> A Voices Christmas CD

New Zealand Herald, Wednesday December 15th 2004: A Voices Christmas CD release

On track: Towering success hypnotic

Reviewed by William Dart

TOWER Voices New Zealand's A Voices Christmas has a lot going for it - hand-picked seasonal repertoire, adroitly placed around Poulenc's Quatre Motets, sung by a world-class chamber choir and spaciously recorded in Wellington's Sacred Heart Cathedral by Wayne Laird.

Conductor Karen Grylls has an ace team here. TOWER Voices were mightily impressive when they recorded Vanhal and Hummel Masses for Naxos and now, with a whole cd to themselves, they raise the bar once more.

When all 29 singers come together for a piece like Peter Wishart's pleading Alleluya the sound is rich and spirited; when a group of six turn to the medieval carol Ther is no rose of swych vertu, one is almost hypnotised by its pure beauty.

David Griffith's Dormi Jesu is seamless in its composition, blended with the flawless Grylls singers.

And, when TOWER Voices delve into the 12-part textures of Es ist ein Ros entsprungen by the Swedish composer Jan Sandström, it becomes a truly meditative experience.

Above all, the musicians deserve a collective medal for rescuing Franz Xaver Gruber's Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht! from its tawdry English afterlife as Silent Night.

Once more, a group of six singers deliver this carol, colouring some notes with just the right hint of gemutlich vibrato. The perfect accompaniment is provided by Matthew Marshall's guitar.

Click here to download an order form for A Voices Christmas, only $30.00 incl. postage and packaging.