The Tallis Scholars are the people's (and the critic's) choice
20 October 2008
Pittsburgh Post GazetteAndrew Druckenbrod
Over the past decade at least, Renaissance & Baroque Society of Pittsburgh concerts have been dominated by instrumentalists. The presenting society has averaged about two vocal ensembles a season out of eight concerts. So, when subscribers were asked to vote for their favorite active groups to help celebrate the R&B's 40th anniversary this season, you'd expect instrumentalists to rule. But on the contrary, the winner, the venerable period choir the Tallis Scholars.
It's a measure of the talent and engaging presence of this historically informed choir, and Saturday night reminded the audience at Calvary Episcopal Church in Shadyside of just why.
Director Peter Phillips has not rested on his laurels since founding the group in 1973, but subtly changed its makeup to be more vocally diverse. Most prominently, the two high sopranos boast operatic-like strength while the tenors are much more reserved and gentle in their tone. It creates a richer timbre that helps bring out individual contrapuntal lines.
The program was a luxuriant one: the Latinate sacred music of the Spanish high Renaissance, in particular that of Francisco Guerrero, Alonso Lobo and Tomas Luis de Victoria. But Phillips did not succumb to the temptation to put the sparkle lens on this 16th-century music -- he treated it dramatically. He shaped the volume of Guerrero's motet "Maria Magdalene," raising the intensity as it poured out emotion on the central phrase "he is risen." In Lobo's mass based on the motet, Phillips occasionally treated meter changes almost like accelerandi markings, to great effect, especially in the Gloria text, "Jesu Christe, cum Sancto Spiritu."
The works by Victoria further displayed Phillips' musicality. Three "Lamentations" were subdued, emphasizing the personal plane of this music. At moments of homophony, the singers sounded almost like a magnificent organ; in general they were in tune and tuned in to each other to a remarkable level. Balance was an occasional issue -- depending on where you sat, the sopranos and basses dominated. But when the group sang Guerrero's "Ave Virgo Sanctissima" (with its unison canon in the top two voices that astounds by how diffently he treats the melody when it appears the second time) and his sumptuous, eight-voice "Regina caeli," that issue melted away. To those who selected the Tallis Scholars, I am sure I am not the only member of the audience to say, "Thank you."
Read the full review here.