Stephen Layton MBE

Reviews

Press notices and interviews, by year.

2013

  1. The TelegraphBach: Christmas OratorioBach’s Christmas Oratorio begins and ends in a great shout of joy, with ringing D major trumpets and a great…Concert Review
  2. OMH MusicBach: Christmas OratorioIt is a very special experience to hear Bach’s Christmas Oratorio in St John’s, Smith Square, since Bach’s…Concert Review
  3. The Arts DeskBach: Christmas OratorioNot every Yuletide fixture need be commercial and routine. Certainly St John’s annual Christmas Festival…Concert Review
  4. Planet HugillBach: Christmas OratorioAs part of the Christmas Festival at St John's Smith Square, the choir of Trinity College, Cambridge, and the…Concert Review
  5. The Arts DeskBach: Christmas OratorioA flurry of timpani and a pair of trilling flutes kick things off nicely. The OAE's oboes and trumpets are…CD Review
  6. The Mail on SundayBach: Christmas OratorioDisc of the Week For me nothing is more majestic, or better conveys the sheer joy of Christmas, than the…CD Review
  7. Sinfini MusicBach: Christmas OratorioBach’s Christmas Oratorio started life as a set of related cantatas, conceived for performance on the six…CD Review
  8. Hi-Fi CriticBach: Christmas OratorioBrazen and celebratory, the opening of J S Bach’s Christmas Oratorio blazes into life in a Cambridge chapel…CD Review
  9. BBC Music MagazineBach: Christmas OratorioThe superb quartet of soloists yields not a demisemiquaver to the competition. In a work incontestably…CD Review
  10. Presto ClassicalBach: Christmas OratorioChristmas Oratorios from Bach, Berlioz and Britten As it’s only just December, I feel it’s a little early for…CD Review
  11. The Sunday TimesBach: Christmas OratorioALBUM OF THE WEEK Although Bach called these six yuletide cantatas, composed in 1734, an oratorio, he…CD Review
  12. The Daily TelegraphBach: Christmas OratorioALBUM OF THE WEEK Music seems to course through the very veins of the singers and players on this Bach…CD Review
  13. BBC Music MagazineHandel: MessiahBuilding a Library: Handel Messiah THE BEST RECORDING: STEPHEN LAYTON Stephen Layton's musicians bring an…CD Review
  14. Voix des ArtsBach: Christmas OratorioFew compilations of repurposed music have been as embraced by musicians and listeners as Johann Sebastian…CD Review
  15. Music Web InternationalBach: Christmas OratorioEarlier this year I was very taken with Stephen Layton’s recording of Bach’s St John Passion (review). That…CD Review
  16. Classic FM MagazineBach: Christmas OratorioDavid Mellor's Album of the Week Christmas has come early. Or at least, Bach's Christmas Oratorio has come…CD Review
  17. Audiophile AuditionBach: Christmas OratorioThe Bach is a given-one of the most joyous works he ever wrote, it is a bit unusual in that it was not given…CD Review
  18. BBC Music MagazineHandel: Chandos Anthems Nos 5a, 6a & 8Acis and Galatea might be the most popular of the works Handel composed for James Brydges and his ambitiously…CD Review
  19. International Record ReviewHandel: Chandos Anthems Nos 5a, 6a & 8This second volume in Stephen Layton's and the Choir of Trinity College Cambridge's survey of Handel's…CD Review
  20. Seen and Heard InternationalCheltenham Festival 2013: Gloucester CathedralEvening of French Music Raises the Temperature in GloucesterConcert Review
  21. Rems-ZeitungGermany TourThe Choir of Trinity College Cambridge begeisterte Als nach dem Konzert an Sir John Tavener der Preis der…Concert Review
  22. Frankfurter Neue PresseGermany TourZart und anmutig wie der Gesang von Engeln Der „Trinity College Choir“ aus dem englischen Cambridge gastierte…Concert Review
  23. Badische-ZeitungGermany TourSee English below Ein großer Hörgenuss, der die Perfektion erahnen last Der "Choir of Trinity College…Concert Review
  24. Rems-ZeitungGermany TourThe Choir of Trinity College Cambridge begeisterte Als nach dem Konzert an Sir John Tavener der Preis der…Concert Review
  25. The Irish TimesHandel: Chandos Anthems Nos. 5a, 6a, & 8This is Stephen Layton's second disc devoted to the anthems Handel wrote for the Duke of Chandos, on terms…CD Review
