Buxtehude - The Sixteen - BBC Music Magazine

The Sixteen are here pared down to five, with one voice per part throughout. The scale of the performance leads to naturally sensitive control and intimacy, yet there is nothing lacking in majesty and grandeur where the music calls for it. Carolyn Sampson, Lilly Crabtree, Robin Blaze, James Gilchrist and Simon Birchall are phenomenally good, and in a higher league that other five-voice consorts. The short solo passages are perfectly judged; numerous trio movements are superbly shaped; duet passages within choruses are plaintive yet perfectly balanced; choral tuttis are full and authoritative.

James Gilchrist's sure-footed mellifluous contributions are an inch-perfect masterclass in the delivery of text and stylish beauty of tone. The Sixteen also boast a precious asset in Carolyn Sampson, who sings with phenomenal purity and decorates the vocal line with impressive taste and maturity. The Sixteen give consistent vocal pleasure, but the instrumental contribution from the Symphony of Harmony and Invention is first-rate too: the viol-consort reserved for the sixth cantata portraying the heart of Christ is outstanding, the fiddles play each sonata and ritornello judiciously, and there is subtle yet imaginative continuo playing throughout. Conductor Harry Christophers captures all the drama, passion, devotion and tenderness in the music without smacking us over the head to remind us he is there. All in all, a perfect synthesis of expressive sincerity and tasteful musicianship.

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