Reviews of the Choir

Review highlights from the Presteigne Festival 2011

"the finest concert I have ever heard in my long experience of the festival... a simply stunning account of James MacMillan's Seven Last Words from the Cross. The youthful members of the Choir of Royal Holloway sang with unwavering commitment (expertly coached by Rupert Gough). This was a huge triumph for George Vass and the Presteigne Festival itself."
(The Birmingham Post, Sept 2011 - Christopher Morley)

"an example of choral singing at its most elegantly fashioned... stunningly delivered in terms of tonal quality and technical brilliance under Rupert Gough's unobtrusive direction"
(The Birmingham Post, Sept 2011 - David Hart)

"As well as bringing together leading composers and performers from all over the UK, this year's festival celebrated the music of modern Lithuanian composers in performances that were as revelatory as they were enjoyable. No more so than in the splendid concert by the young singers of the Choir of Royal Holloway when the Baltic predilection for complex a cappella vocal music was revealed to ravishing effect."
(The Western Mail, Sept 2011 - John Rushby-Smith)

Reviews of the recording Time is endless

“Under Rupert Gough's care since 2005, the Choir of Royal Holloway College has attained standards of musicianship and technical refinement high above the reach of most student ensembles. The clarity and translucence of Royal Holloway's young voices, expertly trained and thoroughly prepared for this demanding job, ideally suits Miškinis' infinitely subtle art. Gough and his choristers are outstanding in such works as Oi šala, šala, Salve Regina and Dum medium silentium, exquisite in their hypnotic contrasts of sound and folk-like purity."
(Classic FM Magazine, Jan, 2011 – Andrew Stewart) *****

"Rupert Gough has wrought wonders with his Egham choristers... such compelling and committed singing, this benchmark recording has whetted my appetite for much more. Enjoy!"
(Gramophone, Dec, 2010 – Malcolm Riley)

"The Choir of Royal Holloway is really enjoying the acoustics of St. Alban the Martyr, really enjoying the sound of the music. The whole way Royal Holloway have approached this project is magnificent. I think this disc has real integrity and I'm loving listening to it."
(BBC Radio 3 ‘Record Review’, Nov, 2010 - Jeremy Summerly)

"Vytautas Miškinis might be the best thing to happen to choral societies since Morten Lauridsen... The Choir of Royal Holloway sing with excellent intonation and blend."
(International Record Review, Nov, 2010)

Reviews of the recording Hail, Queen of Heaven

"I cannot imagine that the composer can have heard his music better sung than here."
(International Record Review, Jan, 2010 – Ivan Moody)

"Rupert Gough and the excellent Choir of Royal Holloway are terrific advocates for this repertoire. The choristers sound as fluent with and as dedicated to Dubra's music as if they had been singing it all their lives."
(Classical Source, Jan, 2010 – Graham Rogers)

"Royal Holloway's fabulous choristers and their inspired conductor convey the purity and spiritual fervour of Dubra's ear-catching output."
(Classic FM Magazine, Dec, 2009 – Andrew Stewart)

Concert review from Princeton, NJ

"Visiting musical ensembles, especially from overseas, can be a real inspiration to the local organisations. From time to time, these gems drop into the laps of a community, and such was the case last Tuesday night when the Choir of Royal Holloway performed at Princeton University Chapel. The Choir of Royal Holloway is certainly, to the American audiences at least, yet another of the unknown performance treasures from overseas."
(Princeton Town Topics, June, 2009 – Nancy Plum)

Review of première of Revelations of Divine Love

"Of all London's college, or college-plus choirs, that of the Royal Holloway College can justly claim to be one of the most polished and accomplished. This lucid, 28-strong chamber choir is roaring from strength to strength. At its latest concert, in the Cadogan Hall off Sloane Square, the choir instantly unveiled its most admirable credentials."
(The Church Times, May, 2009 – Roderick Dunnett)

Reviews of the recording O Sacrum Convivium

"What more can you possibly ask for? Here is a choir of 23 young singers, fresh of tone and fresh of mind, careful and accurate over their notes yet giving the impression that it all comes naturally. Collectively they have a keen feeling for rhythm. They enunciate clearly but without making a point of it. They blend perfectly, they shade sensitively, they appear to work with a like mind towards an agreed ideal of choral sound."
(Gramophone, May, 2008 – John Steane)

"The mixed choir of Royal Holloway College makes a truly fabulous sound under the assured direction of Rupert Gough. The title track, a setting of the well-known Communion text by Gabriel Jackson, is a serene vehicle for these beautifully pure voices. The soprano line in particular is a blemishless thread. The basses are nimble: few ever manage the "thundering" in Weelkes's Alleluia with such precision. The choir is coolly contemporary in Pärt's Magnificat, romantically heroic in Bruckner's Christus Factus, and breathtakingly expressive in Weelkes's When David Heard."
(The Times (London), March 22, 2008 – Rick Jones)

Concert review of Messiah in Exeter Cathedral

"A Messiah performed to perfection. This was essentially a small scale, light-touch Messiah although with more than enough power to fill the Cathedral's vast spaces. Taken along at a distinctly sprightly pace, the young choristers - about thirty all told - tackled Handel's familiar but oddly tricky score with great accuracy, excellent ensemble and impeccable tuning."
(Music Web International, Dec, 2007 – Bill Kenny)