for the first time and what do you get? A choral supergroup that sounded entirely at ease at the Royal Albert Hall.
This was a morning Prom, but an evocative opener by Cheryl Frances-Hoad immediately placed us under an indigo night, soon speckled with stars thanks to Eriks Esenvalds at his most atmospheric. Outer space and the sky were the loose themes of the varied 90-minute programme, which encompassed everything from Bob Chilcott to the folk singer Kate Rusby to enigmatic Holst, all performed with trademark slickness.
Two premieres were both enjoyable in their own ways. Melissa Dunphy’s skilful Totality took us to a solar eclipse, her sensitivity to text a real plus, even if the performers didn’t lean into the sense of “primal joy” and “near-manic excitement” described in the programme note.
And Riverside!, which boasted three arrangers, wove together a traditional Scottish song with an African-American spiritual. Good, but the simplicity of Robert Lowry’s Shall We Gather at the River was even better.
Each group had its moment in the spotlight. The King’s Singers’ trio of Disney songs was beautifully restrained — almost too much so — but the purity of vocal sound and precision of intonation was sublime.
When Voces8 sang Paul Simon’s The Sound of Silence, the hall quietened and stilled, before being swept away by Alexander L’Estrange’s fantastic blend of Come Fly with Me and Fly Me to the Moon. A word here for the many other arrangers, name-checked on stage, whose skills and imagination certainly deserved their applause."
★★★★☆
Rebecca Franks reviewed our concert at the BBC Proms with Voces8:
"Close harmony singing doesn’t get much more flawless than this. If the King’s Singers led the way for decades in polished a cappella performances, Voces8 have been honing their own impeccable blend (and brand) on nearby ground for nearly 20 years. Put the two together in concert for the first time and what do you get? A choral supergroup that sounded entirely at ease at the Royal Albert Hall.
This was a morning Prom, but an evocative opener by Cheryl Frances-Hoad immediately placed us under an indigo night, soon speckled with stars thanks to Eriks Esenvalds at his most atmospheric. Outer space and the sky were the loose themes of the varied 90-minute programme, which encompassed everything from Bob Chilcott to the folk singer Kate Rusby to enigmatic Holst, all performed with trademark slickness.
Two premieres were both enjoyable in their own ways. Melissa Dunphy’s skilful Totality took us to a solar eclipse, her sensitivity to text a real plus, even if the performers didn’t lean into the sense of “primal joy” and “near-manic excitement” described in the programme note.
And Riverside!, which boasted three arrangers, wove together a traditional Scottish song with an African-American spiritual. Good, but the simplicity of Robert Lowry’s Shall We Gather at the River was even better.
Each group had its moment in the spotlight. The King’s Singers’ trio of Disney songs was beautifully restrained — almost too much so — but the purity of vocal sound and precision of intonation was sublime.
When Voces8 sang Paul Simon’s The Sound of Silence, the hall quietened and stilled, before being swept away by Alexander L’Estrange’s fantastic blend of Come Fly with Me and Fly Me to the Moon. A word here for the many other arrangers, name-checked on stage, whose skills and imagination certainly deserved their applause."
★★★★☆
Rebecca Franks reviewed our concert at the BBC Proms with Voces8:
"Close harmony singing doesn’t get much more flawless than this. If the King’s Singers led the way for decades in polished a cappella performances, Voces8 have been honing their own impeccable blend (and brand) on nearby ground for nearly 20 years. Put the two together in concert for the first time and what do you get? A choral supergroup that sounded entirely at ease at the Royal Albert Hall.
This was a morning Prom, but an evocative opener by Cheryl Frances-Hoad immediately placed us under an indigo night, soon speckled with stars thanks to Eriks Esenvalds at his most atmospheric. Outer space and the sky were the loose themes of the varied 90-minute programme, which encompassed everything from Bob Chilcott to the folk singer Kate Rusby to enigmatic Holst, all performed with trademark slickness.
Two premieres were both enjoyable in their own ways. Melissa Dunphy’s skilful Totality took us to a solar eclipse, her sensitivity to text a real plus, even if the performers didn’t lean into the sense of “primal joy” and “near-manic excitement” described in the programme note.
And Riverside!, which boasted three arrangers, wove together a traditional Scottish song with an African-American spiritual. Good, but the simplicity of Robert Lowry’s Shall We Gather at the River was even better.
Each group had its moment in the spotlight. The King’s Singers’ trio of Disney songs was beautifully restrained — almost too much so — but the purity of vocal sound and precision of intonation was sublime.
When Voces8 sang Paul Simon’s The Sound of Silence, the hall quietened and stilled, before being swept away by Alexander L’Estrange’s fantastic blend of Come Fly with Me and Fly Me to the Moon. A word here for the many other arrangers, name-checked on stage, whose skills and imagination certainly deserved their applause."
★★★★☆
