The Cardinall’s Musick have just scored a critical success on their return to the Wigmore Hall with a wonderful programme entitled “Il siglo d’Oro” celebrating the Golden Age of Spanish polyphony.
Richard Morrison in The Times said that “Carwood’s vigorous sweep brought out an exhilaration bordering on a kind of theological ecstasy”, whilst Andrew Clements of the Guardian called it a “sheer delight to be immersed in such entrancingly beautiful music” going on to say that “The Cardinall’s Musick perform this music with consummate clarity, and not a trace of affectation or unnecessary embellishment. With just one singer to each of the four, five, six or eight parts, it was all perfectly scaled to the Wigmore Hall. One might have expected music composed for a church acoustic to seem undernourished in a concert setting, but there was never any suggestion of dryness; rather, the vivid immediacy of the sound only highlighted the group’s distinctive qualities, in which the characteristics of each singer are never homogenised into undifferentiated choral textures ... it was a beautifully conceived programme, beautifully presented.”
This concert marks the start of a new and strong relationship with the Wigmore Hall that will see the ensemble performing there a further five times over the next two years, including a Byrd festival curated by Andrew Carwood (following on from their recently completed and warmly received landmark recording project), as well as a concert of Benjamin Britten’s choral music to start the centenary season celebrations.
