Recent reviews
Of CC21's recording (SOMM 072) of Philip Glass’s Another Look at Harmony, Pt 4.jpg)
in 2007 The Gramophone wrote...
“Glass’s gradually expanding and contracting sequences eventually generate musical peaks and troughs of quite monumental proportions. Such moments are heard especially during the closing sections of this recording, made by the impressive Choir of the 21st Century under HowardWilliams.”
Robert Hugill, writing in MusicWeb International, said...
“The results are …. a triumph. The choir and organist have taken a piece which owes its existence to the idea of structured, almost computer-controlled repetition and given it a whole new life in a live acoustic. What we gain is a feeling of live acoustic, of a real living performance. The choir give the piece vitality and vividness…. The results give a striking new sound to Glass’s familiar world.“
Of CC21’s performance in 2007 of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio in the Cadogan Hall with the English Chamber Orchestra under Howard Williams, Agnes Cory writing in MusicalCriticism.com commented ...
"Their performance of Bach's Christmas Oratorio would have been difficult to better... Indeed, rarely can one hear such clarity of musical and verbal diction, dynamic range, variety of vocal colours, artistic discipline and – last but not least – uniform pitching. It is also true to say that few amateur choirs (if any) have the privilege of working with such a skilled and experienced principal conductor as CC21's Howard Williams.”
Of CC21’s Grosvenor Chapel concert To Poland and Bach Again! in March 2009, Roderick Dunnett in The Church Times wrote:
“The audience for this articulate, almost 40-strong choir was an ample one….The case was made by this magnificent display, in which the choir showed remarkable strength in depth — no weak links in any of the triple ensemble… Williams had instilled a Monteverdian litheness that uplifted other parts of the evening, too…The upper voices’ a cappella launch in three parts was impressive enough, and the fine climax Williams engineered from full choir in the seventh and last verse was remarkable.”
Of the choir’s CD recording (SOMM 230) of settings by Elgar & Kodály of The Music Makers, the Birmingham Post wrote...
“The listener returns again and again to these endearing performances of such moving music.”
The Elgar Society Journal wrote ...
“I have nothing but praise for this performance, distributing this equally between choir, orchestra, soloist, and conductor. The singing is wonderful. Right from the start we know we are in for a treat.....This is a CD to treasure. I shall listen to it often—for Kodály’s relatively innocent yet virile choral piece, his superb orchestral work, and a superlative performance of the Elgar”.
-June-2009.jpg)