  26. sinfinimusic.comHandel: Chandos Anthems Nos 5a, 6a & 8Handel flourished during his early years in England under the care of several super-rich patrons. James…CD Review
  27. GramophoneHandel: Chandos Anthems Nos 5a, 6a & 8'Three cheers for three more anthems for the Duke of Chandos to complement the same already available from…CD Review
  28. Early Music ReviewBach: St John PassionStephen Layton directs this intense, dramatic reading with intelligence and integrity, ably assisted by an…CD Review
  29. The Dominion PostBach: St John Passion'There have been many fine recordings of this work … but this is the equal of anything I have heard. Lead by…CD Review
  30. International Record ReviewBach: St John PassionA very welcome new recording … Stephen Layton presents an intelligently perceptive performance, beautifully…CD Review
  31. The GuardianHandel: Chandos Anthems Nos 5a, 6a & 8Good conductors will tell a choir that the words are just as important as the music; there's no point in…CD Review
  32. Audiophile AuditionHandel: Chandos Anthems Nos 5a, 6a & 8I suggested that the first installment in this series "could be a landmark recording". Now, four years later…CD Review
  33. Seen and Heard InternationalCheltenham Festival 2013: Cheltenham College ChapelVirtuoso Display by Choir of Trinity College Cambridge Less than fourteen hours after taking part in fine…Concert Review
  34. Seen and Heard InternationalCheltenham Festival 2013Virtuoso Display by Choir of Trinity College CambridgeConcert Review
  35. The GuardianCheltenham Festival 2013: FinaleProviding companion pieces to some of Benjamin Britten's core works has been the challenge for many composers…Concert Review
  36. BBC Music MagazineCheltenham Festival 2013: Cheltenham College ChapelLarge, wealthy and just that little bit smug, Trinity is, along with St John's, the college that other…Concert Review
  37. Seen and Heard InternationalFauré: RequiemEvening of French Music Raises the Temperature in Gloucester On the evening of what was the hottest day so…Concert Review
  38. Audiophile AuditionBach: St John PassionTo recap: there are five extent “versions” of Bach’s St. John Passion. I say this because today’s listening…CD Review
  39. The ObserverHandel: JoshuaNot short on action, the Old Testament book of Joshua charts the entry of the Israelites into the Promised…Concert Review
  40. The Financial TimesHandel: JoshuaThe Star of David is everywhere, as a symbol of Jewish unity. The senior Israelite wears a kippah, denoting…Concert Review
  41. Bachtrack.comHandel: JoshuaIn spite of the fact that a Handel oratorio, however renowned, provides limited opportunities for staging…Concert Review
  42. Classical Source.comPoulenc: Paradise and PurgatoryThe City of London Sinfonia festival devoted to the music of Francis Poulenc (1899-1963) ended in…Concert Review
  43. Gramophone MagazineBach: St John PassionStephen Layton’s outstanding new St John is about as state-of-the-art a Bach Passion recording as you’ll…CD Review
  44. The Daily TelegraphBach: St John PassionFor many, the story of Christ’s arrest, trial and Crucifixion finds its perfect musical incarnation in Bach’s…Concert Review
  45. SINFINIMUSIC.comBach: St John Passionsinfinimusic.com Andrew Stewart listens to Stephen Layton and Polyphony's recording of Bach's St John Passion…CD Review
  46. Music Web InternationalBach: St John PassionBach : St John Passion - Music Web International Stephen Layton and Polyphony perform the St. John Passion…CD Review
  47. The Daily TelegraphBach: St John Passion5 Stars On Good Friday at London’s St John’s Smith Square, Stephen Layton will conduct Polyphony and the…CD Review
  48. The ObserverBach: St John PassionConductor Stephen Layton, top soloists, the expert choir of Polyphony and the incomparable Orchestra of the…CD Review
  49. Presto ClassicalBach: St John PassionI seem to spend a lot of time in these newsletters enthusing about new discoveries, revived rarities or fresh…CD Review