Stephen Layton MBE

Reviews

Press notices and interviews, by year.

2004

  1. The Daily TelegraphTavener: The Veil of the Temple - BBC PromsSunday and Monday night's Proms featured two composers who are leading lights of the vogue for meditative…Concert Review
  2. The New York TimesTavener: The Veil of the Temple - USANo one can accuse the Lincoln Center Festival of timidity after its presentation this weekend of the British…Concert Review
  3. Early Music ReviewHandel: MessiahOne of the most popular of London's annual Christmas concerts is the Stephen Layton/Polyphony Messiah at…Concert Review
  4. Classical Source.comHandel: MessiahThis performance of Messiah, the closing concert of this year's "Christmas Festival" at St John's, was a…Concert Review
  5. The IndependentPolyphony: Barbican Great Performers Series John Tavener 60th Birthday ConcertIn the Barbican's generously programmed 60th birthday celebration of Sir John Tavener, most of the featured…Concert Review
  6. The TimesPolyphony: Barbican Great Performers Series John Tavener 60th Birthday ConcertJOHN TAVENER’s music is an uneasy pact between time and eternity. Compelled to exist in time, it strains and…Concert Review
  7. Classics Today.comA Christmas Present from PolyphonyThis Christmas collection from the esteemed vocal ensemble Polyphony is a compilation from several of the…CD Review
  8. BBC Music MagazineA Christmas Present from Polyphony'Stephen Layton directs the performances and deserves major credit for the very high standards evident on…CD Review
  9. The Daily TelegraphA Christmas Present from Polyphony'This is a disc for listening to in peace, after the Christmas Day festivites are over and the visitors have…CD Review
  10. Choir and OrganTavener: Choral Music'Stephen Layton's heartfelt commitment to the composer's music brings forth shimmering performances from his…CD Review
  11. BBC Music MagazineTavener: Choral MusicCD Review
  12. Classic FM MagazineTavener: Choral Music'The power of Tavener at his best is fully unlocked by Polyphony and Stephen Layton, whose sensitivity to the…CD Review
  13. The Financial TimesTavener: Choral MusicPeace, calm, the eternal, the spiritual: Tavener’s music offers balm to listeners harried by the pressures of…CD Review
  14. International Record ReviewTavener: Choral Music'for the Tavener devotee, among whose number I include myself, this disc is an essential survey of the…CD Review
  15. Music WeekTavener: Choral Music'performed with conviction by Stephen Layton's Polyphony. His professional choir manages to convey the…CD Review
  16. Fanfare USATavener: Choral MusicPolyphony's singing is immaculate, captured in the resonant acoustic of the Temple Church in glorious…CD Review
  17. The TimesTallis and Pärt: Holst SingersQuite a happening on Saturday night in the hallowed sanctum of the Inner Temple in London. A deep silence in…Concert Review
  18. Gramophone MagazineHolst: This have I done for my true loveFor an object lesson in economy of means look no further than the magical setting of ""Terly Terlow""…CD Review
  19. CD Review UKHolst: This have I done for my true loveFascinating… The Holst Singers cover themselves in distinction. A gem.CD Review
  20. The Evening StandardBach: St John PassionConcert Review
  21. MetroBach: St John PassionOpera and Lent oppose each other. Opera is frivolous, extravagant, indulgent, irreverent; Lent is austere…Concert Review
  22. The TimesMacMillan and Lauridsen: PolyphonyLight and darkness met head on under the fan vaulting, when the Britten Sinfonia and Stephen Layton’s fine…Concert Review
  23. The Daily TelegraphSchnittke: Holst SingersSublime echoes through a soaring space It was a programme of vaulting ambition from the Holst Singers: five…Concert Review
  24. The Evening StandardBirthday Concert for Sir John Tavener: Holst Singers and Temple ChoirTavener’s timeless treasures touch the ethereal Like most churches, only more so, the Temple Church is…Concert Review
  25. Early Music ReviewHandel: MessiahConcert Review
  26. BBC Radio 3Tavener: Choral MusicAnd finally to my favourite batch of this week's choral releases. Stephen Layton, and his choral group…CD Review
  27. HMVTavener: The John Tavener CollectionUntil 1997, John Tavener was effectively a cult composer. He shot to international prominence when his Song…CD Review
  28. The GuardianTavener: Choral MusicStephen Layton's superb choir, Polyphony, does wonders in bringing variety to a sequence of John Tavener's…CD Review
  29. Klassik HeutePärt: TriodionNeues von Arvo Pärt, dem aus Estland stammenden, jetzt 68jährigen Repräsentanten einer kreativ auf…CD Review
  30. International Record ReviewRutter: Music for ChristmasSuperb performances which are beautifully recordedCD Review
  31. Fanfare USARutter: Music for Christmas'Lovingly rendered by Polyphony under Stephen Layton, this should be a disc of choice not only for this year…CD Review