Stile Antico in Washington Debut

Read my review published today in the Style section of the Washington Post:

Charles T. Downey, British vocal ensemble Stile Antico makes stunning Washington debut
Washington Post, April 4, 2011

Song of Songs, Stile Antico [REVIEW]

In this age of recording, when an increasing number of people’s main experience of music is through earbuds, it is important to be reminded of the imperfections — thrilling if occasionally vexing — of live performance. This was true of the stunning concert by the young English choir Stile Antico on Saturday night, hosted in their Washington debut by the Folger Consort at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation on Capitol Hill.

The dry acoustic of this venue, with not enough stone to create a space for sound to hang in the air, was not ideal for a program of unaccompanied Renaissance polyphony. It exposed some deficiencies that can be remedied through multiple takes in the recording process, such as occasional non-unified attacks, minor tuning discrepancies or one early entrance. These did nothing to detract from the enjoyment of the group’s crystalline sound, balanced and rarefied in many different configurations down to one-on-a-part arrangements, if slightly treble-heavy when all 12 singers were at full volume. [Continue reading]

Chant and Polyphony from Song of Songs
Stile Antico
Presented by the Folger Consort
Lutheran Church of the Reformation